Fathers of newborn children in Jamaica will be able to take paternity leave starting on January 1, 2023.
Families that have recently adopted a child are likewise affected in the same way.
The Gleaner reports that Marsha Smith, the Minister of State for the Ministry of Finance and the Public Service, made the announcement of the new reforms.
The proposal to extend paid maternity leave from 40 days to three months will also go into effect on January 1st, according to Smith, who discussed the measures at an event on Tuesday.
According to reports, the aforementioned modifications are a result of the most recent public sector wage study. After the Public Sector Staff Orders of 2004 have been revised, it will go into force. The introduction of the pay review aims to make significant adjustments to the emoluments and salary structures that are due to workers in the Caribbean nation.
“This is an opportunity for other Jamaicans who have the capacity and the ability to take on fostering to foster a child,” Smith said. “If you are a public servant, you are going to be given that opportunity to get those weeks to settle that child in before you go back to work fully. This is why we are trying to modernise the public sector in real ways to meet the ways of public servants, not just in terms of compensation but also in overall quality of life.”
The public sector would become more effective and straightforward as a result of the changes, Smith continued, because they “will ensure that we are able to retain the talent here.” Smith added that the Ministry of Finance and the Public Service and a number of trade unions that represent employees in the public sector had reached an understanding over the public sector’s revised compensation structure.
“I was very happy last week when the Ministry of Finance, together with its union partners… were able to sign several memoranda of understanding, and these… cover approximately 60,000 employees, and we are well underway to seeing the entire public sector being transformed,” she said.
“The Minister of Finance… is committed to ensuring that we implement a public-sector compensation that is fair, transparent, and sustainable. He is determined to ensure that each and every public-sector worker is better off financially. To all public-sector workers, I say be patient; there is always some shifting around when there is transformation, but in the end, everything eventually settles down.”
Smith commended the unions that partook in the process. She also said she acknowledged “the trust they have shown in the Government by signing this agreement”.
“For those who have not yet signed, I encourage you to do so. I am confident that this is a step in the right direction as we continue to change the various aspects of public-sector transformation,” she added.
