On Sunday, the Parliament approved government-proposed amendments to the Employment Act, allowing two unpaid half-hour daily breaks for female government employees with children under two.

The Employment Act presently permits female government workers two half-hour breaks each day until their children turn one year old.

However, the legislation, backed by Madaveli MP Mohamed Shameez, suggests extending this until children reach two years old.

The legislation specifies that workers will enjoy additional breaks from the time they come back to work following maternity leave until their children turn two years old.

The breaks should not result in any deductions from salary.

The Parliament approved the bill with a unanimous vote of 62 on Sunday.

Thoddoo MP Hussain Sameer, a member of the primary opposition Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP), suggested modifying the bill to increase break time to 45 minutes rather than 30. However, the governing People's National Congress (PNC) utilized its supermajority in Parliament to dismiss the amendment.

Under the MDP administration, the nation enacted legal changes to lengthen maternity leave from three months to six months.