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Maternity leave

Maternity rights is one of the issues that create the most interventions from international and European institutions or international sports federations. Regarding women workers’ rights, the ILO has adopted specific conventions such as Convention No. 183 on Maternity Protection

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SPORTS & FEDERATIONS

When it is possible, the implementation of a legal act, such as an employment contractor a collective bargaining agreement, remains the most efficient way to preserve maternity rights for athletes: the provisions contained in these legal acts may tackle various subject as maternity leave or maternity allowance and the legal implementation makes sure to implement relevant protection systems on these topics.

Some federations’ regulatory texts include specific provisions for female players related to maternity rights.

FIFA: Fifa establishes the best protection system: its regulations respect the requirements established by the precedent conventions, as it implements a minimum paid maternity leave of 14 weeks, prohibits the termination of a player’s contract on the grounds of pregnancy and ensure thatplayers are allowed to breastfeed and return to play after their pregnancy
UCI, ITF and WAt: In managing the UCI Women’s WorldTour, teams must respect many requirements regarding paid maternity leave and a specific status that help athletes keep their ranking. The UCI also requires teams to cover the cost of maternity insurance where there is no local social security system. This constatation can directly be linked to the specific structuration of the UCI, which oversees organising the UCI Women’s WorldTour and selects the participating teams.

DIRECTIVE & RECOMMANDATIONS

The analysis of international and European institutions (ILO, CoE, EU) has highlighted that protecting maternity rights is essential for recognising women’s specific rights. Maternity rights will be defined as provided in Article 33 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union

Recommendation No. R (96)51 on reconciling work and family life the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe recommends to the Member States to acknowledge within national legislation for men and women.
Directive 2006/54 on the implementation of the principle of equal opportunities and equal treatmentof men and women in matters of employment and occupation: Article 15 is about the right toreturn from maternity leave
The Pregnancy Directive (92/85/EEC) also provides a minimum of 14 continuous weeks of maternityleave for women.

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NATIONS & GOOD IMPLEMENTATIONS

The French handball league clubs and the English football league clubs have to providean employment contract and monthly remuneration to a minimum number of players in theirteam, as these leagues have become entirely professional under national law. Under this professional status, players also benefit from employee social welfare rights, such as maternity rights.

English Women’s Super League and Women’s Championship: Based on FIFA Regulations, professional female players beneficiate from 14 weeks ofpaid maternity leave. English Rugby Football Union: Female professional rugby playersbeneficiates from 26 weeks of paid maternity leave. The new RFU maternity policy also includes theoption for pregnant players to perform other roles within rugby until theirmaternity leave starts, and babies will be able to travel with players to games.

The Italian Department for Sport of the Presidency of the Council of Ministers has carried out a specific social communication which aims at promoting support for the maternity of athletes, the monthly contribution for non-professional athletes who have interrupted their competitive activity due to maternity.Compared to previous years, the monthly payments of the contribution have been increased, passing to 12 monthly payments of 1,000.00 euros each and theaudience of potential beneficiaries also extended to athletes active in the previous sports season.