Law 2024-44 introduces several enhancements to family leave entitlements for both public and private sector employees, most notably a substantial increase in government-paid maternity leave from 30 calendar days to three months. The law took effect on August 12, 2024.
Noteworthy provisions of the law include:
Employers should review and amend their leave policies accordingly. It’s worth noting that while the duration of maternity leave has tripled, the level of pay replacement benefits from social security is unchanged and remains relatively low (especially for highly paid staff). Among companies surveyed by WTW (prior to the law’s introduction), only 14% enhance maternity leave, and even fewer enhance paternity leave, despite the modest duration of the respective leaves before the current reforms.
While working parents will no doubt welcome the substantial improvement in both leave entitlements, the effectiveness of the increase in maternity leave may be offset somewhat by the low participation of female workers in the labor force in Tunisia, estimated by the United Nations at 18.2%.