KUCHING: Minister in the Chief Minister’s Department Datin Fatimah Abdullah welcomes the decision of the government to extend the maternity leave in public sectors to 90 days.
However, she advised working mothers to play a proactive role in assisting their departments to ensure that overall productivity level would not be affected during the long leave.
“Since 90 days is a long period, both employers and working mothers should do proper planning so that productivity would not be affected.
“For working mothers, it is crucial to hand over tasks to their replacement earlier so that the replacement would get use to the job scope and responsibilities. It has to be a win-win situation for both parties,” she said.
Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak, when tabling Budget 2011 in Parliament yesterday, announced that maternity leave would be extended to 90 days.
Speaking to reporters after attending a function here yesterday, Fatimah said the extension would bring long term benefits to the families.
She explained that a mother could extend the breast feeding period which was important for the nutrition of a child, as well as to establish a close bonding between mother and child.