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The General Conference of the International
Labour Organization,
Having been convened at Geneva by the
Governing Body of the International Labour
Office, and having met in its 88th
Session on 30 May 2000, and
Noting the need to revise the Maternity
Protection Convention (Revised), 1952, and
the Maternity Protection Recommendation,
1952, in order to further promote equality
of all women in the workforce and the health and safety of the mother and child,
and in order to recognize the diversity in
economic and social development of Members, as well as the diversity of enterprises,
and the development of the protection of maternity in national law and practice, and
Noting the provisions of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948), the
United Nations Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination
Against Women (1979), the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child
(1989), the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action (1995), the International
Labour Organization's Declaration on Equality of Opportunity and Treatment for
Women Workers (1975), the International
Labour Organization's Declaration on Fundamental
Principles and Rights at Work
and its Follow-up (1998), as well as the
international labour Conventions and Recommendations
aimed at ensuring equality
of opportunity and treatment for men
and women workers, in particular the Convention
concerning Workers with Family
Responsibilities, 1981, and
Taking into account the circumstances of
women workers and the need to provide
protection for pregnancy, which are the
shared responsibility of government and
society, and
Having decided upon the adoption of certain
proposals with regard to the revision
of the Maternity Protection Convention
(Revised), 1952, and Recommendation,
1952, which is the fourth item on the
agenda of the session, and
Having determined that these proposals shall take the form of an international Convention;
adopts this fifteenth day of June of the year
two thousand the following Convention,
which may be cited as the Maternity Protection
Convention, 2000.
SCOPE
Article 1
For the purposes of this Convention, the
term woman applies to any female person
without discrimination whatsoever and
the term child applies to any child without
discrimination whatsoever.
Article 2
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This Convention applies to all employed
women, including those in
atypical forms of dependent work.
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However, each Member which ratifies
this Convention may, after consulting
the representative organizations of employers
and workers concerned, exclude
wholly or partly from the scope
of the Convention limited categories of
workers when its application to them
would raise special problems of a substantial
nature.
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Each Member which avails itself of the
possibility afforded in the preceding
paragraph shall, in its first report on the
application of the Convention under
article 22 of the Constitution of the International
Labour Organization, list the
categories of workers thus excluded and
the reasons for their exclusion. In its subsequent
reports, the Member shall describe
the measures taken with a view
to progressively extending the provisions
of the Convention to these categories.
HEALTH PROTECTION
Article 3
Each Member shall, after consulting the
representative organizations of employers and workers, adopt appropriate measures
to ensure that pregnant or breastfeeding
women are not obliged to perform work
which has been determined by the competent
authority to be prejudicial to the health
of the mother or the child, or where an assessment
has established a significant risk
to the mother's health or that of her child.
MATERNITY LEAVE
Article 4
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On production of a medical certificate
or other appropriate certification, as determined
by national law and practice,
stating the presumed date of childbirth,
a woman to whom this Convention applies
shall be entitled to a period of maternity
leave of not less than 14 weeks.
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The length of the period of leave referred
to above shall be specified by each
Member in a declaration accompanying
its ratification of this Convention.
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Each Member may subsequently deposit
with the Director-General of the
International Labour Office a further
declaration extending the period of
maternity leave.
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With due regard to the protection of
the health of the mother and that of
the child, maternity leave shall include
a period of six weeks' compulsory leave
after childbirth, unless otherwise
agreed at the national level by the government
and the representative organizations
of employers and workers.
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The prenatal portion of maternity leave
shall be extended by any period elapsing
between the presumed date of
childbirth and the actual date of childbirth,
without reduction in any compulsory
portion of postnatal leave.
LEAVE IN CASE OF ILLNESS OR
COMPLICATIONS
Article 5
On production of a medical certificate,
leave shall be provided before or after the
maternity leave period in the case of illness,
complications or risk of complications
arising out of pregnancy or childbirth. The
nature and the maximum duration of such
leave may be specified in accordance with
national law and practice.
BENEFITS
Article 6
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Cash benefits shall be provided, in accordance
with national laws and regulations,
or in any other manner consistent
with national practice, to women
who are absent from work on leave
referred to in Articles 4 or 5.
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Cash benefits shall be at a level which
ensures that the woman can maintain
herself and her child in proper conditions
of health and with a suitable
standard of living.
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Where, under national law or practice,
cash benefits paid with respect to leave
referred to in Article 4 are based on
previous earnings, the amount of such
benefits shall not be less than two thirds
of the woman's previous earnings
or of such of those earnings as are
taken into account for the purpose of
computing benefits.
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Where, under national law or practice,
other methods are used to determine
the cash benefits paid with respect to
leave referred to in Article 4, the
amount of such benefits shall be comparable
to the amount resulting on average
from the application of the preceding
paragraph.
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Each Member shall ensure that the conditions
to qualify for cash benefits can
be satisfied by a large majority of the
women to whom this Convention applies.
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Where a woman does not meet the
conditions to qualify for cash benefits
under national laws and regulations or
in any other manner consistent with
national practice, she shall be entitled
to adequate benefits out of social assistance
funds, subject to the means test
required for such assistance.
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Medical benefits shall be provided for
the woman and her child in accordance
with national laws and regulations or
in any other manner consistent with national
practice. Medical benefits shall
include prenatal, childbirth and postnatal
care, as well as hospitalization
care when necessary.
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In order to protect the situation of
women in the labour market, benefits
in respect of the leave referred to in
Articles 4 and 5 shall be provided
through compulsory social insurance or
public funds, or in a manner determined
by national law and practice. An employer
shall not be individually liable
for the direct cost of any such monetary
benefit to a woman employed by him
or her without that employer's specific
agreement except where:
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such is provided for in national law
or practice in a member State prior
to the date of adoption of this Convention
by the International Labour
Conference; or
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it is subsequently agreed at the national
level by the government and
the representative organizations of
employers and workers.
Article 7
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A Member whose economy and social
security system are insufficiently developed
shall be deemed to be in compliance
with Article 6, paragraphs 3 and
4, if cash benefits are provided at a rate
no lower than a rate payable for sickness
or temporary disability in accordance
with national laws and regulations.
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A Member which avails itself of the
possibility afforded in the preceding
paragraph shall, in its first report on
the application of this Convention under
article 22 of the Constitution of the
International Labour Organization, explain
the reasons therefor and indicate
the rate at which cash benefits are provided.
In its subsequent reports, the
Member shall describe the measures
taken with a view to progressively raising
the rate of benefits.
EMPLOYMENT PROTECTION AND
NON-DISCRIMINATION
Article 8
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It shall be unlawful for an employer to
terminate the employment of a woman
during her pregnancy or absence on
leave referred to in Articles 4 or 5 or
during a period following her return to
work to be prescribed by national laws
or regulations, except on grounds unrelated
to the pregnancy or birth of the
child and its consequences or nursing.
The burden of proving that the reasons
for dismissal are unrelated to pregnancy
or childbirth and its consequences or
nursing shall rest on the employer.
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A woman is guaranteed the right to return
to the same position or an equivalent
position paid at the same rate at
the end of her maternity leave.
Article 9
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Each Member shall adopt appropriate
measures to ensure that maternity does
not constitute a source of discrimination
in employment, including - notwithstanding
Article 2, paragraph 1 -
access to employment.
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Measures referred to in the preceding
paragraph shall include a prohibition
from requiring a test for pregnancy or a
certificate of such a test when a woman
is applying for employment, except
where required by national laws or
regulations in respect of work that is:
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prohibited or restricted for pregnant or nursing women under national
laws or regulations; or
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where there is a recognized or significant
risk to the health of the
woman and child.
BREASTFEEDING MOTHERS
Article 10
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A woman shall be provided with the
right to one or more daily breaks or a daily reduction of hours of work to
breastfeed her child.
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The period during which nursing breaks
or the reduction of daily hours of work are allowed, their number, the duration
of nursing breaks and the procedures
for the reduction of daily hours
of work shall be determined by national
law and practice. These breaks or the reduction of daily hours of work shall
be counted as working time and remunerated
accordingly.
PERIODIC REVIEW
Article 11
Each Member shall examine periodically,
in consultation with the representative organizations
of employers and workers, the
appropriateness of extending the period
of leave referred to in Article 4 or of increasing
the amount or the rate of the cash
benefits referred to in Article 6.
IMPLEMENTATION
Article 12
This Convention shall be implemented by
means of laws or regulations, except in so
far as effect is given to it by other means
such as collective agreements, arbitration
awards, court decisions, or in any other
manner consistent with national practice.
PROVISIONS
Article 13
This Convention revises the Maternity Protection
Convention (Revised), 1952.
Article 14
The formal ratifications of this Convention
shall be communicated to the Director-General of the International Labour Office
for registration.
Article 15
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This Convention shall be binding only
upon those Members of the International
Labour Organization whose
ratifications have been registered with
the Director-General of the International
Labour Office.
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It shall come into force 12 months after
the date on which the ratifications
of two Members have been registered
with the Director-General.
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Thereafter, this Convention shall come
into force for any Member 12 months
after the date on which its ratification
has been registered.
Article 16
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A Member which has ratified this Convention
may denounce it after the expiration
of ten years from the date on
which the Convention first comes into
force, by an act communicated to the
Director-General of the International Labour
Office for registration. Such denunciation
shall not take effect until one year
after the date on which it is registered.
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Each Member which has ratified this
Convention and which does not, within the year following the expiration of the
period of ten years mentioned in the
preceding paragraph, exercise the right
of denunciation provided for in this Article,
will be bound for another period
of ten years and, thereafter, may denounce
this Convention at the expiration
of each period of ten years under
the terms provided for in this Article.
Article 17
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The Director-General of the International
Labour Office shall notify all
Members of the International Labour
Organization of the registration of all
ratifications and acts of denunciation
communicated by the Members of the
Organization.
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When notifying the Members of the
Organization of the registration of the
second ratification, the Director-General
shall draw the attention of the
Members of the Organization to the
date upon which the Convention shall
come into force.
Article 18
The Director-General of the International
Labour Office shall communicate to the
Secretary-General of the United Nations,
for registration in accordance with article
102 of the Charter of the United Nations,
full particulars of all ratifications and acts
of denunciation registered by the Director-General in accordance with the provisions
of the preceding Articles.
Article 19
At such times as it may consider necessary,
the Governing Body of the Interna-tional Labour Office shall present to the
General Conference a report on the working
of this Convention and shall examine
the desirability of placing on the agenda
of the Conference the question of its revision
in whole or in part.
Article 20
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Should the Conference adopt a new
Convention revising this Convention in
whole or in part, then, unless the new
Convention otherwise provides:
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the ratification by a Member of the
new revising Convention shall ipso
jure involve the immediate denunciation
of this Convention, notwithstanding
the provisions of Article 16
above, if and when the new revising
Convention shall have come into
force;
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as from the date when the new revising
Convention comes into force,
this Convention shall cease to be
open to ratification by the Members.
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This Convention shall in any case remain
in force in its actual form and content
for those Members which have ratified
it but have not ratified the revising
Convention.
Article 21
The English and French versions of the text
of this Convention are equally authoritative.
Cross references
Conventions:
C156: Workers with Family
Responsabilities Convention, 1981
Recommendations: R95: Maternity Protection
Recommendation, 1952
Supplemented: (R191) Complemented by the Maternity Protection
Recommendation,
2000
Revised: C103:This Convention revises the
Maternity Protection Convention, 1952
Constitution: 22: article 22 of the Constitution
of the International Labour Organisation.
For further information, please contact the
International Labour Standards and Human
Rights Department (NORMES) at:
Tel: +41.22.799.7126,
Fax: +41.22.799.6926,
or by email: infleg@ilo.org
Copyright © 1999 International Labour Organization (ILO)
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