Majuro—Now that we have the most women (four) in the history of the Marshall Islands in the Nitijela (parliament), including a woman president, Hilda C. Heine, I believe it is time to address and change the archaic Marshall Islands Public Service Commission's maternity leave regulations, which read:
Part VI: Leave of Absence, Section 57, Maternity Leave:
Female employees may be granted maternity leave for such periods and subject to such conditions as the commission from time to time prescribes.
The following conditions for maternity leave shall be followed:
(1) The employee shall be entitled to 20 workdays of maternity leave. This leave can be taken before and/or after delivery.
(2) The employee on maternity leave shall be paid full salary.
(3) Maternity leave shall be granted only for four deliveries. If a female employee requires maternity leave for more than four deliveries, or requests for more leave due to unfitness to return to duty station, 20 working days maternity leave shall be granted chargeable to her accumulated annual leave or sick leave or special leave. (Italics were added by the author.)
I write this article because, over my four decades of government service and in all my creative endeavors, I have always made sure that I am surrounded by terrific, professional, powerful Marshallese women (there are way too many to mention, but they know who they are).
Marshallese women are a vital and critical element in the Marshall Islands government workforce. Giving a new mother only 20 paid business days is one of the shortest maternity leave periods in the region. But Section 57(3), which provides that a woman having a fifth child can no longer be eligible for any maternity leave, is an insult to Marshallese custom and culture. It effectively punishes the woman and her family for having a fifth child. Having had five children myself, I can say with all certainty that after having that fifth child, nothing gets any easier— physically emotionally or financially— for a family.
In her brilliant 2020 master’s thesis about postpartum practices in the Marshall Islands, Mylast Bilimon writes, “In the past, kakurae (a traditional Marshallese bathing ritual for women after having experienced childbirth) lasted about three months. However, nowadays, kakurae can last from two weeks to a month.”
Bilimon, a young professor at the College of the Marshall Islands, contends that one reason for the erosion of what is arguably the most important traditional afterbirth practice is the current maternity leave policy: “For mothers who cannot afford to lose many hours, kakurae has to be quick before her maternity leave is over.”
Bilimon quotes Christine McCourt, who argues that while pregnancy, birth, and transition to motherhood are physiological processes, they also socially and culturally shape, manage and form major events in the lives of families. “Childbirth is not only about individual reproduction – having a child, becoming a mother – but about social reproduction – the way in which her society and culture are reproduced. As a result, and because humans are essentially social beings, childbirth is always socially and culturally shaped and managed. Giving birth is a process that creates new social persons and roles: the fetus becomes a social person and the woman giving birth becomes a mother, her partner a father and new families are formed.”
Bilimon further asserts, “Traditionally, the well-being of women was of utmost importance because they are the reason new families are formed, and in matrilineal societies in Micronesia like the Marshall Islands, lineages and clans continue to flourish. During the postpartum period, families are united to work together and celebrate together. The traditional practices also hold old traditions that have been passed down for many years.”
For Marshallese leaders looking for additional reasons to reform our maternity leave policy, it would be helpful to review the varied maternity leave policies across the Pacific region.
In the Federated States of Micronesia, public sector employees are entitled to 12 consecutive weeks of paid maternity leave per 12-month period. This leave policy applies to all national employees regardless of their employment status (permanent or probationary) and cannot be accumulated for future use if not taken within the calendar year.
In Palau, women holding permanent employment status may be granted paid maternity leave for up to one month in one calendar year. They can extend their leave for another five months without pay and are still able to return to their positions with full rights and privileges. However, I have been informed that Palau is currently reconsidering this policy.
Elsewhere in the Pacific, the UN Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific reported that New Zealand offers 26 weeks of paid parental leave, which can be transferred between parents. This is funded by the government and calculated as a percentage of the parent’s income, up to a maximum cap.
Australia provides 18 weeks of paid maternity leave at the national minimum wage rate. Additionally, parents can share an extra two weeks of paid parental leave.
Fiji grants 84 days, or approximately 12 weeks, of paid maternity leave at the full wage rate. This leave is available to all female employees, ensuring they have time to recover and care for their newborns.
Samoa provides six weeks of paid maternity leave, with the employee receiving 50 percent of her regular earnings.
I am not going to recommend how many working days of paid maternity leave a new Public Service Commission policy should have in the Marshall Islands because I believe these decisions should be in the capable hands of our female leaders, including women’s groups such as the Women United Together in the Marshall Islands.
Having said that, I strongly recommend eliminating the highly offensive Section 57(3), which denies paid maternity leave for women working in our government after the birth of their fifth child.
Our highly valued, well-respected and hard-working women in the Marshall Islands government deserve better.
Jack Niedenthal is the former secretary of Health Services for the Marshall Islands, where he has lived and worked for 43 years. He is the author of “For the Good of Mankind, An Oral History of the People of Bikini,” and president of Microwave Films, which has produced six award-winning feature films in the Marshallese language. Send feedback to jackniedenthal@gmail.com
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