00:00President of the association, Nicole Rees-James, says extended leave can strengthen early family bonding while supporting a mother's recovery
00:09after childbirth.
00:11She notes that the additional time at home can also contribute to improved health outcomes for both mother and baby.
00:18However, Rees-James says there must be greater clarity on the details of the proposed amendments to the current Maternity
00:26Protection Act.
00:27So firstly, I would like to say that we are speaking to changes and we actually do not have the
00:36boundaries to which the changes are being made against.
00:38So we are not quite sure what the, we know that we expect an extension to the leave, but we
00:46don't know how far that extension is expected.
00:49And I guess that is where consultations will come in to be able to see how far can we go?
00:54Can we go to that 24-week mark from 14?
00:57She referenced several provisions recommended by the World Health Organization,
01:02questioning whether those standards would be considered as Trinidad and Tobago moves to modernize its labor laws.
01:09Well, we appreciate and recommend the provisions that are in the Act as they stand.
01:17But looking at what is recommended by WHO, where we are asking mothers to have exclusive breastfeeding for at least
01:28six months,
01:29we would appreciate if the maternity leave as it stands now at 14 weeks can be expanded.
01:36She also stresses the importance of safeguarding the rights of mothers returning to the workplace,
01:43noting that protection must be in place to ensure women are able to resume their duties without disadvantage.
01:50The Act does allow for that and that is where the labor organizations themselves are to be the persons,
01:57to ensure that persons are aware of the benefits that they have.
02:00They are aware of what they have access to and that they can indeed have recourse
02:05if they believe that there are rights against discrimination in the workplace,
02:10because it stands that mothers, when they return to work, should return at the same status at which they would
02:15have left.
02:16There should be no problems as far as their job status when they do decide to return to work.
02:23Nicole M. Romany, TV6 News.
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