The Labour Relations Bill (2015) provides for a minimum maternity leave allowance of 14 calendar weeks in any 12 month period. However, this is only available as an entitlement where the mother concerned has already completed a full year of employment with her employer.
Where an employee has not completed 12 months the Law prescribes that any maternity leave may be pro-rated. You should enquire with your employer what their policy is regarding maternity leave, as some employers can be more flexible than others. There is nothing in the Law that prevents an employer from providing maternity benefits in excess of the minimums prescribed.
Currently an employer is legally required to offer 20 working days leave on full pay, 20 working days leave on half pay and 30 working days on no pay. For practical purposes this is treated by many businesses as the equivalent of six weeks at full pay, and eight weeks at no pay. Maternity leave may generally be taken in whatever portions requested by the employee, but six weeks of it must be taken after the birth of a child.
At present there is no provision in the Law for paternity leave, however, some companies will allow a new father anything from a few days to two weeks off.
Cayman Islands Law also provides for adoption leave. A female employee who adopts a child under the age of three, is entitled to adoption leave of nine calendar weeks, of which 15 working days are on full pay. Paternity leave for fathers who adopt is five days paid leave.
Campaigning for Change
Two local mums Bethany Ebanks-Pacheco and Lorren Stainton are still campaigning for an increase to maternity leave.
Back in 2022 three organisations introduced their own, more progressive maternity and paternity leave policies and in March 2024, the Cayman government improved entitlements for civil servants.
For civil servants, maternity leave has now increased from 90 to 110 working days and the paid portion of maternity leave has increased from 30 to 60 working days on normal pay. Paternity leave has also increased to 20 working days, with 10 days on normal pay and the remainder without pay.
The law firm Ogier announced they would be offering 18 weeks paid and 34 weeks unpaid maternity leave, with the mother being entitled to this from day one of their employment. Their adoption and surrogacy leave have also been increased to 18 weeks paid and 34 weeks unpaid, and parental/paternity leave benefits have increased to 9 weeks paid and up to 43 weeks unpaid leave.
Scotiabank is now offering 16 weeks full paid maternity leave. Fathers, adoptive parents and appointed legal guardians with a new child, will receive 4 fully paid weeks of parental leave.
Dart has also increased their maternity and paternity packages. Mothers receive three months’ leave with full pay and may choose to add a combination of other paid leave options – adding up to potentially another month and a half at full pay. In addition to paid leave, mothers may add unpaid days for up to six months at home with their newborn baby, with all relevant employee benefits fully paid by the company. Dads now get 10 days paid paternity leave, with the option of adding five paid personal days and any unused vacation and unpaid leave.
While there has been talk of improving maternity benefits to align with the civil service of the Cayman government, no timing has been given and there has been no further news since October 2024.
