Extension of no-pay infant care leave to public healthcare institutions

Name and Constituency of Member of Parliament
Ms K Thanaletchimi
Nominated MP

Question No. 1056

To ask the Minister for Health whether the option of the additional four weeks of no-pay infant care leave that will be introduced for public sector employees will be extended to all public healthcare institutions and, if not, when will this be rolled out to these institutions.

Written Answer

1    From July 2017, Government Ministries and Statutory Boards will conduct a three-year pilot to test the viability of providing an additional four weeks of unpaid infant care leave to their employees who wish to apply for such leave.  The purpose of the pilot is to assess whether it is feasible to extend this arrangement to other organisations in future. 

2    As public healthcare institutions are separate from government Ministries and Statutory Boards, they are not part of the pilot.  We encourage our public healthcare institutions to discuss with the Unions on the feasibility of having this arrangement for their employees.