QUESTION;
Choose a country, other than the US, and share that country’s policy on maternity/paternity/family leave. What company policies and benefit/compensation practices would an HR manager in the US need to consider when expanding paid time off for family leave in that country?
For example, in China, women are provided with 98 paid days off, including holidays and weekends, for the birth of a child. This time off can begin up to two weeks prior to the birth of the child. Further, they may receive additional paid time off if they have a multiple birth or if they are older than 24 when they have the child. Women are also provided with paid time off for prenatal check-ups and for breastfeeding. Paid benefits may also be available after abortions and miscarriages. Men receive only about two weeks/10 days paid time off. Rules in individual provinces may affect the specific benefits that must be provided by law. An HR manager who has responsibilities for employees in China would minimally have to consider policies on family and medical leave, vacations, sick days, lactation, and paid time off.
Expecting in China: Employee Maternity Leave and Allowances. (2017, April 06). Retrieved July/August, 2018, from http://www.china-briefing.com/news/2017/04/06/maternity-leave-allowance-china.html
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Watch Video
The American Case for Paid Maternity Leave | Jessica Shortall | TEDxSMU
YouTube URL: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SJyE40koQyA
POST BY Veronica:
Maternity leave and allowance is given to pregnant women or women who have given birth in the last 6 - 8 weeks for a total of 126 calendar days. Maternity risk leave may be granted pregnant or postpartum women who are not on maternity leave and whose employer cannot guarantee working conditions that are free of risks to their health of that of the their child. Maternity risk allowance may be granted for up to 120 days before and after maternity leave as recommended by a family doctor or obstetrician and gynecologist.
To receive maternity leave and allowance a person must: be a legal resident of Romania, live together with the child or children for whom the allowance is requested, and have contributed at least 1 month to the social insurance system during the last 12 months prior to the maternity leave.
To receive maternity risk leave, a person must: be a legal resident of Romania and be employed and request this leave before maternity leave, or if postpartum or breastfeeding, a woman may apply for this benefit after the maternity leave ends and only if they do not request child-raising allowance for child aged up to 2 years old.
Maternity allowance is paid to the mother for 126 calender days while she is on leave. The period is made up of 63 days of leave before the birth and 63 days after. The first 42 days of leave after the child is born are compulsory. The remaining 84 need to be taken if the mother does not feel that she needs them or can be taken earlier, before the birth, or later, after the birth. Maternity allowance is equal to 85% of the average monthly income earned by the mother during the last 6 months prior to maternity leave. The allowance is paid for the 126 days of maternity leave, even if the child is stillborn. Maternity allowance is not subject to the income tax system, but recipients must pay a contribution of 10% of it to the health insurance system.
Maternity risk allowance is equal to 75% of the mother's average monthly income over the last 10 months before the benefit was requested. It is paid for a period of 120 days. Maternity leave and maternal risk leave are given by the employer on the recommendation of a specialist doctor or family doctor. Persons who are self-employed or authorized individuals must submit their application for maternity leave and maternity risk allowance to their local Health Insurance Authority.
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