Calls made to reinstate paternity leave and expand family care leave to primary caregivers

Calls are being made to reinstate paternity leave and to remove the restriction of family care leave to immediate family members only.

While proposing the reinstatement of paternity leave during a public consultation on the Employment Relations Act at the Suva Civic Centre, an employee says a woman giving birth needs her spouse’s support, and the male also needs to bond with the newborn.

She also says that in the proposed amendments, three days of family care leave is limited to immediate family members only and the household has been removed.

She gave the example of the PALM Scheme where the workers are going overseas and their children are being looked after by primary caregivers.

The woman says for instance, when the primary caregiver is sick, the worker needs to take family care leave to take care of both the primary caregiver and their children.

A FRCS employee also says there has been a lot of talk about maternity leave and asks if there is any consideration for paternity leave.

Ministry of Employment’s Deputy Secretary Operations, Atish Kumar says paternity leave is not part of the review process but they have taken the proposal on board.

People have time to make written submissions until Friday on the Employment Relations Act and the Work Care Bill.