EU proposes mandatory six-week maternity leave after childbirth

Finnish MEPs and business interests oppose idea

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The equality committee of the European Union is proposing a 20-week maternity leave with full pay for all member states. Finnish Members of the European Parliament and Finnish business interests reject the proposal.
      The proposal for a new directive on the matter will come before the European Parliament next month, with the aim of improving the status of pregnant women, women who have just given birth, and those who are breastfeeding.
     
Under the planned amendment, there would be no mandatory maternity leave before the birth. The mandatory six-week maternity leave would take place after the child is born.
      The proposed directive would also include a two-week paid paternity leave for fathers, and provisions for two hour-long breastfeeding breaks during working hours.
      In Finland, maternity leave is 17.5-18 weeks, during which time the mothers are paid out of the funds of the Social Insurance Institution KELA. Sometimes employers can pay part of the leave, depending on the terms of the applicable labour contract. Approving the directive would bring considerable changes to Finland’s system of family leave.
     
A fully-paid maternity leave would mean that the difference between social welfare costs and full pay would be paid by the employer.
      “A 20-week maternity leave with full pay would increase employers’ costs in Finland by EUR 85 million a year”, says Minna Etu-Seppälä, an expert at the Confederation of Finnish Industries (EK).
      The state and employers would incur additional costs from the payment of maternity per diems for two additional weeks.
     
“Realism is not there in all of the proposals”, Etu-Seppälä says, making specific reference to the breastfeeding breaks.
      The Central Organisation of Finnish Trade Unions (SAK) has also not joined in the demand for a 20-week maternity leave. The organisation says that present rules concerning family leave are sufficient.
     
The Finnish government also emphasises the responsibility of both parents in raising children. The longer family leaves for women are seen to weaken employment prospects for women and the position of women on the labour market.
      Finland is not in favour of six weeks of mandatory maternity leave after the birth. At present, two of the four weeks of mandatory leave in Finland are to be taken before the birth, and two weeks after it.
      In a government statement, the duration of mandatory maternity leave should not be extended much, but if this is done, part of it should be before the delivery.
     
Critics, including the EK, say that a six-week mandatory maternity leave after the birth could encourage mothers to stay at work all the way to the trip to the delivery room itself, which is an occupational safety risk, and a risk for the health of the mother and the foetus.
     
Many countries see the proposal as economically unfeasible. The German state calculates the annual costs of paid maternity and paternity leave for the state and employers to be a combined EUR 1.7 billion.
      Sweden’s interpretation on the matter is that the EU is forcing mothers to stay at home. The Swedish Commissioner Birgitta Ohlsson has said that "the mamma directive is a step backward”.
     
Finnish Conservative MEP Sari Essayah (Christian Democrat) says that the goal of harmonising the time off for family leave in the different countries is a good one, but that putting all family leaves under one regulation is not suitable for Finland.
      “The directive is in conflict with the contract system. We have a good system composed of different pieces. The directive would break the Finnish pieces.”
      Liisa Jaakonsaari of the Socialist group in the European Parliament rejects the proposal. “For some it might be good, but not for smart countries like us.”
      Jaakonsaari believes that a compromise is possible. One would be a maternity leave of 18 weeks, with the money coming from KELA.


Links:
  KELA: Maternity Benefits
  Suomi.fi: Having Children

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