Head of Service, Mrs. Oluseyi Williams, who made the revelation said the new policy was informed by the situation where nursing mothers abandon their new born babies in the hands of care-givers as early as six weeks in other to return to work.
She appealed to other employers of labour and private establishments in the country to take a cue from the policy. With the new policy, she explained that female officers will henceforth be entitled to 24 weeks (six months) maternity leave with full pay in the case of her first two deliveries, with the said leave expected to commence at least two weeks before the expected delivery date.
The government also approved a 10 working days paternity leave for male officers in relation to and at the time of his spouse’s first two deliveries.
In the previous policy, female officers were only entitled to twelve weeks (three months) maternity leave, while their male counterparts were not considered for paternity leave.
Williams said government was concerned about the trend that parents spend more time at work place at the expense of the home front, saying such was detrimental to the basic developmental needs of children and often account for a number of societal ills.
“Medical science has also proved that the first few months of a child’s life has a great deal to play in the latter development of that child physically, mentally and emotionally.However, at six months, that is 24 weeks, a baby is considered strong enough to be left in a decent crèche for proper care having gone through close affection and nurturing by the mother for those important and delicate first few months of his or her life.” She said.
The Head of Service expressed optimism that the new leave policy expected to take effect immediately, will go a long way to enhance a balanced family-work life.
