THE Women and Gender Equality Commission has again called on the government to draft paternity leave legislation.

This was among 28 recommendations listed in the Commission’s eighth and ninth annual reports, which were tabled in the National Assembly on December 14.

The enactment of a policy on sexual harassment in the workplace, enforcement of Indigenous Peoples rights, gender equality and opportunity; enactment of a Climate Change, Women and Forest and Gender Action Plan; and the establishment of community counselling for social problems are among the other recommendations.

According to the International Labour Organisation (ILO), paternity leave is defined as a leave period, paid or unpaid, reserved for fathers in relation to childbirth or leave that can be used exclusively by fathers as paternity leave; it does not include parental leave provisions that can be used by the father or mother, or parts of maternity leave entitlements that the mother can transfer to the father.

Paternity leave generally allows men to get more directly involved in child care; get a break from work, gives their wives a break from parenting, and changes the perception of dads.

The Commission first raised this issue in 2015, and used the opportunity to emphasise the benefits it will bring to men, their partners and their child.

“Not only must women be charged with the responsibility of taking care of children, but we believe that their male partners must also have that responsibility, hence, the need for paternity leave for both persons,” Women and Gender Equality Commission Chairperson Indranie Chandarpal said.

Should Guyana ‘greenlight’ paternity leave, this country would be the latest addition to the long list of countries which have adopted a similar measure.

In Japan, men get 30 weeks of leave when their wives are at the stage of childbirth. South Korean men get 15 weeks; Spain, 12 weeks; Sweden,11 weeks; Iceland, nine weeks; Canada, five to eight weeks; Mexico, one week; and in the United Kingdom, two weeks.

LOCAL ARRANGEMENTS
In February 2020, staff of the Guyana Public Service Cooperative Credit Union (GPSCCU) started benefitting from paternity leave, and the introduction of pension and medical schemes through a two-year Collective Labour Agreement (CLA) between the organisation’s management and the Clerical and Commercial Workers Union (CCWU).

Following the signing of the agreement, the GPSCCU became one of only two organisations in the country that offers paternity leave, something that was last year recommended in a report by the Women and Gender Equality Commission.

GPSCCU Chairman Trevor Benn, who was at the time head of the union’s Interim Management Committee (IMC), had disclosed that the paternity leave will be granted for one month, and will be paid by the union, pending certain criteria.

“For me, the icing on the cake is the introduction of the paternity leave,” he had said before adding, “We’ve made it clear that the paternity leave is meant for those persons in a stable relationship with one partner, and has taken responsibility for the offspring.”

The staff will also be required to give prior notice that their partner is expecting, and subsequently produce copies of the child’s birth certificate, which must show that they are recorded as the father.
In Guyana, maternity leave, which lasts for 91 days, is catered for by law, with payments made by the National Insurance Scheme (NIS).