As soon as the doctor gives you your date of birth, you can calculate your maternity leave. Maternity protection serves to protect you as a pregnant woman at work before and after birth. Because now is the time to think about you and your family and to prepare your body for the upcoming birth and childbirth time.
Calculate maternity leave – That’s how it works
You always calculate your maternity leave depending on the date of birth. Your doctor will calculate your expected delivery date and will issue you a certificate for it. With this you can calculate your maternity leave and apply for the maternity protection money . To do this, you simply subtract six weeks from your expected delivery date.
For example, if your baby is to be born on Wednesday, September 21st, then on Wednesday, August 10th, your maternity leave will begin and August 9th would be your last day at work.
Your employer has to follow certain rules and you can point this out to him if he does not comply.
The maternity protection law regulates the following points:
- Night Shift or On Call: Pregnant and nursing mothers are not allowed to work or stand by between 8pm and 6am.
- Overtime: As an expectant mother you can not work more than 8 hours and 30 minutes.
- Sundays and public holidays: On holidays, pregnant women are generally not allowed to work.
- Workplace: The workplace must be set up in such a way that you can always sit down and do not stand in the main.
- Calculate Maternity Protection: Six weeks before birth and up to eight weeks after birth, you are no longer allowed to work as a pregnant woman. During this time, you will receive maternity benefits equal to your average net salary over the last three months. You apply for this with your health insurance.
You apply for the maternity allowance with your health insurance as soon as you have your medical certificate on the date of birth. You also receive the maternity allowance directly from your health insurance fund and the amount depends on the last salary. Your employer will only pay a grant. If your maternity leave ends after the 12 weeks, you can either volunteer for work or go straight into parental leave. To do this, ask a parental allowance application.
Maternity protection period & Co.: This states the Maternity Protection Act
To protect you as a pregnant woman in the job, there is the maternity protection law in Germany. This regulates exactly how long a pregnant woman is allowed to work and secures her financially in the period before and after the birth. In addition, due to maternity protection law from the first day of pregnancy up to four months after birth a prohibition on termination applies .
So you do not have to worry about your employer being able to give you notice if you tell him you’re pregnant. If financial worries were added to the thoughts of the upcoming event, it would not be good for you and the baby. Therefore, we can be grateful to women for the legal protection that does not exist everywhere.
The following women are covered by the Maternity Protection Act:
- All female employees who have a permanent employment relationship, full-time or part-time
- All apprentices with a trainee contract
- All women doing a mini job
The following women are not or only partially protected:
- If you are self-employed , housewife, student or student, maternity protection is not for you.
- As a temporary employee you are protected as long as the employment contract exists. If an employment relationship ends during pregnancy, maternity protection is discontinued.
- If you are still in the probationary period , the employer can not cancel you if you are pregnant. If your contract is limited after the probationary period, your maternity protection ends with the end of the contract.
Prohibition of employment – If you are no longer allowed to work as a pregnant woman
Even before the official maternity leave can lead to a prohibition of employment in case of complications during pregnancy or inappropriate workplaces. Here you continue to receive your wages, but no longer go to work. Your doctor will decide on this prohibition on employment. In case of pregnancy sickness, back pain or gestational diabetes, the doctor usually writes you sick and disabled. This is not enough for a job ban. Such a sick leave with full pay can last a maximum of 6 weeks.
A temporary or permanent ban on employment applies especially to occupations in which you are mostly standing, have to work physically or come into contact with pathogens such as a kindergarten teacher, in doctor and nursing professions or in assembly line work. For the sake of your child and your pregnancy, it may therefore be that you are no longer allowed to work from the fourth month of your pregnancy. Your gynecologist will decide on that as well.