Parliament has approved a change to the Employment Act that will give government employees with young children extra break time during the workday.
The new rule allows female government employees with children under two years old to take two daily breaks of 30 minutes each.
What is changing?
Before this change, mothers could take two 30 minute breaks only until their child turned one year old.
The new law extends these breaks until the child reaches two years of age.
The breaks will begin when a mother returns to work after maternity leave.
Did You Know?
In March 2019, Maldives amended the Employment Act to extend paid maternity leave for government employees from 60 days to 180 days (six months).
No pay will be reduced
The law also says that these breaks must not reduce the employee’s salary.
This means mothers can take the breaks without losing any pay.
Parliament vote
The amendment was passed in Parliament with a unanimous vote of 62 members.
One proposal suggested increasing the break time to 45 minutes instead of 30 minutes, but this suggestion was not approved.
Supporting working mothers
In recent years, other changes have also been made to support working mothers.
For example, maternity leave in Maldives was previously extended from three months to six months.
