Gobierno de Chile

Accompanied by his wife, Cecilia Morel, as well as Government Ministers, Congressmen from across the political spectrum and hundreds of beneficiaries, the President thanked “the congressmen who worked hard on this matter, setting aside our legitimate differences and prioritizing the interests of families, mothers and children in order to achieve a good agreement.”

He added, “if only we could address all the problems and challenges in our country with the same attitude and will with which we addressed the challenge of doing justice to mothers in Chile.”

Speaking from the municipality of La Florida, the President of Chile, Sebastián Piñera, accompanied by his wife, Cecilia Morel, this afternoon enacted the law to extend postnatal maternity leave from 3 to 6 months. The bill was sent to Congress in March and was recently approved by both chambers.

The President expressed his great satisfaction at the realization of this long-desired social benefit, which fulfills one of his key election pledges. “Today is a historic day because it is the first improvement that has been made to postnatal maternity leave in Chile in the last forty years. And today we are improving it in many ways,” he said.

He continued, “more than two and a half million working women of childbearing age know that from today society will reward, recognize, value and help them with this wonderful challenge of bringing a new life into the world, of watching the child grow, bringing him or her up to be happy and a good member of Chilean society.” He added, “we have also included additional benefits for premature babies, multiple births and adopted children.”

He explained that “these six months will enable the child to have what he or she most needs: to have their mother close by, to receive tenderness, love, affection and care, to be breastfed and to have their father close by too.” He explained, “this will not only benefit children, improving their physical, emotional and intellectual health, but it will also benefit parents, who will be able to fully enjoy their children during their first six months of life.”

Accompanied by Government Ministers, Congressmen from across the political spectrum and hundreds of beneficiaries, the President admitted that “politics is tough but there are happy days too. This is one of them.”

Thanks to all Congressmen

He thanked the congressmen from all areas of the political spectrum for supporting this initiative of his administration. “I give my heartfelt thanks to the congressmen who worked hard to reach an agreement. I know there are many of them and some of them are here today. I really want to thank the congressmen who worked hard on this matter, setting aside our legitimate differences and prioritizing the interests of families, mothers and children in order to achieve a good agreement. The mothers and children of Chile are grateful to them for improving and passing this bill,” he said.

He added, “if only we could address all the problems and challenges in our country with the same attitude and will with which we addressed the challenge of doing justice to mothers in Chile.”

Finally, the President highlighted that “this new postnatal maternity leave is telling mothers we value, recognize, appreciate and support the tremendous task of being a mother. We are also correcting an injustice, because the work of raising children has rested basically on the shoulders of women.”

Six month postnatal maternity leave law

Once it has been published in the Diario Oficial (Official Gazette), all employees and independent workers, including temporary workers who are contracted for specific works or by the job, and those who work for themselves, as traders and salespeople, will be able to take advantage of the provisions of this law. This will potentially benefit over two and a half million Chilean working women.

The benefits will automatically apply to all women who are currently on antenatal or postnatal leave and all those who have completed their postnatal leave but have a child under 24 weeks.

The new law extends the current 12 weeks of postnatal maternity leave by an additional 12 weeks, to make 24 weeks of full-time leave.  This can be extended up to 30 weeks, if mothers decide to take the additional leave on a part-time basis.

Working mothers will receive a subsidy of up to 66 UF (an index-linked unit used in Chile) and can choose how to take the additional postnatal maternity leave: 12 weeks full-time at 100% of the subsidy or 18 weeks part-time at 50% of the subsidy.

When it comes to passing part of the benefit to the father, if the mother decides to take 12 weeks full-time, she can pass him up to six weeks. If she decides to take 18 weeks part-time, she can pass up to 12 weeks part-time to the father.

In both cases, the amount of the subsidy is calculated based on the father’s salary. He will also have the right to protection from dismissal for twice the period taken full-time or a maximum of three months if he has taken part-time leave. In addition, the current five days of paternity leave will remain unaltered.

The parents of adopted children aged under 6 months will also receive the 12 weeks of postnatal maternity leave and the new additional postnatal leave.

Any employer who makes it difficult for employees to take this leave will be subject to a fine of between 14 and 150 UTM (monthly tax units).