The European Commission on Friday proposed to prolong maternity leave for female employees in the European Union from 14 weeks to 18 weeks and to provide stronger protection of their rights to return to work after the leave.
The proposed legislation will also give new mothers a right to ask the employer for flexible working patterns after maternity leave although the employer will have the right to refuse this request.
In a separate proposal, self-employed women will have equivalent access to maternity leave as for employees, but on a voluntary basis.
At the same time, spouses and life partners (recognized as such in national law) who work on an informal basis in small family businesses will have access, at their request, to social security coverage at an equal level of protection as self-employed workers.
"Our proposals to improve maternity leave will help women to combine work and family life, improving their and their family's quality of life," said Vladimir Spidla, EU commissioner for employment, social affairs and equal opportunities.
"They should also help increase women's participation in the labor market and help face up to the challenges of demographic aging: indeed countries with more women in employment also have higher birth rates."
He said only 65.5 percent of women with dependent children are in work, compared with 91.7 percent of men.
Both proposals will be discussed by the European Parliament and the member states in the council of ministers. The commission hopes that agreement will be reached in 2009. EU countries would then have two years to introduce the legislation into national law.
The commission, in the longer term, would also like to improve other forms of family leave, such as paternity leave -- a short period of leave for fathers around the time of the birth or adoption of a child; adoption leave -- leave similar to maternity leave around the time of adoption of a child; and filial leave, which allows for care for dependent family members.
Source: Xinhua
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