Improvement of Maternity Protection (Directive)
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Employment & Social Affairs

Improvement of Maternity Protection (Directive)

The EU Commission proposes to change the Directive on maternity protection in order to improve health protection at work and equal opportunities for pregnant and breastfeeding workers. The key points of the Proposal are the extension of the duration of paid maternity leave and of the protection from dismissal as well as a generally increased legal protection.

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The Commission's Proposal could even be detrimental to the health of pregnant workers, instead of protecting their health. This is because it creates incentives to pregnant workers to work until confinement. Moreover, it might increase ancillary labour costs and thus have a negative impact on employment. The Proposal infringes both the principle of subsidiarity and the principle of proportionality and, to this end, should not be adopted.  

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Improvement of Maternity Protection COM(2008) 637 (publ. 06.05.2014) PDF 93 KB Download
Improvement of Maternity Protection COM(2008) 637