The president’s Women’s and Family Affairs Centre has announced a plan to divide every office position into two part-time jobs for women, providing them with one-half the usual salary and benefits.
Maryam Mojtahedzadeh, the head of the Women’s and Family Affairs Centre, told the Fars News Agency: “The Centre has proposed hiring two part-time employees instead of one in response to the high number of educated women and the lack of job opportunities for them.”
“According to this plan, female employees will work 22 hours instead of 44 and their pay, insurance and retirement plans will also be half,” Mojtahedzadeh said.
She added, however, that such jobs must carry enough of a workload to be divided practically into two part-time jobs.
Last year, the government proposed a plan for remote employment that would mostly affect positions held by women. According to the plan, women whose presence in the office was not directly necessary should be given the opportunity to work from home.
The plan was announced to be a step toward support for women and family values, but women’s rights activists have criticized such measures as obstacles to women’s employment opportunities.
