Daily Times

Through the long role of ages and till date, women are the only exploited group to have been idealized into subjection. Most of them have never woken up into the uninhabited dawn from under the painful burden of their shackles. The continual nerve gritting sound of their tired feet is the utmost evidence of their devotion and their unrewarding existence.The state of Pakistan has become a hub for poor implication of basic laws in relation to this inaudible, dispossessed gender.

The female labour force participation rate is the percent of the female population ages 15 and older who are economically active. That includes the employed people as well as the unemployed people. The World Bank provides data for Pakistan from 1990 to 2017. The average value for Pakistan during that period was 18.43 percent with a minimumof 12.51 percent in 1995 and a maximum of 24.93percent in 2017. Hence, depicting a substantial increase in the number of working females.

Often voice raised is echoed back but never heard. This often leads to transforming grievances into words. Being a working woman since past three years has led me to voice out the blatant violations of the law in our country. As a young female employee of a well- known educational institute, I was traumatised when the organisation simply denied paying for my maternity leave. The definition of this leave is simple as it is usually understood to be a health and welfare measure, intended to protect the health of the mother and new born child.Enshrined in Article 37 (e) of the Constitution directs the state to make provision for securing just and humane conditions of work, ensuring that children and women are not employed in vocations unsuited to their age or sex, and for maternity benefits for women in employment.Likewise, articles 34 and 35, obligate the state to protect the family, mother and child and ensure the full participation of women in all spheres of national life. According to the West Pakistan Maternity Benefit Ordinance, 1958, every employed woman is entitled to 12 weeks of paid maternity leave.Unfortunately, the ordinance does not bring public and private organisations on the same policy page, and the 12 weeks leave benefit is only available to women in certain occupations, particularly those working in the government sector.

A uniform policy of paid maternity leave that applies to all public and private sectors, and to both formal and informal sectors, should be introduced

Shedding more light on the regulations the article (38) definespromotion of social and economic well-being of the people as it briefs that the state shall secure the well-being of the people, irrespective of sex, caste, creed or race, by raising their standard of living, by preventing the concentration of wealth and means of production and distribution in the hands of a few to the detriment of general interest and by ensuring equitable adjustment of rights between employers and employees, and landlords and tenants.

The cherry on top was added when the institute asked me to resign before I was leaving for my maternity leave as they were not sure of my return or was it just an excuse to not pay off for my maternity? I managed to work throughout my prenatal period. Is that too much of a price to ask for? My refusal led to some worst circumstances and they belittled me from time to time. Have I overlooked the point that I was given warnings letters on my late arrivals during my prenatal period? Last of all after working with them for consecutive three years they still have not given me a written contract and presented pointless excusesfrom time to time.The Standing Orders Ordinance1968 requires every employer to provide every worker an employment contract, showing terms and conditions of his/her service. The employer is responsible to provide this contract at the time of appointment, transfer or promotion.

Globally, 36 out of 43 countries have a statutory and designated maternity leave entitlement. The Czech Republic, Croatia, Israel, Spain and the UK, however, have introduced another dimension of flexibility: mothers may transfer part of the Maternity leave period to fathers. In China, most provinces have extended the duration of Maternity leave; the most common extension is to 158 days. In India in 2016 a bill amending the maternity bill act of 1961 was passed by the Rajya Sabha, increasing maternity leave from 12 weeks to 26 weeks for all establishments including private companies in the organized economic sectors.

Therefore, Pakistan’s maternity benefits legislation needs revision. A uniform policy of paid maternity leave that applies to all public and private sectors, and to both formal and informal sectors, should be introduced. In this regard, all organisations should be taken on board and it must be made mandatory to provide childcare support at the workplace. Affordable day care centres should be set up to accommodate even the middle-class working woman.The world is no longer to be governed by physical force, but by the influence which mind exerts over mind. The government needs to take steps in accurate policy making and the courts must take notice of whether the laws are being implemented properly. The greatest fear amongst women is not that they are inadequate but that they are powerful beyond measure.Strength is exhibited through mere fact that great social changes in a society are impossible without feminine upheaval.

The writer is a Lahore based lawyer

Published in Daily Times, March 17^th 2019.