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- Ελληνικά
The Government's programmatic position to increase maternity leave from 18 to 22 weeks is being implemented and if approved by the House of Representatives will directly affect thousands of new working mothers.
The Cabinet of Ministers at today's meeting approved a Bill, prepared by the Ministry of Labour and Social Insurance, to increase maternity leave from 18 to 22 weeks, which will be immediately submitted to the Parliament for discussion in the relevant Parliamentary Committee and forwarded to the Plenum for a vote.
Specifically, the Bill provides for an increase in the duration of maternity leave from 18 to 22 weeks for the first child through childbirth or surrogacy and from 16 to 20 weeks for the first child through adoption, and also increases the additional maternity leave due to hospitalization of the infant after birth from six to eight weeks. It is expected that approximately 5,000 new working mothers will benefit annually, and it is noted that all new mothers who have recently had their first child and at the time of the Bill's adoption have not completed the use of the 18 weeks of existing maternity leave, to which the four weeks of increased maternity leave will be added, will also be eligible for the increased maternity leave.
During the preparation of the Bill, an actuarial study was carried out which confirmed that the financial costs correspond to the capacities of the Social Insurance Fund, while a social dialogue was conducted and a consensus was reached among the social partners, who took a positive position.
The Government is consistently implementing the people-centred policy for which the President of the Republic has received a popular mandate, in accordance with the needs of society and the potential of the economy. The increase in maternity leave will contribute significantly to enhancing the reconciliation between work and family life and will allow new working mothers to remain close to their children for a longer period of time during the first months of their lives.
(MS/GC)
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