TAIWO FAROTIMI
The federal government, FG has increased the period of time that a nursing mother will be allowed to stay away from work to nurse the baby after birth. Chris Ngige, minister of Labour and employment has revealed that maternity leave has been increased from 12 weeks to 16 weeks. This he said was to “allow enough recuperation time for both baby and mother in terms of breastfeeding.”
Ngige made this known early Tuesday in an address he gave at a plenary session at the ongoing 107th International Labour Conference holding in Geneva, Switzerland. While stating that employers are made to delay all disciplinary measures against a woman until after the maternity leave, he also informed the gathering that the government was already tackling all observed abnormal processes at work places against women with a purpose to putting a stop to them. He advised women to always report cases of discrimination or abuse at work places.
Delivering the address at the conference with the theme “a future with decent work”, Ngige who said no employer is permitted to remove a woman from work over her marital status, said “Women who fall victims to these abuses are encouraged to oppose such through legal actions as well as report to labour inspectors.”
The minister might have dazzled his international audience, what he probably did not know or could not tell his audience is that the concession that the Federal government was giving had actually been surpassed by one of the states in the country.
Lagos State government, four years ago, since the administration of Raji Fashola had commenced the implementation of 24 weeks maternity for the first and second child of a couple. However, after the second child the woman reverts to the usual 12 weeks. But then Lagos State even went further to approve paternity leave of 10 days for the man to attend to developmental issues.
