As the Employment Relations Promulgation came into effect today, working women around the country can breathe a sigh of relief that the maternity leave laws will now allow them to have a family without having to face financial difficulties by not receiving their pay or losing their jobs.

Section 44 (1) of the ER Promulgation under Maternity Leave states that a woman is entitled to the normal remuneration she would receive as if she had been at work for her first three births.

It further states that for the fourth and subsequent births a woman is entitled to half the normal remuneration she would receive as if she had been at work.

Another interesting aspect of the Employment Relations Promulgation is the Employment Relations - Labour Management Consultations and Cooperation Committees section.

Under this section any employer who employs more than 20 workers must establish a Labour Management Consultation and Cooperation Committee in its workplace to practice the principles set out under the promulgation. However it is clearly stated that the committee's powers are limited and must not involve itself in the management of the enterprise or organization.

The ER promulgation, whose central focus is reducing confrontations between workers and employers contains a section on Code of Good Faith for Collective Bargaining in cases where workers are not happy with their work conditions, pay or conduct of their employer.

The Good Faith Bargaining Code states that the union and the employer must use their best endeavors to reach an agreement, that they must meet with each other as and when necessary and that they consider and respond to each other’s proposals, that they recognize the authority of the persons appointed to represent each party.

It states that the parties to the bargaining must deal with each other in good faith and must not, whether directly or indirectly, do anything to mislead or deceive each other, or do anything that is likely to mislead or deceive each other.

The ER promulgation also provides laws on protection of children in the work place. It states that a child must not work in an environment which subjects the child to physical harm, psychological torture, any form of neglect, cruel, inhumane or degrading treatment, or which does not foster the health, self respect and dignity of the child. It also states that a child, being anyone below the age of 18 must not work more than 8 hours in a day.

The promulgation also requires every workplace to have a Sexual Harassment Monitoring and Evaluation System in place to maintain and enhance a work culture of mutual respect and understanding.