Petition submitted to amend maternity leave promotion policy

A petition has been submitted to the People’s Majlis seeking changes to a policy that affects promotion eligibility for employees on maternity leave.

The petition was submitted through the e-petition system by Mariyam Shifana Hussain.

It states that under current civil service regulations, employees whose service period within an appraisal cycle is less than 90 days are not considered for promotion. As a result, employees who take six months of maternity leave are excluded from promotion eligibility during that period.

The petition calls for amendments to address this issue.

As of now, the petition has received 930 signatures. With 39 days remaining in the signing period, the number of signatures meets the threshold required for Parliament to accept the petition and bring the matter to the attention of the government without sponsorship by a Member of Parliament.

Under parliamentary procedures, petitions submitted through an MP require a minimum of 500 signatures. If a petition receives at least 840 signatures, Parliament is required to notify the government. If the number reaches 2,100 signatures, the matter must be scheduled for debate.

The signing period for petitions is 42 days, and individuals can verify their signatures through the eFaas portal.