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EU vote postponed
The European Parliament (EP) has decided to postpone for two months the vote on Parental Leave Directive (96/34/EC) in the European Union (EU) following widespread criticism from political groups within the EP.
Under the proposed Directive, maternity leave in Member States would be extended to 20 weeks. The Directive was due to come into effect on March 8. However, after many countries across the EU, including Malta, Sweden and the UK, raised concerns about the proposal, the EP has decided to delay the vote for two months, during which time a study of the impact of the legislation and its financial burden will be carried out. The cost to some countries could be as high as €2.3bn annually, putting businesses under significant pressure.
Under current EU policy, which was agreed in 1992, minimum maternity leave for Member States is set at 14 weeks. During this time, women must get paid at least as much as the nation's sick pay rate. However, draft legislation from the EU Women's Rights Committee proposes increasing this to 20 weeks and suggests that women receive full salary throughout. Another feature of the proposal would force new mothers to stay at home for the first six weeks following the birth of their baby.
In addition, the committee is proposing two weeks fully paid paternity leave for fathers.
The move has been widely criticised for myriad reasons, including cost and lack of choice. In Malta, critics have asked the government to oppose the proposals and many are insisting that if legislation to increase maternity leave is granted, all Member States should be able to apply the same rules. At present, Maltese mothers receive 14 weeks maternity leave on full pay. Some countries in the EU offer more leave, but, in many cases, mothers receive only partial payment or none at all.
There are also concerns in Malta that this may not be the right time "to increase the burden on business".
In Sweden, opposition is focused on the obligatory six-week stay-at-home period. Sweden's minister for EU affairs, Birgitta Ohlsson, said rights should be voluntary and not forced upon new mothers.
In Sweden, parents can share up to 14 months of paid maternity leave. Ohlsson believes that they should be encouraged to share parental leave. In addition she has called for EU countries to "recognise the causal link between equality, child care and economic growth".
Existing UK policy on maternity leave is not as generous as in other Member States and the proposed draft policy, if ratified, would signal a huge change for UK companies, trebling the current basic maternity entitlement. Under existing regulations, mothers can take up to one year of maternity leave, in which, during the first six weeks, they receive 90 per cent of their salary, followed by 33 weeks on Statutory Maternity Pay (£123/week - about €140 - in addition to maternity allowance and £6,000 - about €6850 - in tax credits), with the remaining leave unpaid.
Following the amendment of the Pregnant Workers Directive in the European Parliament, Dr Adam Marshall, director of Policy at the British Chambers of Commerce (BCC), said: "This vote introduces complexity and uncertainty, which are totally unnecessary, as the UK and other EU countries already have well-developed national maternity pay systems. Companies need to be given the space to deliver growth and jobs - without being hamstrung by new and costly maternity rules."
The BCC is urging the government to demand a three-year moratorium on new EU employment law, unless the Commission can prove that changes in legislation will create jobs.
Of greater concern across the EU is the impact that such a move could have on gender equality in the workplace. Many SMEs are already reluctant to employ women of child-bearing age – a situation that many believe would only worsen should the draft proposal become law.
If the legislation is ratified, Member States will have two years to bring national law into line with the new Directive.
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