Motherhood and Swiss parliamentary work now more compatible

Switzerland is movong towards Italy, where MP Gilda Sportiello nurses her son in the Chamber of Deputies in Rome. Keystone / Fabio Frustaci

In Switzerland, female parliamentarians on maternity leave will soon be able to carry out their parliamentary duties without losing their right to maternity pay. 

After the Senate, the House of Representatives also spoke out in favor of changing the current practice.

Today a parliamentarian loses her maternity pay for her full-time job as soon as she takes part in parliamentary sessions. The Federal Court confirmed this in a leading judgment a year ago.

The participation of mothers on maternity leave in parliamentary sessions will no longer be considered as taking up employment. The House of Representatives approved the corresponding change to the Income Compensation Act on Thursday.

The Senate had already done this in June. The change is based on professional initiatives from several cantons. The new regulation will apply at the municipal, cantonal and federal levels. Because of a small difference, she goes back to the Senate.

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