The International Labour Organisation Maternity Protection Convention recommends maternity leave for at least 18 weeks or four and a half months. “The current provision is three months maternity leave therefore an extension of three months maternity leave will be in conformity with international best practices,” the amendment says. By comparison, the cost of offering working mothers 16 weeks of fully paid maternity leave would cost an additional $28 billion. In Uganda, female employees are entitled to 60 working days maternity leave while in Tanzania, one ought to have been an employee for at least six months to qualify for the 84-day paid maternity leave. In South Africa, the employer is not compelled by law to give female employees paid maternity leave but it demands that they are allowed a four-month break.

Source: Daily Nation May 09, 2017 18:49 UTC