New Zealand has yet again made it to the headlines with its empathetic and conscious legislative decisions. Recently, its parliament unanimously voted on a bill that can now enable couples and moms who undergo a miscarriage or stillbirth to get three days of paid leave.
The old law in New Zealand required employers to give paid leave to parents during a stillbirth when the baby was lost after more than 20 weeks. However, the new legislation has expanded the frontiers of the old law and is now applicable to any working person who goes through the loss of a child. This measure by the New Zealand government will be turned into a legal provision in the upcoming weeks.
This is a massive win towards making the workplace a more welcoming and sensitive space for women. Measures like these not only make women feel more at ease but also ensure that they don’t need to hesitate before asking for a day off in times of crisis. The legislation is setting an example for governance that is rooted in compassion. The New Zealand government is being praised across the globe for this law.
The provisions of this legislation are also applicable to parents adopting a baby as well as those opting for surrogacy. According to Ginny Andersen, a member of parliament from the Labour Party and the person who drafted this bill, the intention was to allow women and partners to overcome grief without using up their sick leave because grief is not sickness. It deserves its own time (1).
New Zealand has always led by example when it comes to women’s rights. It was the first country to provide voting rights to women. Under the leadership of Jacinda Ardern, the Prime Minister of New Zealand, the government has made some radical changes for women’s rights. One of the most significant of these was legalizing abortion last year.
But New Zealand is not the first nation to have passed the legislation for a paid leave during a miscarriage. Interestingly, India provides a bereavement leave under its Maternity Benefit Act. Passed in 1961, this act can be considered a predecessor of New Zealand’s new measure for women and parents. While this act does not have similar provisions for paternity leave, it is wonderful to observe how the Indian government legislated on such an act as early as 1961. According to the Maternity Benefit Act, in the case of a miscarriage, women can take up to six weeks of paid leave (2).
The Maternity Benefit Act has several other provisions too.
- Under this act, a woman suffering from any illness that may be caused by their pregnancy, premature birth, miscarriage, or delivery is eligible for a paid leave of up to one month.
- It also mentions that when a woman returns to work after her delivery, she is entitled to take two nursing breaks during her working hours to feed the baby until the child is fifteen months old.
- If a woman is absent from work under the provisions listed in this act, it is unlawful for their employer to dismiss them from work.
- Moreover, no pregnant woman shall be required to do work that involves long hours of standing and work that negatively impacts her physical well-being or the well-being of the developing fetus.
Working women are called upon to play multiple roles at once in their day-to-day life. What they need is a working environment that is cognizant of their struggle. As it turns out, there has been a growing conversation on the need to make the workplace more conducive for women. And this bill passed by the New Zealand government is proof of this shift in the larger population’s perspective.