Happy Sunday all! This week was hectic and eventful as we all know – from the protest action to the announcement of elections – however in the midst of all of that, I saw an article about a woman who was sent home while on maternity leave. The headline really shocked me because I wondered how and why something like that would happen. After I read the article, I thought it would be interesting and informative to go through some important points in the Maternity Protection Act. Hope you gain some clarity on your rights, especially if you’re expecting.
1. Section 7(1) of the Act states the following:
Subject to this Act, an employee is entitled to (a) leave of absence for the purpose of maternity leave; (b) pay while on maternity leave; (c) resume work after such leave on terms no less favourable than were enjoyed by her immediately prior to her leave.
The Act was quite clear and explicit in stating the entitlements of the employee.
2. Section 8 of the Act speaks to eligibility for maternity leave. It states:
An employee is not entitled to the rights referred in section 7 unless (a) as of the expected date of confinement…she has been continuously employed by that employer for a period of not less than twelve months; (b) she informs her employer, in writing, no later than eight weeks before the expected date of her confinement that she will require leave of absence due to pregnancy; (c) she submits to her employer a medical certificate from a qualified person stating the probable date of confinement; and (d) she informs her employer in writing of her intention to return to work at the expiry of her maternity leave.
So note that are four requirements for the employee to fulfill to formally entitle her to access the benefits. She must be working with her employer for at least twelve (12) months continuously, write to her employer within a specified time frame, and she must produce evidence of her condition and indicate when she plans to resume work. Continuous employment is further defined in the Act for daily rated employees – the employee must have worked for a total of one hundred and fifty (150) working days within the 12 month period.
3. Section 9 of the Act is quite long so I will just summarize what it explains. The employee is entitled to fourteen (14) weeks maternity leave and she may proceed on the leave six (6) weeks prior to the date on the medical certificate or at a date at her discretion. She is entitled to one (1) month’s leave with full pay and two (2) months’ with half pay.
4. Sections 10 and 12 of the Act discuss respectively the employee’s right to extend her leave from work for medical or non-medical reasons and the ability for the employee and employer to seek redress if either is aggrieved. Both sections are also long so I will again summarize. Section 10 details how the employee can extend her maternity leave for non-medical reasons up to four (4) weeks and for medical reasons up to twelve (12) weeks. Of course there are requirements and stipulations about how she will be paid. Section 12 advises aggrieved parties to report any issues to the Minister of Labour. Efforts will then be made to settle the matter formally as the Minister sees fit.
5. While this is not in the Act, it is worthy to note that an employee’s NIS maternity benefit form should ideally be completed before she proceeds on leave, so that her claim can be processed by NIS and she can receive her benefit while on leave. The onus is on the employee to submit the form in a timely manner as well. Completed forms can only be submitted to NIS after the employee proceeds on maternity leave.
I hope you got some more insight into the Maternity Protection Act and maternity benefits in general. Based on the above, you can see that both employee and employer have responsibilities to fulfill when it comes to claiming for and administering maternity leave. Ultimately though, after reading the article, everyone can agree that this mother has found herself in a sad situation. I hope that she and her family get the resolution that they need.
NMLO
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