A majority of MEPs voted in favor of extending the minimum maternity leave from 14 to 20 weeks, thus going beyond the European Commission’s proposal to extend it to 18 weeks, in a resolution drafted by Edite Estrela (S&D, PT) and adopted by 390 votes in favor, 192 against and 59 abstentions.

However, Members adopted amendments adding that, when family-related leave is available at national level, the last four weeks of the 20 may be regarded as maternity leave and must be paid at least at 75% of salary.

In October 2008, the Commission proposed to review the current legislation (directive 92/85), as part of the “work-life balance” package, based on ILO Maternity Protection Convention of 2000.

MEPs backed the Commission’s proposal that out of the total maternity leave, six weeks should be taken after childbirth.

Workers on maternity leave must be paid their full salary, which must be 100% of their last monthly salary or their average monthly salary, states the adopted resolution. Under the Commission’s original proposal, workers would receive 100% remuneration during the first six weeks of maternity leave. For the remainder of the leave, the Commission recommended granting full pay. This was not to be a binding provision but the amount paid was to be no less than sick pay.

The draft legislation seeks to lay down minimum rules at EU level. Member States may introduce or keep existing rules that are more favorable to workers than those laid down in the directive.

“Maternity cannot be regarded as a burden on social security systems, it is an investment in our future”, said rapporteur Edite Estrela (S&D, PT) during the debate in plenary on Monday.

Paternity leave

Member States are asked to give fathers the right to fully paid paternity leave of at least two weeks within the period of maternity leave. MEPs who opposed this provision argued that paternity leave lies outside the scope of this legislation, which deals with “health and safety of pregnant women”.

Employment rights

The Parliament also adopted amendments to ban the dismissal of pregnant workers from the beginning of a pregnancy to at least 6 months following the end of the maternity leave. It also said that women must be entitled to return to their jobs or to “equivalent posts”, i.e. a position with the same pay, professional category and duties as before their maternity leave.

Parliament adds that workers must not be obliged to perform night work or work overtime during the 10 weeks prior to childbirth, during the remainder of the pregnancy in cases where the mother or the unborn child have health problems, and during the entire period of breastfeeding.

Source: europarl.europa.eu

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This research is part of the Aon Consulting European Employee Benefits Benchmark, a survey of more than 7,500 workers from across Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, Ireland, The Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Switzerland and the UK, ten of the leading economies in Europe. The Benchmark focuses on the views of workers across Europe on topics such as retirement, employee benefits and other pension-related issues.

More than 800 million sick days are taken each year, and assuming the average work day is 8 hours long, Europe’s ‘sickies’, the practice of feigning illness to avoid work, are costing employers close to a billion hours in lost man hours. Taking the size of the workforce in each of the ten countries surveyed and applying the percentage of fictitious sick leave (15%) multiplied by the average wage cost of sick leave for employers brings the total cost to an incredible €40 billion. The number of sickies this year are expected to have increased with many people taking time off work in order to watch the World Cup.

The Spanish are the most likely to admit having taken a sickie (22%), followed by UK workers, the Irish (both 21%) and the Dutch (20%). The Danish (4%), the Norwegians (10%) are the least likely to have taken a sick day off from work under false pretenses.

Peter Abelskamp, Director of health and benefits EMEA, at Aon Consulting commented: “A billion hours taken as fictitious sick leave across Europe and the associated financial cost for businesses are probably conservative figures, considering the number of people who don’t admit to faking sickness and the fact that these costs only account for direct wages. Employers would be well advised to tackle the issues of sickness and workplace absence, as these seriously impact efficiency and hit their balance sheets.

“56% of workers say they would not feel forced to take a day as sick leave if they could just be honest and have access to flexible working hours or ‘social days’. Of course employers should also not ignore the fact that 15% of people say that more interesting work would keep them in the office.

“The economic turmoil facing Europe has probably reduced the number of sick days taken, as 11% of people say the threat of redundancy would actually force them to cut down the number of days off for non-medical reasons. Perhaps not surprisingly, nearly a quarter of respondents say a cash incentive on top of their salary would also encourage them to come in to work.”

According to Aon’s research, the top five things which would encourage Europeans to take less time off work include:

• Benefit of social days to take for non-medical, personal reasons (31%)
• Provision of flexible working (27%)
• Substantial cash incentive (25%)
• Provision of on-site medical care (19%)
• More interesting work (15%)

Aon Consulting recently launched the European Sick Leave Index, allowing companies to measure the cost of sickness and absence and compare it to their national averages.

Source: Aon Corporation

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Early indications of the government led pilots, run in conjunction with the mental health charity Mind, have shown to be 90 per cent successful in helping people with fluctuating mental health conditions retain their jobs.

Based on this trial, the Government is now looking to extend the support, with an expectation of rolling out nationally with a range of providers.

Jim Knight, Minister for Employment and Welfare Reform, said:

“I know disabled people dearly want to stay in work and their employers want to do everything they can to keep good staff. Our plans to offer the right help early on can end the downward spiral of people falling out of work into sick leave, and onto benefits. We are all agreed that helping people stay in work is good news for them, their bosses and for the taxpayer.”

Further radical measures introduced by the Government include:

- Our first ever National Strategy for Mental Health and Employment, for publication in the autumn. The strategy will include expectations of employers, health care professionals, organizations and individuals in improving well-being in the workplace.

- Ministers have also asked mental health expert Dr Rachel Perkins and Paul Farmer Chief Executive of Mind how we can better help people with mental health problems back to work.

- A new network of dedicated mental health experts across Jobcentre Plus will work together with colleagues in the health system to coordinate support for people who have mental health conditions.

- A consultation on Right to Control, which will give disabled people, including those with mental health problems, greater choice and control over how public money is spent to meet their individual needs and ambitions.

- Doubling the Access to Work fund, from £69m to £138m over the next five years – providing practical advice and financial support to disabled people and their employers to help them overcome work-related obstacles resulting from disability.

Fay (29) from London, who took part in a pilot, said:

“The support was great and l wish it had been there when l was previously off sick from work.  I found it particularly helpful in the way it kept me in contact with my employer while I was off – I never felt completely isolated from work.

“I found myself doing things that I normally would have found terrifying.  I wouldn’t have been able to cope on my own and definitely wouldn’t have gone back to work without the support given.  I would recommend this service to others with a similar condition.”

Sophie Corlett, Mind’s Director of External Relations, said:

“If employers put their mind to it and provide the right support they can keep their staff mentally well and fit for the workplace. People with mental health problems want to work but are often failed by employers who lack the understanding or the skills to provide the necessary support. We welcome the Government’s increased investment in mental health, particularly during these difficult economic times, when now more than ever people need the support and understanding of their employers.”

Source: Department for Work And Pensions

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More than half (54 percent) of workers said their companies offer some sort of flexible work arrangements to help manage stress levels and work/life balance and two-thirds indicated that they take advantage of at least one of the programs offered. When asked which benefits they take part in the most, workers said:

1. Alternative schedules (72 percent)
2. Compressed work weeks (24 percent)
3. Telecommuting (15 percent)
4. Summer hours (14 percent)
5. Job sharing (6 percent)

“Unmanageable stress levels in the workplace can seriously impact an employee’s productivity and home-life,” said Rosemary Haefner, Vice President of Human Resources at CareerBuilder.com. “Employers today are being much more proactive in offering a variety of programs that promote a healthy work/life balance, and companies and workers alike are reaping the benefits. Sixty-one percent of workers said taking advantage of flexible work arrangements has made them more productive and 21 percent said it actually improved their career progress.”

While flexible work arrangements may not work for every industry or position, Haefner offers the following tips for making the case to the boss or supervisor:

* Contact your HR department and inquire about flexible benefits — they may suggest options that you didn’t know were even available.

* Sell your boss on the idea — consider writing a small business plan, highlighting contributions you’ve made in your position and the benefits to you and the company.

If flexible schedules are not an option, workers still need to take steps to reduce the burn out they are experiencing. Haefner offers the following advice:

* Learn to say no. Reduce your commitments both at work and home. Manage timeline expectations for customer or colleagues when multiple projects come up simultaneously.

* Get organized. Create a checklist of things that need to be addressed for that day and focus on those tasks only.

* Reevaluate your goals with your boss or supervisor to identify priorities and where your energy should be focused.

* Get plenty of rest, eat a healthy diet and remember to exercise. Working out can significantly reduce stress levels.

* Finally, give yourself a break. This means taking your vacation days, no matter how important you job is, and taking little breaks every day to re-group, re-energize and unwind. Stepping away from your desk and taking a 15-minute walk during the workday can do wonders.

Survey Methodology

The surveys were conducted online within the U.S. by Harris Interactive(R) on behalf of CareerBuilder.com among US employees (employed full-time; not self-employed). Data related to perceptions about workload was pulled from a CareerBuilder study among 8,785 employees between May 22 and June 13, 2008. All other data points pulled from a CareerBuilder study among 7,688 US employees between February 11 and March 13, 2008. Percentages for some questions are based on a subset of responses to certain questions. With a pure probability sample of 8,785 and 7,688 one could say with a 95 percent probability that the overall results have a sampling error of +/- 1.0 percentage points and +/- 1.1 percentage points, respectively. Sampling error for data from sub-samples is higher and varies.

Source: CareerBuilder.com

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