Maternity and family leave policies are developed to provide time off from work so that new and continuing mothers can prepare for and recover from childbirth (Baker & Milligan, 2015). The opportunity allows parents to take care of their newborn or newly adopted infants and individuals to care for seriously ill family members. Baker and Milligan (2015) argue that the policies intend to help workers strike a work-life balance with the goal of improving the well-being of families and promoting career continuity. Countries anchor these policies in law for them to run efficiently. In that regard, the strategies vary substantially in features such as eligibility, duration of leave and benefit amount and structure. The maternity and family leave policies affect both workers and employers in their application. During application, the substantial differences in the policies vary the consequences accruing to employers and employees in different countries. Therefore, the maternity leave policies pose effectiveness battlegrounds in their application.
Policies
United States
The United States labor law regulates Maternity leave in the US. It provides for a temporary unpaid leave granted to expectant and new mothers aimed at supporting the full recovery from childbirth while enhancing stronger parental bonds. The Pregnancy Discrimination Act of 1978 requires employers to treat pregnant mothers in the same manner as any other workers with temporary disabilities. Other applicable conditions of employment include pay rates, incentives, health benefits coverage, paid sick time and temporary disability insurance. The law forbids an employer from distinguishing a pregnant mother or forcing them into taking a leave of absence for pregnancy causes. The Act does not provide for paid maternity leave but allows the inclusion of pregnancy in cases where an employer offers a paid leave for specific medical conditions. The Act applies to companies that have more than 15 employees.
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The Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) of 1993 provides that employers should offer up to twelve weeks’ job-protected and unpaid leave per year. The leave may be taken successively or intermittently and for a portion or full day. Job protection entails resuming the same job or its equivalent. The family-related issues covered under the Act include leaves of absence for employee’s illness or disability including maternity leave, fostering a child, adoption, or taking care of gravely ill immediate family members such as a spouse, parent or child. The FMLA affects employees who have worked for their company for at least twelve months and at least 1250 hours over the past year. Further, it refers to companies with more than fifty employees (USA.gov, 2018).
Sweden
The Swedish government allocates a total of 480 days per child paid maternity leave which can be taken any time until a child attains eight years while considering both the father and the mother (Mckenna, 2018). These days can be shared although sixty are explicitly allocated to the father. The exception to this rule applies to single parents with sole custody where they take all the days. During the first three months of the baby’s life, the father is entitled to a ten-day stay at home which are added to the 480 parent days. In addition to the ten-day provision, the law allows both parents to stay at home together for thirty days during the child’s first year. The government recognizes the receipt of eighty percent of the wages to the parents although it is limited at a certain level (Killian, 2011). The entitlement to the paid leave accrues if an individual has been a resident in Sweden and working there for the last 240 days. The government also offers 120 days of sick child leave per year which do not affect the initial allowance of 480 days (Mckenna, 2018).
Comparison
In the current case, the US government does not offer paid maternity leave, unlike the Swedish government that provides an eighty percent of total wage. Despite extensive research establishing the health benefits associated with parental leave for babies and Parents, the US lags in paid parental leave. The federal government does not provide any interest accruing to maternity leave for employees. Additionally, its provisions indicate that employees working for companies with fifty or fewer employees do not qualify for maternity leave. This absence only leaves employees to the discretion of state laws where some states offer differentiated paid leave benefits. California, New Jersey, and Rhode Island have paid maternity leave policies in operation.
Whereas the Swedish government offers 480 days of maternity leave, the US offers only twelve weeks, an equivalent of 84 days. This difference means that US mothers have little time to nurse and bond with their newborns, unlike their Swedish counterparts who have more than one year to maximize baby care and bonding. In the US policy, mothers do not get enough time to advance family values and social ties. The situation appears to favor the employer which results in a mismatch between the needs of employees and employers. The Swedish maternity leave days also allows fathers to share the days to spend time with their family. The US laws do not provide for maternal leave for fathers. The International Labor Organization (ILO) recommends a minimum of fourteen weeks and a maximum of 26 weeks, though the organization still thinks eighteen weeks are ideal (Baker & Milligan, 2015). The US falls short of the ILO recommendations since it offers twelve weeks. On the other hand, the Swedish government registers s higher score than the ILO recommendations.
In the US there are stricter eligibility limits. The pregnancy discrimination Act provides that only employees in companies with more than fifteen employees qualify for maternity leave while the FMLA’s eligibility applies to companies with more than fifty employees. The Swedish government does not have eligibility restrictions attached to the number of employees. The legal provision for eligibility in Sweden requires that employees need to be legal residents working for the last 240 days. The eligibility criteria for the US is stricter and limits more mothers from accessing maternity leave while the Swedish standard is considerate therefore offers maternal leave opportunities for more people.
The two nations similarities in their maternal leave policies are significantly evident in the intended purpose although the US scores dismally. The dismal performance attributes to the unpaid maternity allowed for caring for newborns. However, the policies are primarily aimed at enhancing the well-being of their workforce and employers by offering avenues to balance life issues and work. Additionally, the policies are intended to advance the concept of fair treatment at work by eliminating chances of discrimination which serves to promote the idea of human rights, morality, and adherence to the rule of law.
Differential Consequences
The stricter policy for the US narrows the opportunity for accessing maternity leave. Due to the Act’s various restrictions, forty percent of working women are ineligible. On the other hand, despite being eligible to take the vacation, many mothers cannot afford taking it since it is unpaid. In this case, mothers are not only battling with little time to care for newborns but also scarce resources that denies them and the newborns access to high quality basic needs such as food and clothing it then seems that the unintended effect of the policy includes the unbalancing of the well-being and confidence of mothers, newborns, and the family. Therefore, the government through its system does not adequately advance the principle that the family is the necessary basis of social order. The US is the only developed world country without a robust national paid maternity leave program.
Many companies in the US, especially tech companies offer lucrative paid-leave benefits. According to a study by the Department of Labor study, only twelve percent of private sector workers are granted paid leave by their employers (Baker & Milligan, 2015). The research also indicates a five percent of the bottom income quartile employees. This inconsistency leads to many working mothers squeezing together sick leave, vacation days and disability when they need recovery from childbirth. However, the clobbering of the various leaves still leaves a significant gap. According to the Census Bureau, approximately half of first-time mothers delivered without any form of paid leave from their employers for any time duration in the 2006-2008 period (Baker & Milligan, 2015).
The government offers benefits for workers temporarily out of work due to disability or unemployment, but not for ones out of work due to childbirth. This disparity breeds the feeling of unfair treatment to employees. Logically, a person may construe giving birth as a better event in the natural course of occurrences than disability or unemployment, therefore, feel that they deserve the benefits more. The psychological effects accruing from the mind battles reduces the effectiveness of a person both at work and at home (Baker & Milligan, 2015). Employers face the risk of utilizing an ineffective workforce that poses the threat of underperforming businesses. The federal government may therefore not achieve the intended level of nation-building.
Conversely, the failure to pay for the maternity leave saves companies funds. The battleground, in this case, points to paying employees for doing nothing. The drafters of the policy may have felt that there was a need to match labor expenses with labor hours spent on the job; therefore, propositions contrary to the argument negate the spirit of fair business practice. However, employees gain from the provision that job retention is protected which reduces turnover rates and learning curve effects associated with hiring new, inexperienced employees.
The Swedish paid maternity leave policy appears to favor the employee more at the expense of the employer. Other than the off-the-job payment, the maternal leave extends to more than a year. Almqvist and Duvander (2014) argue that the policy promotes the achievement of social benefits because fathers spend more time with their children while allowing women to pursue their careers and become more active in the workforce. Additionally, the paid maternal leave will enable mothers to heal from childbirth and improve child health. Companies in Sweden pay for labor hours that do not match any results. These firms miss the benefits accrued from the expertise of employees on leave. However, the satisfaction derived from the extended leave enhances motivation for employees and their family members. Once motivated, the employees resume work with renewed energy. The case for Sweden, therefore, presents a mutual benefit scenario for employers and employees.
Maternity leave policies play a crucial role in helping working parents, especially mothers, sail through the challenges of life-work balance. This analysis provides insight into critical areas regarding the take-up of leave, impact on employers and employees and consequences for the family. The study demonstrates that unpaid leave which is less than one year for the US poses risks to the well-being of mothers and their children. The risks impact negatively on both the employees and employers. The Swedish case presents a mutual benefit scenario that allows employees enough time to recover and focus on family well-being while allowing fathers to take time off giving women a chance to resume work and advance their careers (Almqvist & Duvander, 2018). Further, the scenario promotes gender balance in the workforce. Therefore, the Swedish policy is more effective in creating a balance between the welfare of employers and employees.
References
Almqvist, A. L. & Duvander A. Z. (2014). Changes in gender equality? Swedish fathers’ parental leave, division of childcare and housework1. Journal of Family Studies 20 (1), 19–27. https://doi.org/10.5172/jfs.2014.20.1.19
Baker, M. and K. Milligan (2015). Maternity leave and children’s cognitive and behavioral development. Journal of Population Economics 28 (2), 373–391.
Killian, E. (2011) Parental Leave: The Swedes Are The Most Generous . Retrieved from https://www.npr.org/sections/babyproject/2011/08/09/139121410/parental-leave-the- swedes-are-the-most-generous
Mckenna J. (2018). Here’s why Sweden is the best country to be a parent . Retrieved from https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2018/01/this-is-why-sweden-is-one-of- the-best- countries-in-the-world-to-be-a-parent/
USA.gov (2018) Labor Laws and Issues . Retrieved from https://www.usa.gov/labor-laws
