Cuepacs wants govt to reconsider maternity leave issue

NSTP

KUALA LUMPUR, MON:

The Congress of Unions of Employees in the Public and Civil Services (Cuepacs) wants the government to reconsider the proposal of expanding maternity leave to 84 days from the current 60 days.

Cuepacs president Omar Osman said the proposal was first mooted in 2007 and had received a nod from the Women, Family and Community Development Ministry but was later put on hold due to unknown reasons.

“We are unsure why it has been shelved; this is why we are raising this issue again this time, we are urging the government to seriously relook into this matter,” he told reporters after opening a three-day seminar here today.

Omar said the maternity leave issue would be brought up again at a meeting with the Public Service Department (PSD) early next year.

He said this was necessary because female workers, especially those in the support group, had to resort to taking leave without pay in order to tend to their children and other family matters.
He said Cuepacs would also propose to the government to provide special incentives for “frontline personnel” such as policemen, nurses and firemen who faced higher occupational hazards compared others.