Maternity Protection
Maternity Protection : ILO Convention No. 183 (2000) applies to all employed women, including those in atypical forms of dependent work. However, each ILO Member State that ratifies this Convention may exclude wholly or partly from the scope of the Convention limited categories of workers when its application to them would raise special problems of a substantial nature. Each State shall adopt appropriate measures to ensure that pregnant or breastfeeding women are not obliged to perform work that has been determined by the competent authority to be prejudicial to the health of the mother or the child, or where an assessment has established a significant risk to the mother's health or that of her child. On production of a medical certificate or other appropriate certification, as determined by national law and practice, stating the presumed date of childbirth, a woman to whom this Convention applies shall be entitled to a period of maternity leave of not less than 14 weeks. The length of the period of leave shall be specified by each Member State in a declaration accompanying its ratification of this Convention. Each State may subsequently deposit with the Director-General of the ILO a further declaration extending the period of maternity leave. With due regard to the protection of the health of the mother and that of the child, maternity leave shall include a period of six weeks' compulsory leave after childbirth, unless otherwise agreed at the national level by the government and the representative organizations of employers and workers. The prenatal portion of maternity leave shall be extended by any period elapsing between the presumed date of childbirth and the actual date of childbirth, without reduction in any compulsory portion of postnatal leave. On production of a medical certificate, leave shall be provided before or after the maternity leave period in the case of illness, complications or risk of complications arising out of pregnancy or childbirth. The nature and the maximum duration of such leave may be specified in accordance with national law and practice. Cash benefits shall be provided in accordance with national laws and regulations, or in any other manner consistent with national practice, to women who are absent from work on leave. Cash benefits shall be at a level that ensures that the woman can maintain herself and her child in proper conditions of health and with a suitable standard of living. The amount of such benefits shall not be less than two-thirds of the woman's previous earnings or of such of those earnings as are taken into account for the purpose of computing benefits. Where a woman does not meet the conditions to qualify for cash benefits under national laws and regulations or in any other manner consistent with national practice, she shall be entitled to adequate benefits out of social assistance funds, subject to the means test required for such assistance. Medical benefits shall be provided for the woman and her child in accordance with national laws and regulations or in any other manner consistent with national practice. Medical benefits shall include prenatal, childbirth and postnatal care, as well as hospitalization care when necessary. In order to protect the situation of women in the labour market, benefits in respect of the leave shall be provided through compulsory social insurance or public funds, or in a manner determined by national law and practice. An employer shall not be individually liable for the direct cost of any such monetary benefit to a woman employed by him/her without that employer's specific agreement with some specific exceptions. A Member State whose economy and social security system are insufficiently developed shall be deemed to be in compliance with the Convention if cash benefits are provided at a rate no lower than a rate payable for sickness or temporary disability in accordance with national laws and regulations. According to Convention No. 183, it shall be unlawful for an employer to terminate the employment of a woman during her pregnancy or during a period following her return to work except on grounds unrelated to the pregnancy or birth of the child and its consequences or nursing. The burden of proving that the reasons for dismissal are unrelated to pregnancy or childbirth and its consequences or nursing shall rest on the employer. A woman is guaranteed the right to return to the same position or an equivalent position paid at the same rate at the end of her maternity leave. A woman shall be provided with the right to one or more daily breaks, or a daily reduction of hours of work, to breastfeed her child. The period during which nursing breaks or the reduction of daily hours of work are allowed, their number, the duration of nursing breaks and the procedures for the reduction of daily hours of work shall be determined by national law and practice. These breaks or the reduction of daily hours of work shall be counted as working time and remunerated accordingly
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