Ministerial: Increase of maternity leave from 18 to 22 weeks

The programmatic position of the Government to increase the maternity leave from 18 to 22 weeks is implemented and if approved by the House of Representatives it will directly affect thousands of new working mothers.

During today's meeting, the Council of Ministers approved a Bill, prepared by the Ministry of Labor and Social Insurance, for the increase of maternity leave from 18 to 22 weeks, which will be immediately submitted to the Parliament to be discussed in the competent Parliamentary Committee and promoted in the Plenary for voting.

Specifically, the Bill provides for an increase in the duration of maternity leave from 18 to 22 weeks for the first child through birth or surrogate mother and from 16 to 20 weeks for the first child through adoption, while also increasing the additional maternity leave due to hospitalization infants after birth from six to eight weeks. It is expected that approximately 5.000 new working mothers will benefit annually, while it is noted that beneficiaries of the increased maternity leave will also be all new mothers who recently had their first child and who, when the Bill is approved, will not have completed the utilization of 18 weeks of the existing duration of maternity leave, to which the four weeks of increased duration of maternity leave will be added.

During the preparation of the Bill, an actuarial study was carried out which confirmed that the economic cost corresponds to the possibilities of the Social Insurance Fund, while a social dialogue was carried out and a consensus was formed between the social partners who were positioned positively.

The Government consistently implements the human-centered policy for which the President of the Republic has received a popular mandate, in accordance with the needs of society and the potential of the economy. An increase in maternity leave will make a significant contribution to strengthening the reconciliation between work and family life and allow new working mothers to stay longer with their children in the first months of their lives.