Paid Maternity Leave Extension Strongly Opposed
8 December 2010
The European Parliament’s proposed 20 weeks of maternity leave at full pay will be opposed by Edward Davey, Minister for Employment Relations, at the EU Employment Council meeting.
- Arguments for the opposition include:
- Considerable and unacceptable costs to EU State Members during a recession;
- Seen as ‘socially regressive’ as the highest earning women will benefit the most (the current UK’s standard flat rate of maternity pay of £124.88 per week);
- The proposal will make it harder to develop systems of shared parental leave.
