Woman minister calls for equality at work

Women’s Empowerment and Child Protection Minister Linda Amalia Sari Gumelar said Tuesday she would fight for equality between women and men in the workplace.

"The rights of women as workers are often overlooked," she said. "We will coordinate with the manpower and transmigration minister, the health minister and companies to fight for women’s rights."

Linda said companies must abide by regulations to allocate a leave of absence when female workers gave birth.

Irwan Hidayat, a traditional health drink entrepreneur, said he agreed with the minister.

"We employ 2,500 workers, 90 of them are women," he said.

He said his firm gave female workers a leave of absence when they had their period and gave birth.