Shaping More Family Friendly, Gender Responsive Social Protection and Inclusive Care Legislation in Dominica, Grenada and St. Lucia

Legislated leave to take care of elderly relatives or emergency support to family members who are hospitalised instead of having to use vacation leave.

This was among the proposals, Justice officials, stakeholders from government ministries, trade unions, the private sector, and social development agencies recently came together to review, as a part of national consultations on care-related legislation and unpaid care work.

Under the #BuildBackEqual Project, UN Women MCO Caribbean is leading discussions on how laws and policies can better support workers in balancing family and work responsibilities through measures such as maternity, paternity, parental, and carers' leave, breastfeeding accommodations, flexible work arrangements, and protections for domestic workers. The BBE Project is funded in part by Global Affairs Canada.

UN Women Caribbean Consultant Camille Bennett-Campbell explored ILO Conventions on decent work, regional and international legislative examples, Factories Acts, Employment and Labour Acts as well as Maternity leave provisions.

Key recommendations and insights include:
✅ Strengthening maternity protection and aligning legislation with international standards of 14 weeks.
✅ Expanding and clarifying provisions for parental and carers' leave to support families caring for children, elderly relatives, and dependents.
✅ Recognizing the critical role of fathers through enhanced paternity leave and greater support for shared caregiving responsibilities to remove the gender stereotypes that child rearing is the responsibility of the woman only.
✅ Ensuring adoptive and foster parents have access to leave provisions that allow for bonding and caregiving.
✅ Increasing awareness and utilisation of existing family leave provisions.
✅ Addressing barriers faced by workers in the informal care sector and extending protections to more vulnerable workers.
✅ Improving access to affordable, quality childcare services as an essential support for working families.

The consultation forms part of ongoing efforts to advance gender-responsive legislation and ensure that policy reforms reflect the lived realities of people in the #BBEProject countries.

#CareEconomy #UnpaidCareWork