The Labour Movement welcomed news of the enhanced Marriage and Parenthood Package announced by the National Population and Talent Division (NPTD) on 21 January 2013.
Repeated calls from NTUC’s Women’s Development Secretariat (WDS) and U Family on enhancing work-life harmony and pro-creation policies have clearly been heard, as reflected by the Government’s latest initiatives.
In fact, more than half of the changes were derived from proposals made by NTUC, shared NTUC Assistant Secretary-General and Champion for Women and Family Cham Hui Fong.
“What we have been calling for is extended maternity leave. We believe that a lot of mothers will appreciate longer maternity leave… we have also asked for paternity leave to be given to fathers because we believe that fathers too have a critical role to play in bringing up young children.
“On top of that, we have also asked for higher cash bonus for new born babies,” added Ms Cham.
The Government announced that working fathers will be entitled to one week of paid paternity leave. Both parents have two days of paid child care leave per year if they have at least one child aged 7-12.
Working mothers who are not eligible for maternity leave may apply to receive the Government Paid Maternity Benefit (GPMB) as long as they have been in employment for at least 90 days in the 12 months leading up to childbirth.
While NTUC had a hand in these initiatives, other items in its wish list are yet to be addressed. These include longer paid maternity leave for mothers up to six months and legislated right to request for Flexible Work Arrangements (FWA).
Said Ms Cham: “Overall, the Labour Movement is happy that many of our major recommendations have been adopted by the Government.
“We look forward to seeing more of our other recommendations coming through, as the Government makes further announcements on pro-family and pro-creation policy changes in due course.”
Find out the full details in the Press Release in our Newsroom.
