Parents look forward to paternity and extended maternity leave

Paternity leave has a wide range of benefits that can improve development outcomes, including health and economic benefits to the mother, and increased child bonding.

SINCE conceiving her first child, content creator Alessa Amin, 39, says her only concern is that she will not be able to spend enough time with her daughter when she is born.

So she could not be more relieved when she heard that the deferred amendments to the Employment Act 1955 are coming into force from today as previously planned.

The amendments – the implementation of which was postponed from its earlier scheduled date of Sept 1, 2022 – include an increase in maternity leave from 60 days to 98, and paternity leave of seven continuous days per birth.

Among other amendments are flexible working arrangements; increase in overtime payments for employees with wages up to RM4,000 a month, a reduction of working hours from 48 hours to 45, and 60 days of hospitalisation leave a year in addition to non-hospitalisation sick leave.

On Dec 21, Human Resources Minister V. Sivakumar announced that the implementation of the amended Act would proceed on Jan 1 but employers made a last-ditch effort to get the government to defer it again. Many workers like Alessa were hence relieved that the much-delayed amendments to the Act have finally kicked in.

“We’ve been trying for a while now to have a baby and it would kill me not to be able to spend enough time with her once she’s born.

“My husband and I also worried that the amendments made to the Employment Act would be delayed once more,” says the first-time mother.

Alessa, who lives near Penang, says not only will this allow her to spend more time with her family but it will also help reduce her anxiety about not being able to bond with her daughter.

“That has always been a fear for many mothers and naturally, I feared that too. The first few months are always the most important.

“It helps keep my mind at ease knowing that I will be able to bond better with my daughter when she is born next year,” says the young mother.

Alessa notes that this will also give her body and mind enough rest before she heads back out to work after the birth of her child, who is due in June.

“We are opting for a Caesarean birth because my doctors have advised me to do so due to some complications.

“I believe my body as well as my mind will need some rest to recuperate after my daughter is born and this will give me enough time to bounce back as well,” she says.

Another parent, Joseph Ng, 41, says he and his wife have also been looking forward to the extension of both paternity and maternity leave as it will tremendously benefit them as parents.

“When we had our first child, my wife Janice was not fully ready to leave our son and head back to work as she was still breastfeeding him at that time.

“To add on, we could not and still cannot afford to have additional costs such as babysitting fees and daycare payments monthly,” he says.

Ng, who works as a technician, says having 98 days of leave will allow his wife to properly bond with their second child and will also reduce the possibility of her falling sick after giving birth.

“Janice had a rough time post-delivery the last time and I am hoping this time she gets enough time to rest.

“Also, having seven days to help her out after delivery will give me some time to not just bond with my baby but also care for my wife,” he says.

Global studies have found that maternity and paternity leave contributes to not just the bond between parents and their child but also offers socioeconomic benefits.

Studies show that adequate maternity leave can lead to lower infant mortality rates, health benefits for the mother, higher female labour force participation and increased breastfeeding rates.

Paternity leave also has a wide range of benefits that can improve development outcomes, including health and economic benefits to the mother, more equitable division of household labour and increased child bonding.

Researchers have also linked fathers’ use of leave with increased earnings for the mother, reduced mother-absenteeism due to sickness and higher female employment in private firms.