Contributed by: Jana Olearnikova, Slovak National VAW Monitor

The Mother Centers Union, representing parents in almost 100 Mother Centers in Slovakia, has filed a joint comment on the amendment to the Labor Code proposed by the Ministry of Labor, Social Affairs and Family of the Slovak Republic.

The purpose of the joint comment is to ensure the concept of “maternity/parent leave” is changed, to eliminate discrimination against parents in the labor market and to enable a better parental-work duties' balance.

If the amendment to the Labor Code was passed in its current formulation, it would again constitute a formal norm for parents, which is seemingly in their interest, but is, in practice, not complied with or is even abused. The changes proposed by the representatives of parents also include the establishment of a so-called job-sharing scheme, which will prevent the abuse of a shortened office hours' scheme, in which the employers demand that amount of tasks appropriate for full-time employment be done in shorter time, but pay wages according to the hours worked.

Also, work leave arrangements need to be adjusted, especially during the time of school vacations, to meet the needs of parents, who are otherwise forced to leave their children unguarded during vacations, as they are unable to take longer leaves to cover the period of school vacations.

The Mother Centers Union also proposes changes to provisions on home working and teleworking intended to make the work-childcare arrangements easier, and thus help solve the dilemma of those mothers who are deciding between childcare and pursuit of their careers.

Yet another change proposed is to find an alternative for the term “maternity/parent leave” (“maternity/parent vacation” in Slovak language), which is not an appropriate term to describe the demanding role of a parent in a child’s upbringing. The current term creates an inappropriate and degrading understanding of a role of a parent, thus lowering the status of parents who are caretakers of newborn children.

According to the legislative rules of the Slovak government, a joint comment has the character of a principal comment; therefore, the legislator is obliged either to accept the observation and incorporate it into the proposed legislation or to hold adversary proceedings with the representatives of the Mother Centers Union.

Compiled from: Nový Zákonník práce nerieši dilemu práca verzus rodina, The Mother Centers Union, Changenet, February 23, 2007