New EU law gives self-employed workers maternity and pension benefits
by WIN Admin — published in Press Releases
Self-employed workers and their partners will now enjoy the right to maternity leave under new EU legislation. The Directive on self-employed workers and assisting spouses repeals and replaces an earlier law and improves the social protection rights of millions of women in the labour market, boosting female entrepreneurship.
"This new law makes real improvements to the rights of self-employed workers and their partners, in particular women," said Viviane Reding, EU Commissioner for Justice, Fundamental Rights and Citizenship and Vice-President of the European Commission. "It will help them to better balance work and family life and encourage more women to become entrepreneurs – which is good for the economy too.
The legislation, agreed with the European Parliament on 18 May and endorsed this month by EU Member States, considerably improves the protection of female self-employed workers and assisting spouses in case of maternity or motherhood. It will provide equivalent access to maternity leave as for employees, but on a voluntary basis. At EU level, this is the first time a maternity allowance has been granted to self-employed workers.
The new rules will also serve to promote entrepreneurship in general and among women in particular. There is currently a major gender gap in this area – only 30% of entrepreneurs in Europe are women.
Around 11% of self-employed workers in Europe rely on the help of spouses and partners who work on an informal basis in small family businesses, such as a farm or a local doctor's practice. These ‘assisting spouses’ are often completely dependent on their self-employed partner and so are at high risk of poverty in the event of divorce, their partner’s death or bankruptcy. This new directive gives ‘assisting spouses’ the right to social security coverage, such as pensions, on the same basis as self-employed workers.
Source: Prowess 30/12/2010