Tag: maternity leave

  • President Arif Alvi approves Maternity and Paternity Leave Bill

    President Arif Alvi approves Maternity and Paternity Leave Bill

    On Tuesday, Pakistan’s president Dr. Arif Alvi approved the Maternity and Paternity Leave Bill, 2023, to be enacted as law. 

    Under the Bill, women employees of both public and private departments under the federal government’s administrative control will be entitled to avail maternity leave with full pay three times during service.

    The times have been stipulated thus: 180 days for the first time, 120 days for the second, and 90 days for the third. 

    Working men now also have the right to spend their first month as a father on paternity leave with full pay. However, male employees will only be entitled to a leave of 30 days three times during their employment period. 

    If a company is found in violation of the Bill, there is a risk of imprisonment of up to six months or a fine of up to 100, 000 rupees, or both.

    The bill was passed by Pakistan’s parliament last month, and had been in the works for several years after being initially moved by Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Senator Quratulain Marri in 2018. 

    The President gave his assent to the bill under Article 75 of the Constitution, which states that bills sent to the president are formally enacted as laws after his approval.

  • In groundbreaking move, National Assembly passes bill granting paid maternity leave

    In a historical move, yesterday the National Assembly passed the ‘Maternity and Paternity Leave Bill’ 2020, which has granted mothers the right to take up to six months paid maternity leave from their workplaces at their first birth, as well as leaves for three to four months during the birth of their second and third child as the bill states:

    “Maternity leave shall in the prescribed manner be granted on full pay outside the leave account to a female employee on her option to the extent of one hundred and eighty days on first birth, one hundred and twenty days on second birth, ninety days on third birth.”

    The bill also granted paternity leave for fathers, allowing men to take one month paid leaves from their work places on the birth of their child:

    “A male employee expecting his wife to give birth to a child shall , at his option, be granted paternity leave on full pay not exceeding thirty days.”

    The bill has been passed in federal territory, which means it will be made a legal priority for Islamabad workplaces to include paid paternity and maternity leave in their policies. But hopefully, this progressive step will soon encourage other cities to take note and follow to make inclusive policies that do not push women out of the workplace after their marriage.

    The bill was presented at the National Assembly by Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Senator Quratulain Marri, who praised her colleagues support to prioritise social issues, which helped in making this landmark legislation possible.

    Social media users have celebrated the legislation as a progressive step that will stop women from being forced to chose between motherhood and their jobs, and applauded Senator Marri for helping ensure this will happen.

  • Court grants maternity leave to female teacher after welfare board refusal

    Lahore High Court (LHC) has directed Punjab Workers Welfare Board (PWWB) to grant maternity leave to a female teacher, Sobia Nazir who was previously refused maternity leave.

    While hearing the petition, Justice Muzamil Akhtar Shabbir said, “Article 35 of the Constitution provides that the state shall protect the marriage, the family, the mother, and the child.”

    The petitioner, Sobia Nazir was hired for the position of senior Information Technology (IT) teacher on an internship/retainer basis at PWWB school, Worker Welfare School (Girls). The school is located in the Warbton, Nankana Sahib district. When she got pregnant, she applied for maternity leave with a full salary for 90 days. However, the board of PWWB rejected her application because she was not entitled to receive maternity leave on her current job contract’s terms and conditions.

    Justice Shabbir said in the verdict that under Article 25 of the Pakistan Constitution, all citizens are equal before the law and they are entitled to receive equal protection from the law. There should be no discrimination on the basis of gender.

    The judge also discussed Article 37 which directed the State to provide humane work conditions and ensure that women and children should not be employed in those jobs which are not suitable for their age or sex, and also make provisions for maternity benefits for women in employment.

    The judge added, “Obviously the law does not compel any person to perform an act which is beyond his/her capacity and the same principle is also recognised by Islam.”

  • National Assembly body approves bill securing leave for fathers on birth of child

    National Assembly body approves bill securing leave for fathers on birth of child

    The National Assembly’s Standing Committee on Law and Justice has approved a bill allowing one-month paternity leave to fathers on the birth of their child.

    According to reports, the bill says the mother will get a six-month leave and the father will be eligible for a leave of one-month on the birth of their first child. On the birth of the second child, the mother will get a four-month leave and the father will get a one-month leave.

    The father will also get a one-month leave for their third child’s birth and the mother will get a three-month leave.

    The bill that will be applicable only in Islamabad also states that the father will be able to get paternity leaves for the birth of the first three children only.

    “The law will apply to all government and non-government institutions in the federal capital,” said Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) lawmaker Shazia Marri.

    Taking to Twitter, the lawmaker from Sanghar said the bill was moved by Senator Quratulain Marri, her sister, a year ago.

    “Extremely happy and immensely proud to share that two important bills moved by Senator Quratulain Marri have finally been passed by the NA standing committee on Law & Justice after their passage from Senate,” she wrote.

    Under the laws applicable to the provinces of Punjab, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) and Balochistan, mothers are granted a maternity leave of 12 weeks. In contrast, Sindh allows for a maternity leave of 16 weeks.

    According to Section 4 of West Pakistan Maternity Benefit Ordinance, 1958, the maternity leave is awarded with full pay. The qualifying condition is that the women must be working in enterprise at least four months prior to the date of delivery of her child.

    The Senate had in January this year passed the Maternity and Paternity Leave Bill, 2018, which made it mandatory for employers to grant paid maternity and paternity leave to employees.

  • Fathers to get paid paternity leave

    Fathers to get paid paternity leave

    The Senate on Monday passed ‘The Maternity and Paternity Leave Bill, 2018’ that was moved on private members’ day by Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Senator Quratulain Marri.

    According to the details, while the bill was passed by the Upper House with a majority, the treasury benches opposed it. The bill will now go to the National Assembly for a vote.

    The said bill increases paid maternity leave of working mothers both in public and private sectors, and for the first time in the country, also grants paid paternity leave to fathers.

    The bill says that employees of every establishment should be provided six months paid maternity and three months paternity leave as and when applied by employees, separately from their leave account, commencing from the date as applied by the applicant in the application and supported by a medical certificate.

    It adds that the employees shall also be provided with an additional three months optional unpaid maternity and one-month paternity leave, separately from their leave account, if required by the employee.

    The Maternity and Paternity Leave Bill

    The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government opposed the bill saying that such long maternity leave was not allowed anywhere in the world. Economic Affairs Minister Hammad Azhar said mothers can get 90-day maternity leave under the already-existing law.