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Women raise job concerns over new maternal welfare law
Some female workers as well as businesses have expressed concerns that the provision on maternity leave in the new Maternal and Child Welfare Law could be an extra burden on their colleagues and operations, respectively.
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Several women wearing masks walk on June 7, 2024 across a pedestrian bridge on Jl. Sudirman in Central Jakarta. (Antara/Reno Esnir)
W
hile the general public applauded the extended maternity leave in the newly passed Maternal and Child Welfare Law, some female workers are worried the provision will put them at a disadvantage in the job market, as businesses might view them as an extra burden.
The House of Representatives passed on June 4 a bill that aims to improve the welfare of mothers and children during the first 1,000 days of their infants’ lives, in a bid to address the high maternal and infant mortality rates as well as the prevalence of childhood stunting that plagues the country.
One of the widely appreciated provisions from the new law is on maternity leave, which allows mothers to take a minimum three months’ leave after childbirth with a possibility for extending it up to three more months with a doctor’s approval. Women recovering from a miscarriage are entitled to a 1.5-month leave.
The law provides legal protection so women cannot be fired from their jobs while on maternity leave, and they are also entitled to receive 100 percent of their paycheck for the first three months.
Meanwhile, men are entitled to take paternity leave of five days to accompany their wives during childbirth.
But some women, such as 25-year-old online trader Anik Indrawati, are concerned that the provision on maternity leave could hurt their hireability in the formal sector.
“Even before the bill was passed, many job vacancies [were] for men only,” Anik, who lives in Mojokerto, East Java, told The Jakarta Post on Saturday.
