Companies in the country often do not provide paid maternity leaves to their female employees
KARACHI: This is in response to Sahar Bandial’s article titled ‘Working mothers and maternity leave’ published in this paper on Jan 30th. The writer has mentioned an important ordinance that is often violated in not only private but public organisations as well. Companies in the country often do not provide paid maternity leaves to their female employees, let alone paternal leaves to their male employees. And if and when they do, they only pay half of the female employees’ salary even when she is entitled to be paid in full.
There have also been instances where a company has intentionally let go off an employee during the time of her pregnancy so that they don’t have to give her a 12 weeks’ paid maternity leave. The question then arises is what should an employee do in such instances? While laws are in place there is no regulatory body that keeps a check on them or a body where female employees can go to with their grievances.
To ensure that organisations, private or public, abide by these ordinances, the provincial governments, along with the federal government, should establish a body that oversees the implementation process on a yearly basis.
Asma Akhter
Published in The Express Tribune, February 2nd, 2018.
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