The Ondo State Government has announced the extension of the maternity leave period for its female workers from three months to six months.
The government said the move was to build a society where children that are already raised have all things required in terms of maternal care, which should be exclusive in the first six months.
The state Head of Service, Kayode Ogundele, disclosed this while receiving members of the Federation of Women Lawyers, Ondo State Chapter, in his office in Akure, the state capital, on Wednesday.
“Aside from adequate care, mothers would be able to give their newborn babies during the leave period; such mothers would be more focused and productive when they resumed work because all of the initial child-rearing challenges would have been adequately addressed during the leave period,” Ogundele explained.
He praised FIDA’s complementary roles in alleviating the societal plights of women and children.
Earlier in her remarks, the state Chairperson of FIDA, Mrs Catherine Ogunjebi, had advocated for the abolition of some seeming encumbrances in the administration of maternity leave for female civil servants, irrespective of their marital status.
Ogunjebi also pleaded for the elevation of female lawyers in the service of the state to the position of permanent secretaries.
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