A proposed amendment to the Employment Act that introduces several changes, including allowing employees time during working hours to attend to their children until they reach the age of two, has been approved by the Parliament’s National Development and Heritage Committee.

The bill was referred to the committee for review, and was endorsed by a majority of members during a meeting held on Thursday after minor revisions were made.

Under the current Employment Act, employees who return to work after maternity leave are entitled to two 30-minute breaks during working hours each day to attend to their child. This entitlement is currently limited to the period until the child reaches one year of age.

The proposed amendment seeks to extend this period to two years. If adopted, employees returning to work after maternity leave would be granted two 30-minute breaks each day, without any deduction from their salary, to attend to their child until the child reaches the age of two.

The amendment also specifies that these breaks must be provided in addition to the one hour of break time employees are already entitled to during their working day.

Changes have also been proposed to the notice period required when terminating employment. At present, employees who have worked between six months and one year must be given two weeks’ notice before termination. The amendment would standardise this requirement so that any employee who has worked for less than one year must be given two weeks’ notice.

The bill further proposes granting the Cabinet the authority to waive the quota fee required to bring in foreign workers for certain types of businesses. The measure is intended to support the growth of small and medium-sized enterprises, create opportunities for new businesses and strengthen competition in the market.

Another amendment introduces a requirement for officers of the Labour Relations Authority to maintain confidentiality during and after their period of employment. The proposal also establishes penalties ranging from MVR 5,000 to MVR 25,000 for breaches of this obligation.

Following its approval at the committee stage, the bill will now be forwarded to Parliament for the next stage of the legislative process.