Maternity at Work A Review of National Legislation Findings from the Ilo's Conditions of Work And Employment Database

Protecting the maternity of women workers is essential to women's rights and abilities to successfully combine their reproductive and productive roles, free from discrimination in employment on the basis of their actual or potential role as mothers. Dramatic changes in the labour market over the past several decades, including women's increasing labour force participation, growing commitment to eliminating discrimination in employment, and falling fertility rates related to work-family time pressures, have made maternity protection ever more important. Indeed, the global consensus on the importance of maternity leave is reflected in the fact that some maternity provisions exist in the legislation of virtually all countries. Nevertheless, there is considerable scope for improving the legislative provisions as well as the application of international standards on maternity protection at the national level. This study contributes to our knowledge of the status and progress of maternity legislation around the world, providing a comprehensive review of the main legal provisions in maternity protection legislation of 166 countries. The first section analyses national provisions regarding maternity leave (duration of leave, cash benefits, and its source of payment and scope); the second section discusses other types of leave (paternity leave, parental leave and adoption leave); the third considers protection from dismissal and discrimination; and the last section treats some aspects of health protection for pregnant and nursing workers. This report draws from information on the basic maternity protection provisions (duration, cash benefits, funding source) of 166 countries, as well as from more detailed information for a subset of 56 countries collected for the International Labour Organization's Conditions of Work and Employment Database, a searchable online database found at http://www.ilo.org/travdatabase.èun, Ida is the author of 'Maternity at Work A Review of National Legislation Findings from the Ilo's Conditions of Work And Employment Database', published 2005 under ISBN 9789221175018 and ISBN 9221175014.