Kuala Lumpur - Malaysian women working in the civil service can now choose to take up to five years' unpaid maternity leave in order to care for their children, news reports said.
Currently, civil servants are given 60 days of paid leave, followed by an optional 90 days of unpaid maternity leave.
The new ruling would enable working mothers to take time off from work to care for their newborn, while being assured of a job once they choose to return to the workforce, said deputy prime minister Najib Razak.
"The leave can be broken up, which means they can take one or two years for the first child, and another one or two years for the next child, but not exceeding five years," Najib was quoted as saying by the Star newspaper.
Najib said the government decided on a maximum term of five years as anything longer would affect the civil servants' competency level and manpower planning.
"We want to provide this flexibility for women in the civil service who want to give more attention to the care of their children.
"This is in line with the government's objective to ensure that attention is given to children's early education because with proper guidance, nurturing and love, the children will become better people," he said.
He assured mothers-to-be that their decision to take the extended unpaid leave would not forfeit their yearly increments, saying that increments would still be given based on the duration of the workers' leave. - Sapa-dpa