Provincial employment standards should be changed to offer better protection to women on maternity leave and those who take sick leave to care for family, say advocates for women's rights.

The P.E.I. Advisory Council on the Status of Women is making these and other submissions to the provincial government, which will review the provincial employment standards act for the first time in 10 years.

The acts covers issues such as hours of work, sick leave, holidays and working conditions.

"A woman who takes maternity or parental leave … has their job protected for a year, but only if they've been working for an employer for 20 weeks continuously," says Jane Ledwell, the group's researcher and policy analyst.

"Otherwise they still get the benefits that are offered by the federal government, but they don't have any guarantees of job protection."

The council is also calling for an increase in the number of sick days that are allowed because women are often the ones forced to take time off to care for a sick child or a family member.

Improvements also have to be made to benefits for part-time workers, many of whom are women, said Ledwell.

Labour groups have criticized the employment standards panel because it does not include a union representative even though the act covers non-unionized workers.

About 57,000 non-unionized employees on the Island are covered under the legislation.