After giving birth, the 37-year-old mother stayed on maternity leave for 45 days. In order to cover her medical expenses, she had to request that a colleague work on her behalf and collect money from various members she was looking after. When asked whether her office provided her basic salary along with maternity leave, which the labor law grants, she observed, “It’s already seven months, and they don’t even mention it. Even the leave was out of whim.”[break]
This might be a mere example found in the capital, but the case is illustrative of the countless women throughout the country who must work to support their families. Yet with only 10 labor offices nationwide and lack of monitoring, the government is not in the position to guarantee whether the laws are being implemented.
The law
“Life continues in this world because a woman is capable of reproducing,” observes advocate Meera Dhungana. “And besides, she is also putting her life to risk while giving birth.” In Nepal alone, she notes, for each one hundred thousand women, 150 lose their lives from the time of pregnancy to delivery. Therefore, the state must guarantee certain maternity facilities and benefits for working women to make the process friendlier.
But, she points out, that Nepal’s laws concerning maternity are also very limited. Article 20(2) of the Interim Constitution of Nepal states that “every woman shall have rights to reproductive health and reproduction.” Complying with this, the state grants maternity benefits to working women.
However, the provisions basically deal with the leave benefit only. Other issues, such as health benefits and facilities, have been overlooked. As a consequence, practices revolve around maternity leave itself without focusing upon the other critical requirements for working women. Most seriously, “women often face threat of job loss,” asserts women rights activist Bandana Rana.
“This is particularly so because there are no acts at the national level that guarantees a pregnant woman her job and other benefits,” informs Hansa Ram Pandey, director of Human Resource and Employer Council, Federation of Nepalese Chamber of Commerce and Industries (FNCCI).
For now, the civil service sector appears to be more liberal in terms of health benefits and facilities, granting Rs 5,000 as childcare for two children. According to the Ministry of Women, Social Welfare and Children, this has been in practice from 2063, when the laws were amended. This figure is matched by Nepal Army and Police Act.
Apart from this, there are private sectors where a woman can claim medical expenses. Instances are Mega Bank and Nepal Investment Bank.
“We have policy of health and accident insurances which a woman employee can use to cover her pregnancy medical expenses,” informs the human resource heads of the aforementioned banks.
In all this, continues Bandana Rana, we often tend to neglect how infants are being deprived of the right to be with the mother and vice versa. She observes, “Apart from coming up with health benefits and facility provisions, we also must come up with ways that help a woman to be with her newborn child.”
According to International Labor Organization’s (ILO) latest convention, a woman shall be provided with the right to one or more daily breaks or a daily reduction of hours of work to breastfeed her child.
But according to the FNCCI and Ministry of Labor and Transportation, the country is yet to ratify all provisions mentioned in ILO Maternity Health Protection Convention, 2000 despite being a member country. “If it is done at the national level, at least there will be a set of standard laws, which other sectors should abide by,” says Pandey of FNCCI.
The country’s law also has it that if there are more than 50 women staffs in a company, a childcare center or crèche must be set up. Following the provision, a crèche is being set up inside the premises of Singha Durbar. The Ministry of Women, Social Welfare and Children plans to gradually extend the centers in other government offices as well. On the other hand, private organizations like Nepal Investment Bank with 13 branches in Kathmandu district feels that there is an increasingly importance of childcare centers for working mothers.
But what about small organizations?
“In such cases, the organization must be flexible with the working hours and provide time for breastfeeding,” shares Bandana Rana. Talking about her organization, Saathi, she informs, “Our manpower is small and we don’t have the ability to afford a crèche, but we are flexible with our timings when it comes to a new mother.”
With the growth in number of working women and I/NGOs advocating women’s rights issues, amendments have been made regarding the number of days of maternity leave. Still, inconsistencies prevail in the leave provisions for women involved in different work sectors.
There are sectors that meet the ILO Maternity Health Protection Convention, 2000’s maternity leave policy. Among them are ILO’s country office and Appellate and District courts. From 60 days, maternity leave for women judges have been amended to 98.
While legal people have their rights secured, for the rest of the women, the case is not so.
Sunita Nepal, section officer at the Ministry of Women, Children and Social Welfare, informs, “After the amendment of policy in 2063, leave for women staffs in the civil service was extended to two months from 45 days.” Apart from it, they can also opt for six months of unpaid leave.
But the 45-day leave still exists in the labor regulations relating to Tea Estate (2050) Act. And a few organizations like Mega Bank and Laxmi Bank still implement 45-day leave policy, while Nepal Investment go by 52-day leave policy. “But one can always extend the leave because there are policies of annual leave, and one can also use the accumulated leave during this time,” informs Jenu Thapa, Human Resource Head of the bank. Laxmi Bank, on the other hand, is surveying to improve its maternity leave policy.
A sad part about the tea estate regulation is unlike other sectors where women employees are paid half their salary during their maternity leave.
While civil service staffs and journalists are to be provided 60 days of paid maternity leave, the case is different for women staffs in the industrial sector. According to the labor regulations, the latter get 52 days of paid maternity leave.
Abiding by the labor regulations, FNCCI also entitles its women employees with 52 days of maternity leave with full pay.
“Despite being an umbrella organization of the Nepali private sector, it is not mandatory for our members to follow our policies. They vary according to the companies,” says Pandey.
Maternity leave from physiological aspects
“After delivery, it is six weeks for the reproductive organ, i.e., the uterus, to regain its normalcy. Along with these six weeks, a new mother should get additional rest before resuming her work,” informs gynecologist Kiran Bajracharya. The doctor recommends on cutting down workload and taking rest at the end of the last month before the given time of delivery.
A child should be exclusively fed mother’s milk without any substitutes for six months, says Bajracharya. Feeding other supplements, such as water, results in diarrhea and indigestion. According to the doctor, a child should be breastfed until one reaches two years of age. “There will be very less chances of recurrent infections if a baby is breastfed. It builds up immunity to against infections and other diseases.”
Amendments
Apart from approving ILO Maternity Convention 2000, there are other aspects that have to be taken into consideration by the state.
At present, maternity leave and benefits are given only twice throughout one’s service period. But following the criticism, the Supreme Court scrapped the existing provisions under the Civil Service, Nepal Army and Nepal Police Acts, and the practice followed by various private sector employers related to maternity leave and facilities. “According to the decision, facilities should be guaranteed to women employees notwithstanding the number of babies,” informs advocate Dhungana. This, according to Forum for Women, Law and Development (FWLD), is yet to be implemented.
As the process of reforming the laws moves ahead, female activists and ordinary workers such as Sikshya feel that a strict monitoring body is essential for improvement.
Jenu Thapa sees a further possible step. She calls for organizations to come up with special packages. For instance, there are cases of complications during the last stage of pregnancy; so there must be packages that deal with such stage.
Improvement looms
While the Supreme Court’s decision is yet to be acted upon, according to the Forum for Women, Law and Development (FWLD), the Ministry of Labor and Transportation states that it is preparing to amend labor provisions for the past two years. Radhika Aryal, section officer at the Ministry, speaking on behalf of the Ministry spokesperson, Purna Chandra Bhattarai, states, “Discussions and workshops are being carried out for the law reformation but due to bureaucratic and political situation of the country, we cannot exactly outline the date.”
Now with the law practitioners already securing their share of rights, the rest of the country waits for fairnes on the issue.. And though such matters move slowly in Nepal, it is hoped that the urgency of the matter touches the hearts of those concerned, and results in an improved situation that favors mothers who have to suffer, and for the children who need bonding in the early stages.
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