Maternity leave is a legally mandated break provided to corporate women in Ghana to enable them to care for their newborn babies and prepare for their role as working mothers.
This leave typically lasts for a minimum of 12 weeks and is funded by the employer. During this time, women are entitled to a one-hour break from their corporate duties to breastfeed and attend to their babies.
The provision for maternity leave is outlined in the 1992 constitution of Ghana and is also cited in the ILO Maternity Protection Convention 1952.
However, these policies do not apply to women in the informal sector, as their work is often not regulated by the local government and may not be properly taxed.
Consequently, women in the informal sector may take as much maternity leave as they see fit, potentially impacting the availability of unskilled labor in the country if not regulated.
To mitigate the impact of maternity leave, some companies prefer to hire women without children or older women to avoid disruptions.
Additionally, certain start-up companies reserve managerial positions for women to address potential gaps during maternity leave.
Some highly educated women have chosen entrepreneurship or skill acquisition over traditional employment to better accommodate their desires to raise a family.
Some individuals have called for the International Labor Organization (ILO) to revise the policy by extending the duration of maternity leave and to enforce sanctions on employers who fail to pay maternity leavers their salaries or fail to pay them at all.
Increased awareness on these issues is also advocated to prevent unnecessary disruptions in the corporate sector.
In conclusion, the lack of clear and comprehensive policies for maternity leave has various implications for women in these fields of work and highlights the need for further legislative action to address this in the country’s constitution.
