China Extending Leave to New Mothers

Guaranteed Jobs for New Mothers: China, never known for being particularly friendly to families, may be changing its stripes. The ruling legislature is implementing new laws designed to force companies to provide mothers with up to two years of paid leave to care for their newborns. Women who qualify must have worked for the same company for at least one year, with children 3 or younger. The law stipulates that companies must guarantee female employees a maximum of period of two years to take care of their newly born babies, during which time employers are not allowed to end the employees' job contracts, according to the China Post. About 1.8 million employees could benefit from the new law, according to government estimates.