AS part of measures to attract and retain talented female workforce, foremost shipping, logistics and oil and gas conglomerate, Maersk Group, is set to implement a new maternity leave policy for its employees in Nigeria.

The new policy which is billed to take effect from April 4, 2016 includes 20 percent reduced hours of work at full contractual pay for up to six months after returning to work over the first year after the childbirth or adoption.

According to the company, this phased return programme will enable women to have smoother transition back to work and contribute to increased retention.

The Maersk Group new maternity leave policy also makes a provision for a guaranteed minimum of 18 weeks maternity leave on full pay for all employees, subject to local workforce regulations.

The Federal Government of Nigeria is implementing 16-week maternity paid leave policy for pregnant women, irrespective of their marital status and number of babies delivered. The bill is currently before the National Assembly.

The statement explained that the new policy also includes one week of paternity leave, depending on local laws, adding that, “it will allow the Group to provide some paid leave for the primary caregiver to the new child either male or female.

Head of Human Relations (HR) at APM Terminals in Nigeria, Bunmi Pratt was quoted as saying: “In Nigeria, we have currently 107 women working across our different Business Units versus 1173 men, representing eight per cent of the overall work force. This new policy supports our aim to retain the talented women working in the Group and attract even more to gain access to future and wider talent pools and strengthen our business results.”

As at February 2015, the Maersk Group had more than 23,000 women employed, and over the last three years an average of approximately 500 women have gone on maternity leave each year of which only 70 per cent continued working with Maersk Group.

The statement explained that the new policy will improve terms for women working for Maersk in at least 51 countries out of the 130 in which the Group operates compared to the statutory minimum.

In the United States (US), more than 1,200 women employed will be eligible for 18 weeks of paid leave compared to their current paid leave which is typically six weeks. In Panama the typical 12 weeks of paid maternity leave will now be 18 weeks.