The Senate on Monday passed ‘The Maternity and Paternity Leave Bill, 2018’ that was moved on private members’ day by Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Senator Quratulain Marri.

According to the details, while the bill was passed by the Upper House with a majority, the treasury benches opposed it. The bill will now go to the National Assembly for a vote.

The said bill increases paid maternity leave of working mothers both in public and private sectors, and for the first time in the country, also grants paid paternity leave to fathers.

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The bill says that employees of every establishment should be provided six months paid maternity and three months paternity leave as and when applied by employees, separately from their leave account, commencing from the date as applied by the applicant in the application and supported by a medical certificate.

It adds that the employees shall also be provided with an additional three months optional unpaid maternity and one-month paternity leave, separately from their leave account, if required by the employee.

The Maternity and Paternity Leave Bill

The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government opposed the bill saying that such long maternity leave was not allowed anywhere in the world. Economic Affairs Minister Hammad Azhar said mothers can get 90-day maternity leave under the already-existing law.