Jordan News

Calls are growing for extending maternity leave to 90 days from 70 days for female employees in the private sector.

According to the Jordanian Labor Law, a pregnant employee is entitled to 70 days of paid leave.

Meanwhile, Jordan’s civil service regulation provides for 90 days of paid maternity leave for female public sector employees.

Talia Sobeih, a private sector employee who recently had a baby and is currently on maternity leave, said that most expectant mothers keep their annual leave and combine it with maternity leave.

“Mothers have the right to spend enough time with their children,” said Solaf Fakhri, also a mother.

Fakhri added that leaving her baby, who was less than three months old at the time, was “heartbreaking”. “I think that 70 days of maternity leave is not enough,” she said.

Fakhri confirmed that she suffered from complications during her pregnancy, but that she did not have many annual leave left, and therefore she was unable to extend the maternity leave.

“We need to spend more time with our newborns, this helps us to communicate with them and also helps mothers who suffer from postpartum depression,” Fakhry added.

As for Hamza Khalil, whose wife recently gave birth to twins, he said that three days of paternity leave is not enough, indicating that his wife underwent a caesarean section, which necessitated a three-night stay in the hospital. Because of Corona, he was the only person who was allowed to stay overnight in the hospital, so he had to extend the leave and get two more days of his annual leave.

According to the Jordanian Civil Service System (2020): “A pregnant worker is entitled to 90 consecutive days of paid maternity leave before and after childbirth, based on a medical report certified by the doctor or midwife. Maternity leave does not affect the employee’s entitlement to annual leave.”

“The employee is entitled to three paid paternity leave upon the birth of his wife, according to a medical report certified by the doctor or midwife,” according to the system.