As Government considers a union proposal for a shorter working week, campaigners have called for increased maternity and paternity benefits too.

Former Shadow Women's Minister Suzann Roberts-Holshouser and paediatric nurse Liz Boden believe women need more time with their babies than the current statutory minimum of eight weeks paid leave and four weeks unpaid allow.

Since the onus is currently on companies to provide maternity pay, they have called for the Government to consider providing statutory maternity payments as in other countries.

Their comments came after Randy Horton told a Bermuda Industrial Union banquet on Labour Day weekend that it is considering reducing the working week from 37.5 hours to 35 in the hope this would allow families more quality time together.

Reacting to this, Mrs. Boden, of the Nurses' Practice which supports parents, said: "The 35 hour work week will simply mean that employers will be made to pay overtime to get the work done and parents will leap at the opportunity to earn more.

"The real way to get parents involved with their children is to teach them through parenting classes which must start before a baby is born. The Nurses' Practice has thousands of wonderful parents from every background, who would agree having been to our classes.

"Maternity leave should be a Government responsibility, like pensions, as small businesses would not survive if they have to extend the leave.

Bermuda is so far behind other developed countries where six months maternity leave is the norm and some allow one year to 18 months.

"Parents must have time to understand their children and get involved in their development and Bermuda is absolutely in the dark ages when it comes to maternity leave legislation.

"Parents need to get to know their child and you don't know a baby at three months. The baby is unsettled and the woman is sleep deprived and exhausted. Then she goes back to work and is trying to concentrate on her job.

"I would like to see a minimum six months maternity leave."

Mrs. Roberts-Holshouser, who was Shadow Minister for Women for four years prior to losing her St. David's seat at the last election, believes paternity leave is also a key issue.

There is no statutory provision for such leave in Bermuda, although some union agreements provide fathers with a week off and some companies offer leave at their discretion.

"What's important is taking an overall look at parenting and starting to recognise the father as a parent which is something we don't do," she said.

"We need to take a look at paternity leave and then, if we opened our eyes, the businesses could look at flexi hours.

"The mother could have six weeks off, then if both parents worked at a company that had flexi hours they could still have one parent at home while the other parent was working.

"We need to take into consideration businesses, they need to be able to survive and get their work done, but companies are, I hope, beginning to realise that in return for flexi hours they get a better return from the parent. It's also far more beneficial and grounding for the child."

Meanwhile a spokeswoman for the La Leche League of Bermuda, which promotes breastfeeding, said mothers should not be overlooked once they return from maternity leave.

"Not only does breastfeeding provide many health benefits to mothers and babies, it positively impacts the workplace by reducing healthcare costs and health insurance premiums," she noted.

"Community-wide attitudes that prioritise breastfeeding, flexible working hours and extended maternity leave also provide support to working women who breastfeed."

Martin Law, executive director of the Bermuda Employers' Council, said the issue is complex and Bermuda cannot be fairly compared with other countries where the state pays maternity benefits.

"Here in Bermuda the employer picks up all the cost. These are big issues that require everyone to sit down and find ways of funding it.

"Obviously there's sympathy and there are good social reasons, but there are also issues of who pays and disruption issues," he said.

On the topic of flexible hours for working parents, he said: "Today there is more flexibility than one might at first blush believe.

"People work from home and work different hours. It depends on whether the business allows it but in some cases they find it beneficial."

Questions to Government representatives from the Ministries of Health and Labour about the topic remained unanswered by press time.