Delayed Maternity Benefits: When Contributions Are Timely but Support Is N

For many working women, maternity leave is meant to be a protected period — one where financial support helps ease the transition into motherhood. However, for contributors awaiting maternity leave benefits, that protection often exists only in theory.

Contributors are advised that maternity benefits should be paid within six to eight weeks after submission, once all documentation is verified and approved. In reality, however, payments frequently take three to four months. The reason often given is the need for final sign-off by the Head of the Board.

This raises a fundamental question: why are contributors required to pay their monthly contributions on time without fail, yet must wait months to receive benefits they are legally entitled to?

Contributions are deducted consistently and promptly, regardless of personal circumstances. There is no flexibility or delay on the side of contributors. Yet when it is time for benefits to be paid — particularly maternity benefits, which support mothers during one of the most financially demanding periods of their lives — delays appear to be normalized.

Maternity leave is not a luxury. It is a critical period involving medical expenses, childcare preparation, and reduced household income. Prolonged delays in benefit payments place unnecessary financial strain on families who have already met their obligations to the system.

If internal approval processes are causing repeated delays, then those processes must be reviewed. Contributors should not bear the burden of administrative bottlenecks, especially when expectations regarding payment timelines are clearly communicated but routinely unmet.

Social protection systems are built on trust — trust that contributions made today will translate into timely support when needed. When benefits are delayed for months without clear accountability or resolution, that trust is eroded.

The question remains: if contributors can be held to strict timelines for payments, should the same standard not apply to the institutions responsible for paying benefits?

This is not merely an administrative issue. It is a matter of fairness, accountability, and respect for working mothers who depend on the system they faithfully support.

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