Kiribati - Maternity protection - 2011

20 September 2011

NORMAL

Employment Ordinance [Cap 30] Revised Edition 1977, commenced 22 April 1966, and amended to incorporate Employment (Amendment) Act 1980 No. 9 of 1980. Published by Pacific Islands Legal Information Institute (PacLII) at http://www.paclii.org/ki/legis/consol_act/eo202/ Two further amendments have also been passed and reflected in the following report:
(1) No. 6 of 2000, published by Pacific Islands Legal Information Institute (PacLII) at http://www.paclii.org/ki/legis/num_act/ea2000229/; and
(2) No. 2 of 2008, published by Pacific Islands Legal Information Institute (PacLII) at http://www.paclii.org/ki/legis/num_act/ea2008229/

WHO Country Health Profile - Kiribati 2010, published by the World Health Organization at www.wpro.who.int and accessed 20 September 2011

Family Planning International and Secretariat of the Pacific Community ’A Measure of the Future - Women’s Sexual and Reproductive Risk Index for the Pacific 2009’, Family Planning International 2009, available at www.fpi.org.nz/LinkClick.aspx?fileticket=eks3Ol1tHhg=&tabid=446 and accessed 19 September 2011

The maternity leave entitlement applies to all workers of the female sex. A worker is any person who has entered into or works under a contract of employment and includes any immigrant worker, a worker who is apprenticed and any domestic servant and self-employed persons including children working in the absence of an employment relationship.

An employer shall allow a woman employee to leave her work upon production by her of a medical certificate given by a medical practitioner stating that her confinement will take place within 6 weeks.

An employer shall not permit a woman to work during the period of 6 weeks following confinement.

The general total duration of maternity leave is up to 12 weeks, being a maximum of 6 weeks before confinement and a minimum of 6 weeks after confinement.

No provision for extending maternity leave identified.

No express entitlement to take leave in case of illness or complications arising out of pregnancy or childbirth identified. However, employers are prohibited from giving notice of dismissal to a woman employee who is absent on maternity leave, or who remains absent as a result of illness certified by a medical practitioner to arise out of pregnancy or confinement and rendering her unfit for work until such absence has exceeded in all a period of 12 weeks.

No entitlement to parental leave identified.

No entitlement to paternity leave identified.

No entitlement to adoption leave identified.

No right to part-time work identified.

The maternity leave cash beenfit entitlement applies to all workers of the female sex. A worker is any person who has entered into or works under a contract of employment and includes any immigrant worker, a worker who is apprenticed and any domestic servant and self-employed persons including children working in the absence of an employment relationship.

The employee must produce a medical certificate given by a medical practitioner stating that her confinement will take place within 6 weeks.

The duration of the maternity leave cash benefit reflects the duration of maternity leave taken by the worker (a maximum of 12 weeks).

A woman employee shall be entitled to be paid not less than 25 per cent of the wages she would have earned had she not been absent on maternity leave.

The maternity leave cash benefits are to be paid by the employer.

No alternative provisions identified.

No entitlement to parental leave cash benefits identified.

No entitlement to paternity leave cash benefits identified.

No entitlement to adoption leave cash benefits identified.

No statutory entitlement to prenatal, childbirth or postnatal care identified. However, a 2010 WHO report indicates that Kiribati has a publicly funded formal health care system and a parallel traditional health system offering antenatal, childbirth and postnatal care. It estimates that approximately 90% of childbirths are attended by trained health personnel.

A 2009 joint Family Planning International / Secretariat of the Pacific Community study reported that 100% of women receive antenatal care. Postnatal care rates are not known.

According to the WHO, health care is financed by public funds.

No relevant provisions identified, save for the general prohibition on employing women at night and the obligation to allow a woman employee who is nursing a child two half hour breaks during her working hours to nurse her child.

Women (irrespective of pregnancy) shall not be employed during the night in any undertaking, except where the night work-
(a) has to do with raw materials or materials in course of treatment which are subject to rapid deterioration; or
(b) is necessitated by an emergency which it was impossible to foresee and which is not of a recurring character; or
(c) is that of a responsible position of management held by a woman who is not ordinarily engaged in manual work; or
(d) is that of nursing and of caring for the sick, or other health or welfare work; or
(e) is carried on in a cinematograph or other theatre while such theatre is open to the public; or
(f) is carried on in connection with a hotel or guest house, or with a bar, restaurant or club; or
(g) is carried on by a registered pharmacist; or
(h) is not prohibited by an international convention applying to Kiribati and is specifically declared by the Minister by order to be work upon which women may so be employed.
Further, the Minister may by order from time to time suspend the prohibition of the employment of women during the night when in case of serious emergency the public interest so demands.

An employer shall allow a woman employee who is nursing a child half an hour twice a day during her working hours for this purpose.

No general obligation to identify, assess or ensure against risks arising from dangerous or hazardous work identified. The only OSH-related provisions impose specific obligations on employers to provide amenities, fresh water, medical care and treatment etc. None of these requirements bear any particular relation to the particular needs of pregnant or breastfeeding workers.

No woman shall be employed on underground work in any mine, unless she holds a position of management and does not perform manual work, or she is employed in health or welfare services.

For the purposes of this prohibition, a ’mine’ includes any undertaking, whether public or private, for the extraction of any substance from under the surface of the earth.

No person shall discriminate, directly or indirectly, against any employee or applicant for employment on the grounds of race, colour, sex, religion, political opinion, national extraction, social origin, disability, non contagious disease including actual or perceived HIV/AIDS status, in respect of recruitment, training, promotion, terms and conditions of employment, termination of employment or other matters arising out of the employment relationship.

Further, men and women shall receive equal remuneration for work of equal value.

No prohibition on pregnancy testing identified. Moreover, it is a statutory requirement that employers shall cause every worker who enters into a contract to be medically examined by a medical officer or a person approved for that purpose by the Health Officer.

No employer shall give notice of dismissal to a woman employee who is absent on maternity leave, or who remains absent as a result of illness certified by a medical practitioner to arise out of pregnancy or confinement and rendering her unfit for work until such absence has exceeded in all a period of 12 weeks.

Whenever discrimination is alleged, the employer against whom the allegation is made must establish that it is justified.

No express guaranteed right to return to work identified, beyond the protection offered by the prohibition on dismissing a worker while on maternity leave.