Employment law
Maternity leave
Fourteen weeks, benefits paid by the INPS, job protection, and one hour of nursing time a day for fifteen months.
Maternity leave is one of the rare forms of leave combining three protections at once: suspension of the contract, benefits paid by the social security institution, and protection against dismissal. Handling them separately is the main source of error.
The regime is set out in Articles L.178 et seq. of the Labour Code, supplemented by the Social Security Code for the benefits.
1. How long?
A female employee producing a medical certificate is entitled to fourteen weeks of maternity leave:
| Period | Length |
|---|---|
| Before the expected date of delivery | 6 weeks |
| After delivery | 8 weeks |
| Total | 14 weeks |
Where a duly certified illness follows the pregnancy or the delivery, a three-week extension may be granted. Labour Code, Articles L.179 and L.181 (French).
2. How is the employee compensated?
The cost does not fall on the employer: benefits are paid by the INPS. And the level deserves to be known precisely, because it is often underestimated, the daily allowance corresponds to the entirety of the salary actually received at the time the contract was suspended, without limit.
The employer's role is therefore administrative, but it conditions payment. Before the leave begins, HR sends the INPS:
- the employment certificate;
- the certificate of cessation of work;
- the salary certificate detailing the remuneration.
A file sent late mechanically delays payment. It is a task to build into the process from the announcement of the pregnancy, not at the point of departure. Social Security Code, Article 28 (French).
3. What conditions open the right?
Entitlement to benefits assumes certain steps were taken beforehand, on the employee's side:
- declaring the pregnancy within the first three months;
- attending the compulsory medical examinations, recorded in the pregnancy and maternity booklet issued by the Institute;
- delivery under medical supervision, of a child born viable and registered with civil status.
It helps for the employer to recall these conditions when a pregnancy is announced: they are simple, but overlooking them deprives the employee of benefits she was entitled to. Social Security Code, Articles 14, 16 and 18 (French).
4. What job protection applies?
The employer may not terminate the contract during this period. Pregnancy and maternity leave are not grounds for termination, and the protection covers the whole period concerned.
Symmetrically, the employee has an option: she may end her contract without notice, having informed her employer, during the fifteen months following the delivery. It is a termination at her initiative, but without the ordinary consequences of failing to give notice.
5. Nursing time
During the fifteen months following the delivery, a nursing mother has one hour a day for nursing, not deductible from working time.
Three practical points follow:
- this hour is paid: it is not made up and not deducted from salary;
- it is organised in agreement with the employee, in one block or split, according to the constraints of the role;
- it runs for fifteen months, well beyond maternity leave itself, which means building it durably into how the team works.
6. What to do, step by step
| Moment | What to do |
|---|---|
| When the pregnancy is announced | Recall the INPS declaration within three months and the medical follow-up |
| Before departure | Assemble and send the INPS file: certificates and salary certificate |
| During the leave | Treat the absence as suspension; arrange cover with a written contract naming the employee replaced |
| Throughout the period | Do not initiate any termination procedure |
| On return | Reinstate in the same post and organise the daily nursing hour |
| For 15 months after delivery | Maintain the nursing hour, not deductible from working time |
Key takeaways
| The rule | What it implies |
|---|---|
| 14 weeks: 6 before, 8 after | Three-week extension for illness following delivery |
| The INPS pays, not the employer | The full salary received when the contract was suspended |
| The INPS file is prepared before departure | Employment and cessation certificates, salary certificate |
| Termination prohibited during the period | Pregnancy is not a ground |
| The employee may leave without notice for 15 months | Having informed the employer |
| One nursing hour a day for 15 months | Not deductible from working time |