AN EXTENSION of women’s fully-paid maternity leave from 14 weeks to 18 weeks has been proposed by the European Commission to encourage more women to return to work after having children.
The commission also said that these new maternity benefits should apply to self-employed women and would guarantee that women in all 27 EU countries would not be sacked during, or immediately after, maternity leave.
Critics have said small businesses will struggle to meet the costs and that national governments should decide on such matters, not the EU.
