• For shared maternity expenses 

The Labour Ministry is planning to introduce an insurance scheme for private companies regarding the recruitment of female employees, under which both the Government and the employer would contribute to maternity benefit expenses.

Speaking to The Daily Morning, Ministry Secretary S.M. Piyatissa said that sometimes, private companies hesitate to recruit female employees because, during their maternity leave, the firms have to provide maternity benefits and allowances solely at the employer’s expense. He said that against this backdrop, the Ministry has begun discussions with employers and trade unions to establish an insurance scheme funded by both the employers and the Government, as opposed to the current system where only the employer bears the costs. According to him, no party has reached an agreement so far, and that discussions are ongoing.

"If we can launch this method, we believe that since this gives the employer some sort of support to handle the expenses of hiring women, the participation of female employees in the labour force will be increased," he said.

The Ministry has been introducing measures to boost female labour force participation in recent years. This year, with special attention to the tourism sector, laws regarding women doing night shifts have been relaxed as an encouragement for more women to join the sector, particularly as it is mostly female employees who work as hotel servers.