FAOM lawmakers hope for better rights for female workers

Four lawmakers with the Macao Federation of Trade Unions (FAOM) expressed their hopes to see further improved rights for female workers.

The four are directly elected Ella Lei and Leong Sun Iok, as well as indirectly elected Lei Chan U and Lam Lon Wai.

Unhappy with the current duration of maternity leave, the four have requested the government increase the leave to 14 weeks, so that it meets the provision in the Maternity Protection Convention.

Currently, as they pointed out, the legal duration of such leave is 70 days. Civil servants, however, can enjoy 90 days. Even so, both are still shorter than that stipulated in the convention.

Adding to that is the establishment of codified lactation breaks. They pointed out that although current laws offer extra protection to pregnant and postpartum workers, the stipulations pragmatically have room for improvement.

They also hope the government can provide greater support to women who are unable to take up jobs due to the need to care for family members.

They also recapped that the World Employment and Social Outlook Trends 2022 report, compiled by the International Labour Organization, calls for the promotion of people-oriented policies that prioritize full employment and decent work.

It pointed out that the disproportionate impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on women’s employment is expected to continue in the next few years, and it is hoped that the government will continue to pay attention to women’s employment issues.

Despite these suggestions, the four lawmakers praised the government for its efforts in the past 20 years in safeguarding and refining the rights of women. They highlighted that policies had helped improve the status of women in Macau.