The a-z of maternity
● Announcing a pregnancy
Legally, your employee does not have to tell you that she is pregnant until 3 weeks before her maternity leave starts. But it is highly likely that it will happen much sooner. Most women talk about it as soon as they know that the pregnancy is going well, so after the 10-week scan or some other examination. It may happen that your employee will tell you first, in confidence, but does not want her colleagues to know until later. Therefore you must always ask whether you can share the news or not, and let her decide the timing.● Congratulations A pregnancy is usually a happy event and for most people it is one of the best things that can happen to them. Just try (subtly) to check whether the pregnancy is seen as good news, because you can never be quite certain. If yes, then it is of course nice to celebrate it, for example by getting the team or department to sign a card, maybe a gift. Depending on what you do normally in your company, and what you personally would like to do.
● Talk about leave
At her first or second medical appointment, your employee will have received a pregnancy confirmation from the midwife, GP or gynaecologist which also gives the predicted date for the birth. You as manager can use this to calculate the start date for the legal maternity leave. The employee can start her maternity leave 4, 5 or 6 weeks before the predicted date.
The second part of the maternity leave starts the day after she gives birth. This part of the leave normally lasts 10 weeks, but there are exceptions, when it may last longer. You can find out what these are from the UWV (employee insurance agency)If employees are exposed to certain health risks at work, you want them to tell you as early as possible when they are pregnant. Then you can take the necessary measures in good time to protect their health and that of their unborn child. Pay some attention to this, for example providing information about work and pregnancy, so that your female employees understand the importance of informing you early.
○ Talk about health risks
Have a separate conversation with your employee about her
rights and duties during pregnancy. Pregnant employees and their unborn
children are well protected by the law. You are expected to keep your employee
informed about this, and to do all you can to prevent any health issues arising
from their work. Please note: stress and heavy pressure of work are also not
good for pregnant women, and you will not always notice if this happens. So ask
open questions about whether they are running into problems with anything
during their work, and keep an eye on them by regularly asking how they are
doing.
○ Request maternity benefit
If all is well, then having heard from your employee that she
is pregnant you will have reached agreement on when her maternity leave is to
start. During the leave your employee will simply keep receiving her salary as
normal, and your employer will receive maternity benefits from the UWV
(employee insurance agency) for the pregnant employee. You can apply for this
benefit using an application form
from the UWV between 4 and 2 weeks before the date the maternity leave begins.
You need the pregnancy certificate for this, because it shows the expected
birth date.
○ Discuss parental leave
You do not have to discuss this at this stage, but of course
it is very useful if you know before your employee goes on maternity leave,
whether she intends to take parental leave as well. You can sound out what she
wants to do, and try to allow for her preferences in terms of working days and
the number of hours.
○ Childbirth
Once the employee has given birth, you will of course
organise a card and maybe a baby gift to be sent to her. You can do this
yourself or ask a colleague to do it, depending what is normal in the company
or what you want to do. Usually you will also hear whether you and colleagues
are welcome to come visit the baby, and when. If you do not, ask your employee
yourself whether she will let people know once she feels ready for it.
If the birth does not go smoothly, and the mother and/or
child have to stay in hospital or if the pregnancy ends prematurely, make sure
you will know about it. Discuss perhaps with colleagues what would be the best
thing to do, but make sure that you approach this sensitively and it does not
just get ignored because people are uncomfortable with it. Support from you as
manager and colleagues is incredibly important at times like this.
Once your employee has had the baby, the official
Registration staff will pass this on to the UWV. So you do not need to do so,
unless your employee lives abroad and has had the baby before starting her
maternity leave.
○ Request for flexible maternity
leave
The first 6 weeks of the 10 weeks of maternity leave
following the birth must be taken in a block immediately after the birth, and
the other 4 weeks can be taken flexibly over a period of 30 weeks. For example,
after the first 6 weeks, she can already start working 1 day per week. If she
wants to do this, she must request this from you within 3 weeks after the
birth, and you must respond within 2 weeks. You can refuse, but only for really
significant reasons, for example that it would cause problems for the company.
○
Request
for parental leave
If your employee wants to request parental leave, then she
needs to send the request to you in writing, at the latest 2 months before she
wants to start the parental leave. The UWV is not involved in this. Want to
find out more? On the government website you can find the rules about parental leave (Dutch).
Rights and duties in the case of pregnancy at work
The rules to protect pregnant employees and their unborn children are found in the Working Hours Law and the Health & Safety Decree. These rules cover working hours, breaks, types of activities that pregnant women may or may not do, and exposure to risks. The work you ask a pregnant woman to do must be organised in such a way that she does not suffer any harmful consequences as a result. In addition, you must inform her about potential risks at work, such as substances that may be hazardous for a pregnant woman and her unborn child, or for women who are breastfeeding. You can find these in the risk inventory and evaluation (RI&E) for your organisation.
What must a pregnant employee not do?
- Working hours
Pregnant employees are entitled to extra breaks (maximum 1/8th of their total working hours). They may not work a shift of more than 10 hours. Per week that means a maximum of 50 hours (4 consecutive weeks) or 45 hours (16 consecutive weeks). You cannot require a pregnant employee to work a night shift or to do overtime, unless you can prove that there is no other solution. - Risks
There are plenty of circumstances that may be hazardous for your pregnant employee and her unborn child. This includes working hazards that have a detrimental effect on male and female fertility. If you cannot remove these risks, you are required to offer your employee different work or adapt her work. If that is not possible either, then the pregnant employee does not have to come to work. - Stress
Make sure that your pregnant employee is not affected by stress, for example, from too great pressure of work – if necessary reduce the number of tasks and/or the work speed, or exposure to aggressive behaviour or bullying. - Physical stress
Your employee should do as little heavy physical work as possible. Some specific work activities are legally banned: - Throughout the whole pregnancy and up to 3 months after childbirth, lifting more than 10 kilos;
- From the 5th month of pregnancy, lifting anything weighing more than 5 kilos more than 10 times per day;
- from the 6th month of pregnancy, lifting anything weighing more than 5 kilos more than 5 times per day;
- In the last 3 months, squatting, kneeling, bending or using foot pedals while standing more than once per hour each day.
Want to read more?
The Handbook on Health & safety rules for Pregnancy & Work from the SER (Social and Economic Council) contains plenty more information. (Dutch)
These articles might also be of interest:
Everything you as manager need to know about maternity and paternity leave
Employees who are pregnant or have recently given birth are well protected at work by the law. The best known rules, on maternity leave, exist to give the employee the time to prepare for the birth and to recover properly after the birth. For partners there is then paternity leave. It is very likely that you as manager will have to deal with this at some point, so we have provided a brief summary below.
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