Woman, training and work

Gender! A Partnership of Equals
Geneve: International Labour Office, 2000. 115 p.

Conditions of work
Maternity protection

There is universal recognition that due to their reproductive function women in the labour market require special protection, both before and after childbirth. Over the years, the ILO has adopted several Conventions and Recommendations dealing with this protection.

Among the first international labour standards to be adopted was the Maternity Protection Convention, 1919 (No. 3), concerning the employment of women just prior to, and after childbirth. This Convention laid out the basic principle of maternity protection: the right to maternity leave, including medical benefits and income replacement. This right was reinforced by explicitly prohibiting notification of dismissal during a woman's absence on maternity leave or if such notice would expire during her absence. Employment security was thus seen as a vital aspect of maternity protection.

The Maternity Protection (Revised) Convention, 1952 (No. 103), retained the same principal elements of protection; i.e., the right to maternity leave, medical care and cash benefits, but the means and manner of providing these benefits were made more explicit. The 12-week minimum leave period was to include a period of mandatory postnatal leave of at least six weeks. Additional leave was to be provided before or after confinement in the event of medically certified illness arising out of pregnancy or confinement. Medical benefits were to include prenatal, confinement and postnatal care by qualified midwives or medical practitioners, as well as hospitalization if necessary. Freedom of choice of doctor and of public or private hospital were to be respected. With regard to cash benefits, a minimum income replacement rate of two-thirds of the woman's previous earnings was specified for those benefits derived from social insurance. Payroll taxes were to be paid on the basis of the total number of workers employed without distinction of sex.

National approaches

Laws designed to protect the health of mother and child and the employment rights of working women figure prominently in the legislation of almost every ILO member State. There are, however, important variations with regard to the scope of coverage, the extent of protection, the complexity of the schemes in force, and the respective responsibility of the State and of individual employers for the provision of cash benefits.

Typically, a simple package includes the provision, under labour legislation, of leave before and after the birth, often with the payment of cash benefits, whether by the employer, out of social security systems, through public funds, or by a combination of these means. It is unlawful for employers to give notice of dismissal during maternity leave and its eventual extension or at such time as the notice would expire during such leave. Nursing mothers are authorized to take breaks, which are often paid, for breastfeeding.

More comprehensive packages improve on the above provisions in terms of the length of maternity leave, the level of benefits and the length of the period during which employment is protected. They often include a series of measures aimed at protecting the health of the woman and the unborn child, such as the prohibition or limitation of night work or overtime work, and a right to transfer from work which may be detrimental to the outcome of pregnancy either because it is intrinsically dangerous or because it is inadvisable in view of an individual woman's state of health. The health protection measures envisaged for pregnant women often apply also to nursing mothers.

Explicit protection against discrimination is a feature of the most advanced schemes. In a growing number of countries, there is also a move towards adopting a parental approach. Under parental schemes, a period of maternity leave is reserved for the mother, within a longer period of leave which is available to both parents.

As women's employment throughout their childbearing years continues to rise and women return to work after childbirth in ever greater numbers, discussion has begun on possible new international standards on maternity protection. It is expected that new instruments will be adopted in the year 2000.

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