THE REGULATION OF MATERNITY LEAVE IN LAW NO. 4 2024 ON MATERNAL AND CHILD WELFARE IN THE FIRST ONE THOUSAND DAYS OF LIFE AND ITS IMPLICATIONS FOR LABOR LAW DEVELOPMENT

This article discusses changes to maternity leave provisions for female workers in Law No. 4 of 2024 concerning the Welfare of Mothers and Children in the First Thousand Days of Life (KIA Law) and its relation to the development of labor law in Indonesia. The KIA Law extends the duration of maternity leave by an additional three months from the previous maternity leave provisions and includes a gradual wage payment scheme. This change is interpreted as an effort to improve maternity protection, reflecting the state's responsibility to ensure the welfare of mothers and children, and marking the development of labor law in a more responsive and inclusive direction. However, the mechanism of fully financing leave, which is borne by employers, is considered prone to resistance in the labor market, especially in the recruitment and retention of female workers. This paper uses a normative juridical method with a regulatory approach to examine this policy transformation as part of national legal development. It concludes that strengthening maternity protection must be accompanied by reforms to the employment social security system so that legal development is not only normative but also equitable and sustainable.