A Maternity Leave Trust Fund to which employers have to make contributions started operating on 6th July 2015.

The fund is geared towards avoiding gender discrimination and encouraging the employment of women and as such, employers are required to contribute the equivalent of 0.3 per cent of the basic pay for every employee, irrespective of gender, to build up a fund from which the 14-week maternity leave will be paid and which will therefore serve as a resource for all employers in the private sector. The 4-week contribution by the Government towards the total 18-week maternity leave is naturally excluded.

The fund will be supervised by a board composed of three employers and one trade union representative together with the permanent secretaries in the Ministries of Finance and Employment Relations