Maternity and Leave - The Rights You Need to Know Before the Baby Arrives
Maternity leave cases share one feature: the breach almost never happens openly. A pregnant employee is not dismissed "because of pregnancy"; her fixed-term contract is not renewed, her position is "abolished" while she is on leave, on her return she is offered a "different, equivalent" position on lower pay, or her leave pay is delayed "because of accounting". The Code protects against each of these scenarios separately.
This page sets out maternity and leave rights at the level of detail on which disputes are won: how maternity leave is arranged and who pays what, what rights a father has, what "return to the same position" means, how the law protects a pregnant employee from dismissal, and which leave disputes (annual, unpaid, study) frequently turn into wage disputes. Separately, for employers: how to plan cover lawfully.
Updated · Practice area: Employment lawyer
Which Leave Provides What - Types, Periods and Who Pays
The types of leave complement and often follow one another. The lawyer's first task is to calculate precisely the combination available to the employee and the obligations of the employer.
A Maternity Case - From Notification to Return
Notifying pregnancy in writing
Protection begins with the employer's knowledge: a medical certificate and a dated written notice (email or a delivered letter). From that day every step towards dismissal or worse conditions is examined for its temporal link to the pregnancy. The lawyer drafts the notice so that delivery is beyond dispute.
Arranging leave and pay
The leave certificate, an application dividing the period, the employer's order, submission of documents for payment. The lawyer checks whether the employer owes additional pay under the contract or internal rules; it often does and "forgets".
Protecting the position and conditions during leave
During leave the position is retained, seniority accrues, and salary rises and indexation applied to colleagues are owed to the employee on return. A "reorganisation" during leave is checked by the lawyer with particular strictness.
Returning
Written notice of the return date in advance; return to the same position on the same or improved conditions. An "equivalent" position only if keeping the same one is objectively impossible and conditions do not worsen. Breastfeeding breaks and protection from night work continue after the return.
On breach: inspectorate, Public Defender, court
Dismissal during pregnancy or leave: a voidance claim within 30 days, with a discrimination element and moral damages; delayed pay: under wage-dispute rules with interest; a changed position: voidance of a unilateral change of conditions. The inspectorate and the Public Defender in parallel.
What "Protection" of a Pregnant Employee or a Parent on Leave Means in Practice - and Where Its Limits Are
The Code prohibits dismissing a pregnant employee, one who has recently given birth or one on childcare leave on economic, technological, organisational and qualification grounds. That means "redundancy", "abolition of the position" and "incompatibility" are excluded during this period however genuine the reorganisation; the employer must offer another role, and a dismissal is automatically void.
The prohibition does not cover gross disciplinary breach, expiry of a fixed term or liquidation of the company, and that is exactly where employers look for a way through. A fixed-term contract "not renewed" after the pregnancy notice is checked by the lawyer in two directions: did the fixed term have an objective ground (if not, the contract is indefinite and there is no expiry), and were the contracts of other, non-pregnant colleagues renewed (if so, a presumption of discrimination).
Probation does not cancel pregnancy, but it makes the employer's defence easier, since termination during probation needs no justification. Here too the temporal link and the comparison with non-pregnant employees ground a discrimination claim, even where voidance of the dismissal could not be sought because of probation.
Lawful Administration of Maternity Leave - Cover, Pay, Return
- Cover on a fixed-term contract
- Replacing a temporarily absent employee is a lawful ground for a fixed term; the contract must state specifically whom the replacement covers and that the term ends on the return. Without that, the replacement becomes an indefinite employee and on the return two people hold one position.
- Payment obligations
- Timely submission of the documents for state pay, and any additional pay under the contract or internal rules paid on time. Delay is penalised with the same interest as late salary.
- Communication during leave
- Informing the employee of changes, salary rises and vacancies, exactly as active employees are informed. "Forgetting" the employee on leave in promotions or bonuses is a ground for discrimination.
- A return plan
- Retaining the position or, where objectively impossible, a documented offer of an equivalent position on the same or better conditions, with reasons why the same position cannot be kept. Offering a flexible schedule or partial remote work reduces the risk.
- Leave records
- An annual leave schedule and a record of unused days accessible to the employee. Accumulated leave is a monetary obligation on termination; without records, the employee's calculation is what gets proved.
What to Keep From the Day of Pregnancy Until the Return
- The pregnancy notice to the employer and confirmation of its delivery: the date from which protection begins.
- The leave application, order, leave certificate and payment documents: who paid how much and when.
- The contract and internal rules: clauses on additional pay, bonuses, salary reviews.
- Correspondence during the leave: offers, "reorganisation" notices, return conditions.
- Information on colleagues' salary rises and promotions during the leave, for comparison.
- The written notice of return and the employer's reply: the same or an "equivalent" position, and on what conditions.
Three Maternity Cases
Return to an "equivalent" position on 30% less pay
A head of sales returned from leave; the position had been "restructured" and she was offered a manager role without bonus. Lawyer: a unilateral worsening of conditions, the position had in fact been kept by the replacement, the temporal link. The court ordered reinstatement to the original position and payment of the difference.
A fixed-term contract that was "not renewed"
An accountant on three consecutive 1-year contracts; the fourth, after the pregnancy notice, was not signed. Lawyer: the fixed term had no objective ground, a three-year chain counts as indefinite, dismissal during pregnancy on a prohibited ground. Reinstatement, forced-absence pay, moral damages.
Employer: properly planned cover
A company was facing its marketing manager's 2-year leave. Lawyer: a fixed-term contract for the replacement with a specific ground, a schedule of additional pay, a communication rule during leave, a return plan with partial remote work. The return passed without any claim; the replacement moved to another position.
Questions About Maternity and Leave
I have not yet told my employer I am pregnant. When should I?
There is no statutory deadline, but protection starts with the employer's knowledge: until it knows, a dismissal cannot be linked to the pregnancy. The lawyer's advice is in writing, with a medical certificate, at the moment any sign of change appears, or simply when you decide. Confirmation of delivery is what matters.
I am a father. What leave am I actually entitled to?
The part of childcare leave that the mother does not use (the post-birth period is divided by agreement between the parents), and the additional unpaid leave until the child is 5, in full. An employer's refusal on the ground that it "does not apply to fathers" is sex discrimination.
I am on leave and the company is being liquidated. Does the protection apply?
Liquidation is an exception to the dismissal ban, but the obligations remain: notice, compensation, payment for all unused leave and a final settlement in the privileged class for wages. A "liquidation" after which the same business continues under a new company is a sham and a ground for voiding the dismissal.
I have not had "time" to take annual leave for two years. Is it lost?
It is not lost: unused leave accumulates and is compensated in cash on termination. But the employer is entitled to require leave to be taken, and the employee to receive it within the year. "You have no time" from the employer is a de facto refusal of leave, which is a matter for the inspectorate.
After my return I am being put on night shifts; my child is 1.
Assigning a parent of a child under 3 to night work without their consent is prohibited, and a breastfeeding woman cannot be assigned at all. Refusing a night shift is not a ground for a disciplinary sanction. A written refusal and, under pressure, the inspectorate: compelling night shifts is an unlawful change of conditions.
Lawyers for Maternity and Leave Matters
A maternity case is often resolved with one correctly delivered notice and one letter on return, provided the deadlines and the form are observed. Within 15 minutes the coordinator connects you with a lawyer who handles cases for parent employees.
No published lawyers in this category yet
That does not mean we cannot help. Call us - we will match you with a specialist for a remote consultation or from a nearby city.
Call: 568 330 318Pregnant, on Leave or Returning - and the Employer Is Talking About "Changes"?
In a free consultation the lawyer tells you what leave and pay you are entitled to, which change is unlawful and what to send in writing today - the coordinator's call comes in 15 minutes.