Maternity and Paternity Leave

The term maternity leave sounds like a cliché within the labour environment in Ghana. In recent times however, some employers are into the practice of granting paternity leave to their employees. Yes you read right: paternity leave!

Article 24(2) of the 1992 Constitution guarantees the right of every worker to rest, leisure and reasonable limitation of working hours and periods of holidays with pay, as well as remuneration for public holidays. The right to rest and leisure means a right to leave with pay. The law attaches so much importance to rest and leisure for workers that section 30 of the Labour Act, 2003 (Act 651) frowns upon employees agreeing with their employers to waive their leave by rendering any such agreement void.


Maternity leave is a period of paid absence from work to which a woman is legally entitled during the months immediately before and after childbirth. In Ghana, it is presently a minimum of twelve (12) weeks exclusive of the employee’s annual leave. Thus, the employer may agree to grant more than twelve weeks maternity leave to an employee. In the event of multiple births, there is a further two weeks of maternity leave. The employer may pay or not pay for the additional time beyond the twelve weeks.

Although the Labour Act does not make express provision for paternity leave, it is my considered view that paternity leave is lawful and constitutional. The basis for this view is simply that the Constitution guarantees the right of “every worker” to rest and leisure a fortiori the right to leave. Article 17 of the same Constitution provides that all persons shall be equal before the law and that a person shall not be discriminated against on grounds, inter alia, of gender.

This view is further fortified by Article 7 of the International Convention on Economic Social and Cultural Rights, Article 1(3) of the United Nations Charter and Article 2 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which guarantees the equal enjoyment of rights and freedoms without any discrimination as to gender, race, etc. Ghana is a signatory to all the above international treaties. In today’s Ghana, both husband and wife work and are busy people. The husband should therefore get time off to assist with upkeep, as well as to enjoy some bonding time with the child. Equal maternity and paternity leave encourages both parents to develop the necessary skills for the basic care of their child. This means that couples are in a better position to make long term plans about care arrangements for the child.

Under the status quo, there is a persistent inequality between men and women in the workplace. Young women are often perceived by employers to be a risk: there is a serious possibility that they will become pregnant and take long periods of time off work. When choosing between men and women with equal skills, employers have an incentive to choose the man. Equal maternity and paternity leave prevents employers from identifying one gender as a risk, reducing the incentive to employ men ahead of women.

Also, available statistics point to the fact that children tend to bond with their primary care giver than non-primary care givers. With equal maternity and paternity leave, children are more likely to develop meaningful relationships with both parents. If children grow up in homes where their parents view each other as equals, this will increase their expectations of equality within society as a whole, in turn making society more equal.