HIS Majesty's Government will bear the costs of salaries to be paid to private sector employees during the first five weeks of their 15-week maternity leave. This entitlement for private sector employees applies only to Brunei citizens and permanent residents.
In a press statement released yesterday, the Public Service Department (JPA) said the five weeks' cost, in terms of salary, of the total 15-week maternity leave for Brunei citizens and permanent residents will be borne by the government.
Private sector employers have been instructed to initially cover the costs of the five weeks' worth of salaries of employees availing themselves of the new Order. Employers are entitled to claim reimbursement from the government "afterwards", JPA said.
The government will assess its "assistance" in paying the wages every five years.
The department also said that the last two weeks of the 15-week maternity leave would be unpaid leave. The two weeks was an extension of the former one-week unpaid leave previously imposed in Brunei, when the maternity leave was set at just eight consecutive weeks or 56 days.
A JPA spokesperson told The Brunei Times yesterday that it was up to the employers whether they wanted to opt to pay their employees' wages during the "unpaid leave period".
"It's up to the individual companies. If they want to pay (the salaries during the last two weeks of the maternity leave), they can, but it's not mandatory," the official said, asking not to be named.
The department also said that only Brunei citizens and permanent residents registered with the Employees Trust Fund (TAP) are eligible for the new maternity leave, which was announced by His Majesty the Sultan and Yang Di-Pertuan of Brunei Darussalam in welcoming the new year. For employees not covered by the new regulations, their maternity leave rights remain as stipulated within the Employment Order 2009.
The maternity leave regulations 2011 for the private sector also provides for the event of miscarriage, a feature that is new to maternity leave in Brunei.
Earlier, the Prime Minister's Office issued the rules governing the 105-day maternity leave for civil servants.
JPA said that in the event that a miscarriage occurs within the first 24 weeks of pregnancy, the employee will be granted sick leave. If a miscarriage occurs after the 24 week-period, then the employee will only be granted eight weeks of maternity leave, during which the cost of paying for her salary for five weeks are borne by the government and the remaining three by the employer.
Employers are instructed to pay the wages first and then claim reimbursement from the government.
Approval for both the sick leave and maternity leave, which must be taken two weeks prior to the employee's due date, must be verified by a "government medical officer".
Other conditions are subject to the rules enforced that govern it at the time, the department said.
The new maternity leave went into effect on January 1, 2011, and is the result of His Majesty's scrutiny of the previous maternity leave of 56 days imposed and left "unrevised" for at least two decades in Brunei.
Taking the example of other countries and the International Labour Organisation, which recommends maternity leave of at least 12 weeks, the monarch raised in October last year the issue of Brunei's own maternity leave.
In his New Year's eve titah, the monarch announced that the government will be enforcing the new regulation, known as the Maternity Leave Order 2011, as a measure towards coordinating the pre- and post-natal needs and health interest of mothers.
Mothers have welcomed the move and even suggested the government consider revising paternity leave to complement the new directive.
Source: The Brunei Times
Pada menjunjung titah perkenan Kebawah Duli Yang Maha Mulia Paduka Seri Baginda Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah Mu'izzaddin Waddaulah ibni Al-Marhum Sultan Haji Omar 'Ali Saifuddien Sa'adul Khairi Waddien, Sultan dan Yang Di-Pertuan Negara Brunei Darussalam, adalah dimaklumkan bahawa baginda telah memperkenankan bagi Peraturan Cuti Beranak 2011 yang baru dalam mana terdapat beberapa peraturan untuk pekerja-pekerja di sektor swasta yang terdiri daripada rakyat dan penduduk tetap Negara Brunei Darussalam.
Syarat kelayakan bagi mendapatkan cuti tersebut, pekerja-pekerja mestilah terdiri dari rakyat dan penduduk tetap yang berdaftar di bawah Tabung Amanah Pekerja (TAP).
Menurut Siaran Akhbar yang dikeluarkan oleh Jabatan Perkhidmatan Awam, Jabatan Perdana Menteri hari ini menyatakan bahawa tempoh keseluruhan Cuti Beranak bagi rakyat dan penduduk tetap Negara Brunei Darussalam yang bekerja di sektor swasta adalah selama 15 minggu (105 hari) dan hendaklah diambil dua minggu sebelum tarikh dijangka beranak. Bagi pekerja- pekerja yang lain adalah tertakluk di bawah Perintah Pekerjaan 2009.
Berkaitan dengan pembayaran gaji, pihak majikan dikehendaki membayar gaji bagi tempoh lapan mingggu pertama seperti yang sudah dikuatkuasakan oleh Perintah Pekerjaan 2009 sementara pihak kerajaan membantu membayar gaji penuh bagi tempoh lima minggu berikutnya. Tempoh dua minggu selebihnya adalah secara Cuti Tidak Bergaji.
Bagaimanapun, majikan dikehendaki membuat pembayaran gaji pekerja terlebih dahulu bagi tempoh lima minggu kedua dan kemudiannya membuat tuntutan pembayaran balik kepada kerajaan.
Di dalam keadaan yang melibatkan keguguran kurang dari 24 minggu kandungan, pekerja perempuan itu akan diberikan Cuti Sakit. Manakala dalam keadaan yang melibatkan kematian anak dalam kandungan yang lebih dari 24 minggu, pekerja perempuan itu akan diberikan Cuti Beranak selama lapan minggu sahaja yang mana lima minggu akan dibantu oleh kerajaan dan selebihnya tiga minggu ditanggung oleh pihak majikan. Cara pembayaran adalah sama seperti proses yang disebutkan di atas.
Menyentuh mengenai Pengesahan Cuti, kebenaran Cuti Sakit dan Cuti Beranak akan disahkan oleh Pegawai Perubatan Kerajaan.
Siaran Akhbar berkenaan juga menggariskan bahawa bantuan pemberian gaji kepada sektor swasta ini akan dikaji semula setiap lima tahun.
Syarat-syarat lain adalah tertakluk kepada peraturan-peraturan yang mengawalnya yang berkuatkuasa dari semasa ke semasa.
Peraturan Cuti Beranak 2011 bagi para pekerja di sektor swasta ini berkuat kuasa 1 Januari 2011.
Source: Pelita Brunei
And this is a clip of people reaction to the new regulation
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