Women should be entitled to paid leave from work to deal with the ‘enormous distress’ of an early miscarriage, according to the Labour Party.
It is calling for 20 days of paid leave for women who experience early pregnancy loss and ten days for workers accessing fertility treatments
The proposals are in Labour Party's Reproductive Health Related Leave Bill which is to be debated in the Seanad tomorrow.
Labour Senator Marie Sherlock told Newstalk Breakfast that the plan currently has “cross-party support” in the Seanad.
“The reality in this country is, if a woman experiences an early miscarriage before 24 weeks, they have no entitlements to maternity leave,” she said.
“Anybody that has gone through early miscarriage up until that point knows of the enormous distress that they experience when something like that happens.”
Fertility
Fertility leave is another area where the Labour Party believe more compassion should be shown.
“One in six couples in this country experience infertility,” said Senator Sherlock.
“There are thousands of people every day going through fertility treatments. We know it’s not a once-off treatment or procedure, it involves many stages.
“Our legislation is very much a call for compassionate accommodation and flexibility within the workplace.”
Sick Leave
The Labour Senator said workers are currently forced to use sick leave and annual leave when they suffer miscarriage or need to access fertility treatments.
“They’re exhausting their sick leave provisions during the year,” said Senator Sherlock.
“The key issue here is that we need to recognise it for what it is so that if someone is genuinely sick, they can take sick leave.
“Then, for people who are going through the experience of an early miscarriage or having to undergo fertility treatments, that there is a workplace accommodation for them.”
Senator Sherlock adds that these are both “hugely emotional” as well as physically draining experiences for couples to go through.
Precedent
She said precedent has already been set for compassionate leave on the grounds of a miscarriage in countries such as India and New Zealand.
The state of California in the US is also currently working on similar legislation.
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