newborn

Black Immigrant Daily News

This week’s featured development as Newsmaker of the Week just ended is the announcement that paternity leave will soon become a reality in the public sector.

The disclosure was made by Finance and the Public Service Minister, Dr Nigel Clarke, while speaking on the Government’s restructuring of public sector compensation at a press conference on Tuesday afternoon.

Clarke also disclosed that the Government intends to increase maternity leave from 40 days to three calendar months, and also provide leave for adoptive parents.

However, it is the planned paternity leave introduction that has led to a range of discussions across the country, with some persons questioning whether it is necessary for fathers to be granted leave, or whether men who have multiple children with different women will have access to such leave.

Some commentators have, however, scoffed at such views, arguing that the Government will likely implement provisions for fathers not to abuse the paternity leave.

There are also some who suggest that men who have multiple children should not be discriminated against if they should apply for such leave.

Dr Nigel Clarke

Clarke, on Tuesday, said the Government intends to update the Public Sector Staff Orders of 2004 to introduce paternity leave “for the first time in the public service, for fathers of new-borns, for a specific time and on specific terms to be finalised.”

According to him, paternity leave, as well as maternity leave and leave for adoptive parents in the public service, are components of the public sector compensation review.

A 2020 online survey conducted by the Hugh Shearer Labour Studies Institute at the University of the West Indies Open Campus, in collaboration with the Jamaica Civil Service Association (JCSA), showed that more than 90 per cent of public servants in Jamaica would support the idea of paid paternity leave in the public sector.

For his part, Prime Minister Andrew Holness said the planned introduction of paternity leave is another step by the Government to improve the lives and working environment of public sector employees locally.

He made the declaration at Wednesday’s launch of the Cabinet’s Service Excellence Policy, where he also described the paternity leave push as being “innovative”.

“I think it’s (paternity leave) quite good and welcomed. I think there will be a lot of debate, but the public debate will resolve… and we will come to a good equilibrium in this regard, but the country would be advanced,” said Holness.

Prime Minister Andrew Holness

“My job, however, is today to make another announcement parallel to that, which is we are improving how workers are able to live and work, but also the standard that we require of them in terms of performance and productivity to serve the public, of which they are a part, and the very public sector workers complain about,” he added.

Several commentators have been weighing in on the planned introduction of paternity leave, a first in the public service’s history.

Social scientist and commentator, Dr Orville Taylor, welcomed the announcement in an interview with Loop News, claiming that it is overdue in Jamaica.

Taylor, who has himself recommended leave in several publications, said it is a very good idea, but it is the unions’ idea and part of their claim.

Dr Orville Taylor

But he said it ought not to have been announced until the negotiations are complete.

“Nonetheless, paternity leave is overdue. I’ve advocated it since my days at the ministry in the 1990s. In any event, this is a case of an employer giving his workers a benefit. I want to see statute from the minister of labour,” he said.

President of the University and Allied Workers’ Union, Lambert Brown, also welcomed the minister’s announcement on paternity leave.

“I appreciate the announcement that there will be paternity leave for Government workers. Clearly the details have to be worked out. Just as the maternity leave where the unions called for three months’ maternity leave in the public sector and that has now been granted, we’d also called for paternity leave to be granted,” Brown said in an interview with Loop News.

Brown, who is also an Opposition Senator and Spokesman on the Public Service, said he anticipates meeting with the minister to discuss the length and frequency of the maternity leave.

Lambert Brown

Still, there are some negative comments concerning some men who have impregnated multiple women. Some persons say paternity leave would be open to abuse by men claiming more than one woman pregnant in the same period.

However, Taylor rubbished those arguments as nonsense, with some bordering on stupidity.

“At present, there is maternity leave for women. There is no rule that says that the employer is responsible for giving maternity leave indefinitely to a woman. In fact, the current status of the law is that a woman can only claim maternity leave with pay three times per employer,” he highlighted.

He suggested that the Government could easily put restrictions in place similar to what obtains for maternity leave.

“What people are attempting to do is build up the negative stereotype about careless Jamaican fathers. That stereotype is the exception, not the rule. The average Jamaican man who impregnates a woman will claim that she is his woman 97 per cent of the time, and 92 per cent of the time the woman says it is her man,” he posited.

Taylor, however, acknowledged that there will be the exceptional cases where a man would get multiple women pregnant at the same time.

“What would one say in a country where there is a high degree of paternity fraud, would the employer attempt to rescind the amount of leave a person got when it is discovered that it is not his child?” Taylor asked.

He said society must not take something that is good and make it into something bad because of exceptional cases.

Attorney-at-law Gavin Goffe, speaking in a media interview this week, cautioned against barring Jamaican men who have children with multiple women from paternity leave.

“It is absolute nonsense. The fact that women can have multiple partners and baby fathers and that doesn’t affect their rights, it shouldn’t affect a man’s right either,” he argued, adding that, “We are in modern times now and families look a lot different than they used to.”

Goffe, however, said he expected that the provisions that govern paternity leave would have restrictions on the number of time men could access it.

Prominent trade unionist Vincent Morrison also welcomed both the Government’s changes to maternity leave and the introduction of paternity leave in the public sector, though he argued that it is “too late”.

Still, he expressed satisfaction that the Government is “finally getting on board with respect to paternity leave”.

“We do believe that every worker… every man in Jamaica, when his wife is about to deliver his child, he should be at the bedside giving her support; he should be in the house support(ing),” said Morrison.

The paternity leave issue has led to a range of views across various social media platforms.

“What about fathers who get jacket?… We need extra leave to deal with the emotional stress,” joked Facebook user, Don Reid.

Another user, Beverly Harris, found nothing logical with the introduction of paternity leave in the public sector.

“The Government loves to make grand announcements without explanations, because as far as I am aware, the terms and conditions of paternity leave have yet to be decided on. And why on earth is a father getting (paternity) leave? To do what? For how long?” she questioned.

Similarly, Kandy Davis had some questions on paternity leave.

“But some of these men have six or more women preggo (pregnant) in one year, so how is that going to work out? He only gets leave for the main woman or wife, I guess? This type of thing is not for careless people; this will lead to non-productivity,” she opined.

Another Facebook user, Bruce Smith, had no issue with men being granted paternity leave.

“Why is this even a discussion? If women are getting leave beyond what is typically required for physical recovery, then in the interest of fairness and equality, men should also be getting the same paid leave,” Smith indicated.

Tina Fenton shared: “Thanks for making this move. Now fathers should have to prove paternity by having their names on the birth certificates and (be) held liable for upbringing the children as well.”

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