Updated: Plan to extend maternity leave defeated

A European Parliament proposal to extend maternity leave has been rejected by the EU Council of Ministers, with a majority of member states, including Malta, voting against.

The EP had proposed extending maternity leave from 14 to 20 weeks.

“Malta thinks this is a premature proposal which requires more studies on its impact before it can be considered,” Social Policy Minister Dolores Cristina told her colleagues in Brussels during a ministerial meeting.

Malta also opposed the Parliament’s proposal to grant two fully paid weeks of paternal leave to men fathering a newborn – at present fathers have just two days.

Almost all the EU’s member states rejected the EP’s plan although Italy and Sweden said they could live with it while objecting to Parliament’s attempts to determine pay rates. The UK, France and Spain led the opposition.

Mrs Cristina argued that Malta was in favour of flexibility and the issue should be dealt with directly by member states on an individual basis.

Malta, she said, was in favour of worklife balance and gender initiatives but such a proposal would put an immense financial strain on member states, particularly at a time when they were recovering from the economic crisis.

Arguing against a one-size-fitsall approach, she said member states should be allowed to individually set the amount of leave and pay, which should be related to the level of pay given for sick leave and other benefits. Member states who wanted to introduce more benefits to would-be mothers should be allowed to do so gradually. Back in 2008, the Commission had proposed amendments to the 1992 directive on health and safety of pregnant women, suggesting that the minimum threshold of maternity leave in the EU should increase to 18 weeks from 14.

Businesses in Malta had vehemently opposed the maternity leave extension and had lobbied the government to reject it. According to an impact study carried out by the Maltese Business Bureau, the increase to 20 weeks would cost the Maltese economy €12 million a year. On the other hand, unions and the Labour Party have backed the EP’s position.

Maltese women can currently take 14 weeks maternity leave and be paid their full salary. Some EU member states allow more maternity leave than Malta, even up to a year in certain cases. However, the level of pay varies from a percentage of the full pay to unpaid leave.

The National Council of Women and the FORUM group of trade unions both condemned the EU decision and the Maltese government's stand.