On November 21, the Legislative Affairs Office of the State Council announced the "Draft Regulations on Special Labor Protection for Female Employees (Draft for Soliciting Comments)". The draft stipulates that maternity leave for female employees will be increased from 90 days to 98 days, with postpartum care tips. For female employees who give birth or have a miscarriage, their wages or maternity allowances and medical expenses related to childbirth or miscarriage will be paid by the maternity insurance fund if their employer has participated in the maternity insurance program; if not, the employer will bear the cost.
The more protection, the greater the discrimination. In fact, it is not difficult to find that many employers have a certain degree of workplace discrimination against women. Women are also helpless about this. On one hand, they need institutional protection, but on the other hand, they worry that this protection may turn into a heavy burden. The more preferential treatment the system provides to female employees, the more difficult their professional or social situations become. Their chances of finding or maintaining jobs decrease further, and the gender discrimination that employers have towards female employees rises correspondingly as policies increase protections for them.
Many women, when talking about job interviews, have encountered questions such as whether they are married, whether they have children, and whether they plan to have children soon. They answer these questions, but whether the answers are believed or not is up to the employer. Some companies even explicitly state in contracts that female employees cannot give birth within a fixed period, otherwise, no benefits will be guaranteed.
If this kind of workplace discrimination cannot be broken and the policies are not effectively implemented, then this kind of protection, to a certain extent, results in more loss of women's rights.
From the perspective of maternal and infant health, a six-month maternity leave is most appropriate. Nowadays, both men and women marry and have children later in life, usually around the age of 30. For the health of the mother and baby, a six-month maternity leave is the most suitable. Some netizens point out that in some foreign companies, maternity leave has been half a year long, and the World Health Organization also advocates breastfeeding for at least six months and exclusive breastfeeding for at least three months.
Maternity Leave Salary Benefits: There remains a gap compared to those in Western countries
To align with the Social Insurance Law, the "Draft" stipulates that for female employees who give birth or have a miscarriage, their wages or maternity allowances and medical expenses related to childbirth or miscarriage will be paid by the maternity insurance fund if their employer has participated in the maternity insurance program; if not, the employer will bear the cost.
To be honest, this is indeed progress, but there is still a gap compared to Western European countries.
In the UK, starting from April 2010, women can apply for 52 weeks of maternity leave (including miscarriages and difficult deliveries), which is exactly one year of paid leave.
In Canada, couples can apply for a total of 10 to 35 weeks of parental leave. Additionally, women can apply for 15 weeks of maternity leave. Generally, a family can have 50 weeks of leave to take care of the newborn. These leaves are paid holidays, funded by the employment security system.
In Australia, women's maternity leave is 18 weeks, and parental leave is 18 weeks, both of which are paid holidays, with a weekly payment of 596 Australian dollars. The regulations require men to have 18 weeks of parental leave, approximately four and a half months. Together, couples can apply for up to 52 weeks of leave.
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