The Legislative Assembly (AL) yesterday unanimously passed the outline of a government-initiated bill that proposes to raise the number of days for statutory paid maternity leave in the private sector to 90 days from the current 70 days.
The bill also proposes to raise the number of days for private-sector employees’ statutory minimum paid annual leave. Currently, the number is six days for all private-sector employees with a minimum of one-year employment, regardless of their length of service. The bill, the outline of which was passed yesterday, proposes to establish a system where the number of days for employees’ statutory paid annual leave will increase with their length of service, but with a maximum of 12 days.
The bill proposes amendments to the Labour Relations Law, which regulates the private sector’s employment. The public sector has its own employment regulations that are much more generous than those of its private counterpart.
As the position of Macau’s secretary for economy and finance was still vacant yesterday following Anton Tai Kin Ip’s resignation on April 16 this year, the outline of the amendment bill was introduced by the chief-of-cabinet of the Secretariat for Economy and Finance, Lo Chi Fai, during a plenary session of the legislature’s hemicycle yesterday.
After yesterday’s passage of its outline, the amendment bill will be passed to one of the legislature’s standing committees for an article-by-article review, after which it will be resubmitted to another plenary session for its second and final debate and article-by-article vote.
During yesterday’s plenary session, Lo said that after assessing the around 10,000 opinions and suggestions gathered during a 45-day public consultation earlier this year, the government concluded that members of Macau’s civil society generally agree with its proposals to raise the number of days for private-sector employees’ statutory paid maternity leave and the number of days for their statutory minimum paid annual leave.
Lo underlined that the government has drafted the amendment bill after considering local businesses’ capabilities to adapt to the new requirements proposed by the bill while striking the right balance between the labour and business sectors.
When the Labour Relations Law came into force in 2009, the number of days for statutory paid maternity leave was 56 days. The number was raised to the current 70 days on May 26, 2020 when the law’s amended, current version took effect.
Private-sector employees with a minimum of one-year employment, regardless of local and non-resident workers (NRWs), are entitled to statutory paid maternity leave. The Labour Relations Law’s current version requires 63 days out of the 70 days of statutory paid maternity leave to be used immediately after the baby’s birth, while the mother can choose to take the remaining seven days before or after the birth.
According to Lo, the amendment bill proposes to raise the number of days for statutory paid maternity leave to 90 days from the current 70 days. The bill proposes that 60 days out of the proposed 90 days of statutory paid maternity leave to be used immediately after the baby’s birth, while the mother can choose to take the remaining 30 days before or after the birth.
The government proposes that the bill, if passed by lawmakers in its final reading, will take legal effect on January 1 next year.
After the Labour Relations Law’s current version took effect on May 26, 2020, the government ran a three-year transition period during which the respective employers were only required to pay at least 56 days out of the 70 days of statutory paid maternity leave, while the remaining up to 14 days was paid by the government.
After the three-year transition period ended on May 25, 2023, the government once again launched a scheme, on a provisional basis, subsidising eligible employers’ payments of 14 days of maternity leave. Under the scheme, which is now running until December 31 this year, eligible employers must pay mothers the whole 70-day maternity period first before filing an application to the Labour Affairs Bureau (DSAL) to receive a subsidy of 14 days of maternity leave.
The current subsidy only applies to local female employees, because of which the employer of a mother who is a non-resident worker (NRW) still needs to pay the whole 70-day maternity period.
Govt to run maternity leave subsidy on permanent basis
Lo said during yesterday’s plenary session that after the number of days for statutory paid maternity leave is raised to 90 days, the government will continue to subsidise eligible employers’ payments of maternity leave. Instead of a provisional one, the government will launch a subsidy scheme on a permanent basis, according to which eligible employers can apply for a subsidy of up to 20 days of maternity leave, Lo said.
He said that after the amendment bill is passed by the legislature in its final reading, the government will draw up an administrative regulation (by-law) governing the modus operandi of the subsidy.
The amendment bill does not propose to increase the number of days for statutory paid paternity leave from the current five days. Lo said yesterday that the government has been aware of certain opinions raised during the public consultation earlier this year calling for an increase in paternity leave. He said that the government would address the matter when proposing another possible amendment to the Labour Relations Law.
Concerning the number of days for private-sector employees’ statutory minimum paid annual leave, the amendment bill proposes that employees with up to two years of service for the same employers will continue to be entitled to six days of paid annual leave, with those with their length of service ranging between two and four years to be entitled to seven days of paid annual leave; those working for the same employers between four and six years to be entitled to eight days of leave; those working between six and eight years to be entitled to nine days of leave; those working between 8 and 10 years to be entitled to 10 days of leave; those working between 10 and 12 years to be entitled to 11 days of leave; and those working for the same employers for at least 12 years to be entitled to 12 days of paid annual leave.
Lo Chi Fai, the chief-of-cabinet of the Secretariat for Economy and Finance, addresses yesterday’s plenary session in the Legislative Assembly’s (AL) hemicycle. – Photo courtesy of TDM
