By Shailendree Wickrama Adittiya
On 3 February, this column focused on paternity leave in Sri Lanka’s public sector, both in terms of the present situation and how it needs to change.
In the second part of this series, we will look at paternity leave in Sri Lanka’s private sector, which is not legally obligated to grant it.
When considering the importance of paternity leave, questions arise whether the need for such a policy exists, and if implemented, how it would impact companies as well as women in the labour force.
Since the responsibility of childcare falls on the mother, the lack of high-quality childcare facilities would primarily affect working women.
This could result in more women having to quit their jobs after childbirth and face discrimination in the recruitment process as employers would prefer to recruit men who would not require 84 days of leave if and when they choose to start a family.
In a 2018 article titled “Men Should Take Parental Leave – Here’s Why”, Forbes reported: “Women and men start in the workplace at 50/50 and yet only 6.4% of CEOs are women at Fortune 500 companies...There are two big issues that women face. The first is work-life balance and the second is hiring bias.”
If such a small number of female CEOs are seen in the largest corporations in the US, which has far greater opportunities for women in business and industry, it is of little surprise that the situation in Sri Lanka is far worse.
The local context
Women’s Chamber of Industry and Commerce (WCIC) Chairperson Chathuri Ranasinghe shed light on the current situation in Sri Lanka with regard to the barriers women face in employment and how paternity leave could address these.
“With a 51% female population in Sri Lanka, it is sad to observe that Sri Lanka’s female labour force participation rate is only around 35% compared to the male participation rate of 75%. Further, as per statistics available, the literacy rate among Sri Lankan women is 92.6% and the share of female student enrolment in university undergraduate level is around 60%. Even with such remarkable educational achievements of Sri Lankan women, they are not portrayed in economic participation.”
She added that the majority of the highly qualified female academics, professionals and also the female labour force are seen staying home, especially after marriage, to care for children, the elderly, and the sick, and household responsibilities are seen as the woman’s priority against the woman’s contribution to economic participation.
Hiring bias is also an issue Sri Lankan women face, and as Ceylon Bank Employees Union (CBEU) President Channa Dissanayake said: “This happens far less in government institutes, but in the private sector, when it comes to recruitment, there is certain reluctance when recruiting women.”
The importance of childcare has also been researched in depth during the past few years. In the report titled “Tackling Childcare in Sri Lanka: The Business Case for Employer-Supported Childcare” by International Financial Corporation (IFC) in collaboration with UNICEF, the benefits of employer-supported childcare for parents highlight the fact that “poor access to high-quality childcare is a leading reason for parents with children to drop out of the labour force”.
Ranasinghe believes paternity leave can play a role in changing this situation.
“To induce women’s economic participation, it is imperative to support human resource policies inclusive of paternal leave which would ease the woman’s plunge into work-life balance and thereby allowing her to continue to remain in the workforce.”
As discussed in the previous article on this topic, the Public Administration Circular 03/2006 grants three days of paternity leave in the occasion of childbirth to permanent, temporary, casual, or trainee public officers.
“It is heartening to note that Sri Lanka Government has granted paternity leave of at least three days,” Ranasinghe said, adding that “it was time for a national policy making paternity leave mandatory”.
Legislation
Sri Lanka currently has no legislature in place that obligates or requires private sector companies to grant paternity leave, regardless of duration, to employees. The lack of legislature with regard to paternity leave was discussed in the previous article, with the Ministry of Labour stating that no discussions were taking place with regard to establishing a paternity leave policy for the private sector.
However, Chief Legal Officer/Commissioner of Labour (Enforcement) Milanga Weerakkody said that the ministry has no objections to any private companies adopting such a policy.
He also added: “Requests for paternity leave have come from the unions, but the companies themselves haven’t made any such requests.”
Despite this, there have been companies taking the initiative and putting such policies in place. In 2017, Standard Chartered Bank launched a paternity leave programme for its employees.
With a global network that reaches over 60 markets, Standard Chartered Bank has been in the business for over 150 years. Head of Human Resources for the local branch, Ransi Dharmasiriwardhana spoke about their paternity leave programme.
“Standard Chartered Bank has always been ahead of the minimum paternity leave requirement as per the Shop and Office Act, and in fact in 2017, further enhanced this by providing the entitled fathers two calendar weeks of paid paternity leave, regardless of the length of service,” she said.
Dharmasiriwardhana added: “Employees will be able to take paternity leave at any time during the first year after the child is born.”
Without being required by law to do so, what motivated the bank to bring about such a policy? According to Dharmasiriwardhana: “Standard Chartered is an equal opportunity employer and our true success has been the result of the strong platform we have created to drive a diverse and inclusive culture in the workplace for all our employees, regardless of gender, ethnicity, religion, and sexual orientation.”
Such measures are important in any working environment, but especially to the private sector, as according to the Department of Census and Statistics 2018 3Q report, of the 4,547,822 employees in Sri Lanka, the majority of 3,484,047 belonged to the private sector.
Ranasinghe spoke of the importance of paternity leave, stating that it will “promote gender equality, unite the family, build closer bonding, and encourage and empower the male counterpart also to shoulder part of the family responsibilities, to take an active role in the care and nurture of children. This would also give a better understanding to the male counterpart of the great responsibilities and burdens shouldered by a woman at home and work.”
With companies like Standard Chartered Bank offering such benefits, why is there a lack of national policies on paternity leave in the country? And why aren’t companies themselves pushing for such legislature?
The Sunday Morning Business spoke to Sri Lanka’s leading business chamber, the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce (CCC), about paternity leave and their thoughts on a national policy for the private sector.
Secretary General and CEO Dhara Wijayatilake, when asked about a national policy, said: “The principle that should be recognised in a national policy is that child rearing is the responsibility of both parents. Paternity leave should be an option to be utilised by those who wish to use it. It should not be made mandatory.”
They also seemed unaware of any private companies that do offer paternity leave in Sri Lanka, stating that the chamber had not conducted any research pertaining to this.
The Employers’ Federation of Ceylon (EFC) is the principal organisation of employers dealing with labour and social issues in Sri Lanka and its Director General Kanishka Weerasinghe also spoke about the need for such legislature.
“In my view, what should be done is to first assess the requirement of granting paternity leave in the context of our country’s socio-economic conditions. Therefore, allowing employers to implement policies in relation to paternity leave on their own as a best practice should be the first step,” he said.
Weerasinghe went on to talk about the process of legislating paternity leave for the private sector, stating: “Any employer will have to be mindful of the legal aspects in developing such policies considering that the issue of paternity is not limited to children born within the confines of a legal marriage. I do not think it is appropriate to legislate on this issue at this point of time, as it will amount to a situation where the cart is put before the horse.”
Weerasinghe does make a valid point. If you look at Public Administration Circular 03/2006, it states that paternity leave is granted in “the occasion of the birth of a child to his wife”.
Does this mean that paternity leave is granted not just to fathers, but specifically to married fathers?
While these aspects make it no simple task to legislate a paternity leave policy, there is also the question of who will bear the cost of paternity leave.
As mentioned in the previous article, according to International Labour Organisation (ILO) Convention 103: “An employer shall not be individually liable for the direct cost of any such monetary benefit to a woman employed by him or her without that employer’s specific agreement.”
While ILO Convention 103 refers to maternity leave, it is used as a guideline in this topic as there were no ILO conventions on paternity leave.
Practicalities
In Sri Lanka, if such a policy is established, is the government prepared to bear the cost?
According to Weerasinghe, there are certain issues with how the standards for maternity leave are carried out in the country.
“In Sri Lanka, it must be remembered that it is the employer who has to bear all costs relating to maternity leave and other benefits. This is actually a violation of ILO Convention 103 and which the Committee of Experts has also advised the country to rectify,” he said.
Weerasinghe explained: “Sadly, an amendment that was proposed by the EFC last year pertaining to when maternity leave was extended to the third or consequent child, was not carried through. The provisions of the Convention require an employer not to be burdened with all the costs in relation to maternity leave, implying directly that the State also has the responsibility to bear a major share of the cost involved.
“Ironically, the amendment that we sought to implement only required the State to bear the additional cost that will be incurred in granting 42 additional days of maternity leave in lieu of the birth of the third child or consequent children,” he explained.
Given the Government’s inaction in this regard, how can steps be taken to not only establish a paternity leave policy, but also not have the entire cost fall on the private sector?
“There are some interesting case studies of best practices followed by some countries – for instance, Scandinavian countries – where other than in the case of the birth of a child, men are given the option of taking career breaks on special leave with/without pay in support of a mother who may wish to re-enter employment after taking a career break herself,” Weerasinghe said. “However, we must be mindful that these countries have better social security policies and in respect of which the state contributes a lot. In fact, the state’s contribution is almost two-thirds of the cost involved.”
Would private companies, which are after all profit-driven, be willing to bear the cost of paternity leave, especially considering that of the economically active population, 64.7% are male? Does its moral obligation to give working parents added benefits with regard to childcare motivate private companies in Sri Lanka to take that extra step or is the cost just too high to bear?
When asked if paternity leave will hurt private sector growth or performance, Ranasinghe said: “No, it will not, as paternity leave will help in some way towards the work-life balance of the women, inducing more women to remain in the workforce shouldering the growth and or performance instead of leaving the workforce after marriage.”
Wijayatilake, on the other hand, shed light on the fact that the impact on private sector growth or performance has never been a question asked with regard to maternity leave, and questioned why it should be a question with regard to paternity leave.
“This question suggests that men alone contribute to private sector growth and performance! This question has never been raised in respect of maternity leave. It must also be borne in mind that the policy of recognising paternity leave does not envisage that men alone should be availed to parental leave that would result in a significant number of men staying at home to look after their babies. The value to be attached to raising a child in his/her early life should not be subordinated to the achievement of private sector growth. This issue should never be debated on the basis that private sector growth needs primacy over the responsibility of parenting. If so, even the policy of granting maternity leave may be challenged.”
The right questions
It is then not a question of the impact on the private sector, but instead the benefits to employees as well as their families. Thus, the private sector should give its employees paternity leave, even if a national policy isn’t established in the near future. This, however, raises the question of the duration awarded to working fathers.
As mentioned in the previous article, the US grants up to 12 weeks of unpaid, job-protected leave per year. Canada offers standard parental benefits that can be paid for a maximum of 35 weeks. In Australia, employees are entitled to 12 months of unpaid parental leave, and can request an additional 12 months.
If a national policy is to be established in Sri Lanka, what period would benefit both the employees and the companies?
Ranasinghe suggested 14 days with specific guidelines, while Wijayatilake said it would depend on the needs of new parents and their circumstances.
“The parents would be the best positioned to determine the best interests of the child – who would the infant be better off with, for a particular period, in the initial months? As such, ideally, leave given to parents should be availed to either the mother or father based, for them to utilise as they please, based on the needs of the infant and the circumstances of the family. It should be left to them to determine who should take the leave and for which periods,” Wijayatilake said, thus suggesting a parental leave policy as opposed to separate maternity and paternity leave policies.
“The entire issue of paternity leave will have to be decided in the context of what suits Sri Lanka as well as the different sectors/industries and the manner in which they operate,” said Weerasinghe when asked about the period of leave that would be ideal in Sri Lanka.
Weerasinghe added: “As you know, there is much diversity on how work is offered by employers to workers and these practices too will have to be taken into account as part of the socioeconomic factors that are to be considered in deciding on policy and its implementation.”
Weerasinghe did, however, say that paternity leave cannot equate maternity leave due to the unique difficulties faced by women prior to and after giving birth, both, physically, emotionally, and otherwise.
On 3 February, this column focused on paternity leave in Sri Lanka’s public sector, both in terms of the present situation and how it needs to change.
In the second part of this series, we will look at paternity leave in Sri Lanka’s private sector, which is not legally obligated to grant it.
When considering the importance of paternity leave, questions arise whether the need for such a policy exists, and if implemented, how it would impact companies as well as women in the labour force.
Since the responsibility of childcare falls on the mother, the lack of high-quality childcare facilities would primarily affect working women.
This could result in more women having to quit their jobs after childbirth and face discrimination in the recruitment process as employers would prefer to recruit men who would not require 84 days of leave if and when they choose to start a family.
In a 2018 article titled “Men Should Take Parental Leave – Here’s Why”, Forbes reported: “Women and men start in the workplace at 50/50 and yet only 6.4% of CEOs are women at Fortune 500 companies...There are two big issues that women face. The first is work-life balance and the second is hiring bias.”
If such a small number of female CEOs are seen in the largest corporations in the US, which has far greater opportunities for women in business and industry, it is of little surprise that the situation in Sri Lanka is far worse.
The local context
Women’s Chamber of Industry and Commerce (WCIC) Chairperson Chathuri Ranasinghe shed light on the current situation in Sri Lanka with regard to the barriers women face in employment and how paternity leave could address these.
“With a 51% female population in Sri Lanka, it is sad to observe that Sri Lanka’s female labour force participation rate is only around 35% compared to the male participation rate of 75%. Further, as per statistics available, the literacy rate among Sri Lankan women is 92.6% and the share of female student enrolment in university undergraduate level is around 60%. Even with such remarkable educational achievements of Sri Lankan women, they are not portrayed in economic participation.”
She added that the majority of the highly qualified female academics, professionals and also the female labour force are seen staying home, especially after marriage, to care for children, the elderly, and the sick, and household responsibilities are seen as the woman’s priority against the woman’s contribution to economic participation.
Hiring bias is also an issue Sri Lankan women face, and as Ceylon Bank Employees Union (CBEU) President Channa Dissanayake said: “This happens far less in government institutes, but in the private sector, when it comes to recruitment, there is certain reluctance when recruiting women.”
The importance of childcare has also been researched in depth during the past few years. In the report titled “Tackling Childcare in Sri Lanka: The Business Case for Employer-Supported Childcare” by International Financial Corporation (IFC) in collaboration with UNICEF, the benefits of employer-supported childcare for parents highlight the fact that “poor access to high-quality childcare is a leading reason for parents with children to drop out of the labour force”.
Ranasinghe believes paternity leave can play a role in changing this situation.
“To induce women’s economic participation, it is imperative to support human resource policies inclusive of paternal leave which would ease the woman’s plunge into work-life balance and thereby allowing her to continue to remain in the workforce.”
As discussed in the previous article on this topic, the Public Administration Circular 03/2006 grants three days of paternity leave in the occasion of childbirth to permanent, temporary, casual, or trainee public officers.
“It is heartening to note that Sri Lanka Government has granted paternity leave of at least three days,” Ranasinghe said, adding that “it was time for a national policy making paternity leave mandatory”.
Legislation
Sri Lanka currently has no legislature in place that obligates or requires private sector companies to grant paternity leave, regardless of duration, to employees. The lack of legislature with regard to paternity leave was discussed in the previous article, with the Ministry of Labour stating that no discussions were taking place with regard to establishing a paternity leave policy for the private sector.
However, Chief Legal Officer/Commissioner of Labour (Enforcement) Milanga Weerakkody said that the ministry has no objections to any private companies adopting such a policy.
He also added: “Requests for paternity leave have come from the unions, but the companies themselves haven’t made any such requests.”
Despite this, there have been companies taking the initiative and putting such policies in place. In 2017, Standard Chartered Bank launched a paternity leave programme for its employees.
With a global network that reaches over 60 markets, Standard Chartered Bank has been in the business for over 150 years. Head of Human Resources for the local branch, Ransi Dharmasiriwardhana spoke about their paternity leave programme.
“Standard Chartered Bank has always been ahead of the minimum paternity leave requirement as per the Shop and Office Act, and in fact in 2017, further enhanced this by providing the entitled fathers two calendar weeks of paid paternity leave, regardless of the length of service,” she said.
Dharmasiriwardhana added: “Employees will be able to take paternity leave at any time during the first year after the child is born.”
Without being required by law to do so, what motivated the bank to bring about such a policy? According to Dharmasiriwardhana: “Standard Chartered is an equal opportunity employer and our true success has been the result of the strong platform we have created to drive a diverse and inclusive culture in the workplace for all our employees, regardless of gender, ethnicity, religion, and sexual orientation.”
Such measures are important in any working environment, but especially to the private sector, as according to the Department of Census and Statistics 2018 3Q report, of the 4,547,822 employees in Sri Lanka, the majority of 3,484,047 belonged to the private sector.
Ranasinghe spoke of the importance of paternity leave, stating that it will “promote gender equality, unite the family, build closer bonding, and encourage and empower the male counterpart also to shoulder part of the family responsibilities, to take an active role in the care and nurture of children. This would also give a better understanding to the male counterpart of the great responsibilities and burdens shouldered by a woman at home and work.”
With companies like Standard Chartered Bank offering such benefits, why is there a lack of national policies on paternity leave in the country? And why aren’t companies themselves pushing for such legislature?
The Sunday Morning Business spoke to Sri Lanka’s leading business chamber, the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce (CCC), about paternity leave and their thoughts on a national policy for the private sector.
Secretary General and CEO Dhara Wijayatilake, when asked about a national policy, said: “The principle that should be recognised in a national policy is that child rearing is the responsibility of both parents. Paternity leave should be an option to be utilised by those who wish to use it. It should not be made mandatory.”
They also seemed unaware of any private companies that do offer paternity leave in Sri Lanka, stating that the chamber had not conducted any research pertaining to this.
The Employers’ Federation of Ceylon (EFC) is the principal organisation of employers dealing with labour and social issues in Sri Lanka and its Director General Kanishka Weerasinghe also spoke about the need for such legislature.
“In my view, what should be done is to first assess the requirement of granting paternity leave in the context of our country’s socio-economic conditions. Therefore, allowing employers to implement policies in relation to paternity leave on their own as a best practice should be the first step,” he said.
Weerasinghe went on to talk about the process of legislating paternity leave for the private sector, stating: “Any employer will have to be mindful of the legal aspects in developing such policies considering that the issue of paternity is not limited to children born within the confines of a legal marriage. I do not think it is appropriate to legislate on this issue at this point of time, as it will amount to a situation where the cart is put before the horse.”
Weerasinghe does make a valid point. If you look at Public Administration Circular 03/2006, it states that paternity leave is granted in “the occasion of the birth of a child to his wife”.
Does this mean that paternity leave is granted not just to fathers, but specifically to married fathers?
While these aspects make it no simple task to legislate a paternity leave policy, there is also the question of who will bear the cost of paternity leave.
As mentioned in the previous article, according to International Labour Organisation (ILO) Convention 103: “An employer shall not be individually liable for the direct cost of any such monetary benefit to a woman employed by him or her without that employer’s specific agreement.”
While ILO Convention 103 refers to maternity leave, it is used as a guideline in this topic as there were no ILO conventions on paternity leave.
Practicalities
In Sri Lanka, if such a policy is established, is the government prepared to bear the cost?
According to Weerasinghe, there are certain issues with how the standards for maternity leave are carried out in the country.
“In Sri Lanka, it must be remembered that it is the employer who has to bear all costs relating to maternity leave and other benefits. This is actually a violation of ILO Convention 103 and which the Committee of Experts has also advised the country to rectify,” he said.
Weerasinghe explained: “Sadly, an amendment that was proposed by the EFC last year pertaining to when maternity leave was extended to the third or consequent child, was not carried through. The provisions of the Convention require an employer not to be burdened with all the costs in relation to maternity leave, implying directly that the State also has the responsibility to bear a major share of the cost involved.
“Ironically, the amendment that we sought to implement only required the State to bear the additional cost that will be incurred in granting 42 additional days of maternity leave in lieu of the birth of the third child or consequent children,” he explained.
Given the Government’s inaction in this regard, how can steps be taken to not only establish a paternity leave policy, but also not have the entire cost fall on the private sector?
“There are some interesting case studies of best practices followed by some countries – for instance, Scandinavian countries – where other than in the case of the birth of a child, men are given the option of taking career breaks on special leave with/without pay in support of a mother who may wish to re-enter employment after taking a career break herself,” Weerasinghe said. “However, we must be mindful that these countries have better social security policies and in respect of which the state contributes a lot. In fact, the state’s contribution is almost two-thirds of the cost involved.”
Would private companies, which are after all profit-driven, be willing to bear the cost of paternity leave, especially considering that of the economically active population, 64.7% are male? Does its moral obligation to give working parents added benefits with regard to childcare motivate private companies in Sri Lanka to take that extra step or is the cost just too high to bear?
When asked if paternity leave will hurt private sector growth or performance, Ranasinghe said: “No, it will not, as paternity leave will help in some way towards the work-life balance of the women, inducing more women to remain in the workforce shouldering the growth and or performance instead of leaving the workforce after marriage.”
Wijayatilake, on the other hand, shed light on the fact that the impact on private sector growth or performance has never been a question asked with regard to maternity leave, and questioned why it should be a question with regard to paternity leave.
“This question suggests that men alone contribute to private sector growth and performance! This question has never been raised in respect of maternity leave. It must also be borne in mind that the policy of recognising paternity leave does not envisage that men alone should be availed to parental leave that would result in a significant number of men staying at home to look after their babies. The value to be attached to raising a child in his/her early life should not be subordinated to the achievement of private sector growth. This issue should never be debated on the basis that private sector growth needs primacy over the responsibility of parenting. If so, even the policy of granting maternity leave may be challenged.”
The right questions
It is then not a question of the impact on the private sector, but instead the benefits to employees as well as their families. Thus, the private sector should give its employees paternity leave, even if a national policy isn’t established in the near future. This, however, raises the question of the duration awarded to working fathers.
As mentioned in the previous article, the US grants up to 12 weeks of unpaid, job-protected leave per year. Canada offers standard parental benefits that can be paid for a maximum of 35 weeks. In Australia, employees are entitled to 12 months of unpaid parental leave, and can request an additional 12 months.
If a national policy is to be established in Sri Lanka, what period would benefit both the employees and the companies?
Ranasinghe suggested 14 days with specific guidelines, while Wijayatilake said it would depend on the needs of new parents and their circumstances.
“The parents would be the best positioned to determine the best interests of the child – who would the infant be better off with, for a particular period, in the initial months? As such, ideally, leave given to parents should be availed to either the mother or father based, for them to utilise as they please, based on the needs of the infant and the circumstances of the family. It should be left to them to determine who should take the leave and for which periods,” Wijayatilake said, thus suggesting a parental leave policy as opposed to separate maternity and paternity leave policies.
“The entire issue of paternity leave will have to be decided in the context of what suits Sri Lanka as well as the different sectors/industries and the manner in which they operate,” said Weerasinghe when asked about the period of leave that would be ideal in Sri Lanka.
Weerasinghe added: “As you know, there is much diversity on how work is offered by employers to workers and these practices too will have to be taken into account as part of the socioeconomic factors that are to be considered in deciding on policy and its implementation.”
Weerasinghe did, however, say that paternity leave cannot equate maternity leave due to the unique difficulties faced by women prior to and after giving birth, both, physically, emotionally, and otherwise.