(MENAFN- Muscat Daily) An International Labour Organization (ILO) report has wrongly stated that Oman is among the three countries in the world that do not provide financial support to working women on maternity leave. The Omani Labour Law specifically mentions a 50-day paid maternity leave with full salary.
According to the ILO report, 'Maternity and paternity at work: Law and practice across the world' released on May 13, out of the 185 countries and territories with information available, all but three provide cash benefits to women during maternity leave.
The report said that the three exceptions are Oman, Papua New Guinea and the US, all of which provide some form of maternity leave but have no general legal provision for cash benefits.
'In Oman, paid maternity leave is not a statutory right. A worker can choose either to consider her period of absence from work as maternity leave without pay, or as sick leave paid by social security. As pointed out by the ILO Committee of Experts, drawing on sick leave benefits instead of maternity leave benefits is contrary to ILO standards on maternity protection, as the practice has the effect of unduly shortening the worker's right to sickness benefits in the postnatal period, when she might need them most, and leading to potential discrimination against women (CEACR, Observation, C183, Latvia, 2013),' states the report.
However, Article 83 of the Omani Labour Law (2012) states, 'A female employee shall have the right to a special 50-day maternity leave covering the periods before and after delivery with full salary for not more than three times during her service with the employer.'
The UN report further states that in the Middle East, reliance on social security is the lowest of all regions, with 75 per cent of countries in this region relying on employer liability systems. Only Bahrain and Jordan provide benefits through their social security systems. Lebanon uses a mixed social security and employer liability system. 'In Oman, as previously discussed, there is no statutory provision of paid maternity leave,' the report states.
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