Maputo — The Mozambican Labour Consultative Commission (CCT) has approved draft regulations which would allow the payment of a paternity allowance, as well as extending the period of maternity leave from 60 to 90 days.

The CCT is a tripartite negotiating forum between the government, the trade unions, and the employers' associations.

The regulatory instrument was approved by consensus by the CCT and should be taken to the Council of Ministers (Cabinet) for approval in the next few days.

According to Tuesday's issue of the Maputo daily "Notícias', citing the director-general of the National Social Security Institute (INSS), Joaquim Siúta, the CCT is also proposing the payment of one month's maternity leave allowance with effect from the entry into force of the new Labour Law.

"The new Labour Law came into force some time ago and we should already be paying these allowances, but so far we've been paying them for only 60 days. So we thought about the rights that should already have been enjoyed since the law came into force and we came up with the idea of retroactivity', he said.

According to Siúta, there is no cause for alarm as to who should receive these retroactive payments, since the Social Security System is computerized and the people who applied for and received the amount corresponding to 60 days are known, and these are the beneficiaries of the retroactive payments for a further 30 days.

The source also said that since the new labour law came into force, 1,288 claims have been registered, and around 67 million meticais (1.1 million dollars at the current exchange rate) have been paid out. The INSS is due to pay 34 million meticais in back payments.