Longer maternity leave but it will be flexible
AUG 16, 2004Longer maternity leave, but it will be flexible
MATERNITY leave will be extended but kept 'flexible' to avoid disruption for employers and uncertainty for employees, Minister for Trade and Industry Lim Hng Kiang said yesterday.
Details of the 'comprehensive and practical package' will be revealed in the Prime Minister's speech for the National Day Rally on Aug 22.
The package was put up by a steering committee of ministers and MPs headed by Mr Lim to look at ways to boost Singapore's fertility rate, and the decision was made after much consultation with workers, employers and unions.
'Although an extended maternity leave is very much welcomed, it may cause disruption to the employers and uncertainty to employees. So we've come up with a more practical arrangement; maternity leave will be extended but the arrangement will be more flexible,' he told reporters at a National Day Observance Ceremony organised by the Telok Blangah Citizens' Consultative Committee.
Longer maternity leave is one of the key strategies mooted to improve the baby dearth in Singapore.
Last year, Singapore's total fertility rate, which is the number of children a woman is expected to have during her lifetime, dipped to an all-time low of 1.26 - well below the population replacement rate of 2.1.
In March, Mr Lim laid out two options to kick off the discussions: extend maternity leave by another eight weeks, at full pay from the Government; or by 16 weeks that are not compulsory and at half-pay from the Government.
Under the Employment Act, employees are allowed eight weeks of paid maternity leave for the first two children.
For the third child, the Government picks up the tab for the eight weeks of maternity leave.
Asked if the package would include financial incentives, Mr Lim said it would, but that these were 'not the key part of the package'.
'Our main message is that having children is a very personal decision and we respect that.
'At the same time, the Government will facilitate and support the decision of parents to have and bring up children,' he added.
Copyright @ 2004 Singapore Press Holdings. All rights reserved.
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