Maternity Leaves Essay Example

Question from chapter 8

Chapter 8 ‘The Other Voices’ had different types of interviewees than the interviewees of chapter 6 and 7. The interviewees in this chapter were students who are mothers. Interviewee 14 shared the implications that she faced at the time of maternity leaves. The interviewee actually did not take any leave from the University. The main implications that she faced was that of pumping and feeding her baby. She was not allowed any private room to pump and store the milk. Later, a professor allowed her to pump in his room. The interviewee claims that the colleges and universities must have a proper room for young mothers to pump instead of having one room in the entire university .
Some universities do not facilitate the students for maternity leaves. An example of Western Kentucky University determines that no proper rules for maternity leaves are made yet but the students are allowed to take two semesters off and then they can enroll. If the students takes more than two semesters off then they need to apply again for the admission. Some universities have proper rules related to such issues.
The information that was different than that provided in chapter 6 because chapter 6 included interviews of working women and the problems they faced or the benefits they derived from their working place before, during and after maternity leaves. The discussion of the interview reveals that different universities have different set of rules related to the maternity leaves. A defined set of standard should be developed at the state level which must be imposed on the universities so that a proper process of maternity leaves can be followed in every university.
It was important to include these interviews in chapter 8 because the interviews mentioned in the previous chapters include the interviews of working people some of whom had an established job and for them proper maternity rules are made by the state. Chapter 8 includes the interviews of young mothers who are still studying and working hard to support their children.

Question from Chapter 9

As Belonging to United Arab Emirates (UAE), there are some rules related to maternity leaves in the country. The process of maternity leaves is more or less the same in UAE. The women are allowed to leave the work temporarily. The mothers in UAE are allowed to take 2 months paid leave. After taking the two months paid leaves the mothers can also take leave for extra two months which is not paid.
A woman, by the rules, is allowed to take four months maternity leave out of which 2 months leave will be paid and the remaining two months leave is not paid. In addition to it, the women are also allowed to come to work late by an hour or leave an hour early for two years so that they can easily breastfeed their children. Usually, according to the culture and traditions of UAE, the grandmother of the baby takes care of the new born when the maternity leaves are over.
The United States of America does not literally lags behind when it comes to maternity leaves except for the fact the women get unpaid maternity leaves. If compared to UAE, the policies of US related to maternity leaves are less helpful for the women. Women in US get 12 weeks of unpaid leaves whereas, in UAE women get paid 2 months leaves and additional 2 months unpaid maternity leaves.

Question from chapter 10

The status of women in the workplace needs to be improved when it comes to maternity leave. Women should be given 3 months paid leave so that they can take complete rest and do not get financially disturb. The women should also be provided with a month’s additional unpaid leave if the doctor suggest the new mother more rest. After joining the work, leverage in the timings must also be given to the women for a year so that they can take care of their child and if they want to breastfeed they will not face much problem because of this leverage.
Being an HR Manager this book will help in realizing certain issues that are faced by the employees at the time of child birth. If the employers provides assistance to the employees then the employees will be more relaxed and after coming back from leave they will be more determined to work for the interest of the company.
The book also teaches the managers about the activities from which they must refrain at the time when women ask for maternity leaves. It is necessary for the managers and the employers to take of the employees at such situations as it is the time when they need a helping hand. If managers do not care for the employees it will eventually result in poor performance from the employee. It is concluded that the policies for maternity leaves must be revised by the state so that working women can benefit from it.

Reference

Gordon, V. (2013). Maternity Leave: Policy and Practice. London: Taylor & Francis.