By: Staff Writer
March 11, 2025
The Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) in a new report said that for employment protection there needs to be at least 14 weeks of paid maternity leave.
The report, “Time for care in Latin America and the Caribbean: towards social and gender co-responsibility,” using statistics from the International Labour Organisation, also said that there needs to be a “prohibition of dismissal during pregnancy and use of leave and the right to return to the same or an equivalent position at the end of maternity leave.”
Currently, there are only five countries that offer 18 weeks or more of maternity leave, 10 countries allow between 14 and 17 weeks of leave, and 18 provide for less than 14 weeks.
The report also said: “In Latin America and the Caribbean, few countries have ratified the maternity protection standards. As of September 2024, only 8 countries had ratified Convention No. 183,2 while 13 had ratified Convention No. 156.3 In this context, the Committee of Experts on the Application of Conventions and Recommendations has invited all countries to consider ratifying both these conventions and to avail themselves of ILO technical assistance to assess potential obstacles to ratification and effective implementation
“Convention No. 156 and Recommendation No. 165 highlight the need to adopt policies that strike a balance between care and employment responsibilities. In this context, it is essential to adopt specific measures to comply with the Convention’s provisions on maternity leave and to establish paternity and parental leave for the care of children. It is also necessary to implement care services for children of various ages and for other family members, and to adjust the terms and conditions of jobs to enable workers to fulfil their family responsibilities. In addition, training and job intermediation services should be offered, as well as social insurance provisions that take unpaid care into account.”
It added: “In addition to the aforementioned types of leave, there are also others that aim to provide time for care. Long-term care leave makes it possible to care for sick or dependent family members who need support in their daily activities.
“In this context, Recommendation No. 165 proposes the establishment of leave to look after children or immediate family members who need care because of illness. Urgent leave, in contrast, is short-term leave for cases of force majeure in situations of family emergency, and provides crucial support to workers.”
The report also said: “Care policies encompass a variety of measures aimed at creating a new social organization of care that makes it possible to guarantee the right to care. These include measures related to regulatory frameworks, data and information, infrastructure, care services and entitlements, financing, programme implementation, regulation, training and certification, governance and administration, as well as decisive action in multiple dimensions and through a variety of policies to end the current sexual division of labour (ECLAC, 2024). They are implemented through services, transfers, leave provisions, or regulations that make it possible to provide care while guaranteeing the rights of those receiving and providing care. Care policies must be addressed from the social, environmental and economic dimensions, as they are crucial for achieving social well-being and sustainable development.
“In this context, leave periods, regulations and instruments that extend the time allowed for care are fundamental for fostering social and gender co-responsibility in caregiving, guaranteeing the rights of those who receive care and those who provide it, and enabling progress towards equality and the care society.”