17 Sep 2008

Fiji Employers federation calls for state help for expectant mother workers

10:02 pm on 17 September 2008

Fiji's Employers Federation is calling for the state to help employers pay for expectant mothers in the workplace.

The Federation revealed that employers are not keen on hiring young women of child bearing age due to new labour laws on maternity leave.

Federation President Dixon Seeto says the Employment Relations Promulgation 2007 calls for each employer of a pregnant female to grant her 84 days of leave at full pay and pay for a replacement worker.

Mr Seeto says it is actually the state's responsibility to help compensate any expectant mother, rather than an employer's reponsibility.

"It is a view of the federation that the burden of this cost should fall back on government itself. While we don't want to get into a moral argument about this, the maternity, the birth of the child, is not for the benefit of that company. But it is to increase the workforce for the country. Therefore we were requesting the government to give some form of relief."

Fiji Employers Federation president, Dixon Seeto.