Maternity leave under the new law. Maternity leave: how to calculate, process and receive payments Define maternity leave

The term “maternity leave”, which does not exist in official legislation, usually refers to the period of absence from work associated with motherhood. Before and after the birth of offspring, a woman receives from the state the opportunity to temporarily not fulfill her professional duties, but to devote herself to her family, without losing either her work experience or losing financial assistance. It is useful for all working representatives of the fair sex to know how this type of leave is arranged, which most women have to encounter at least once in their lives, and often more than once. The nuances of such frequently arranged “rest” are also important for personnel service employees.

Maternity leave - comprehensive leave

The persistent jargon of “maternity leave” actually hides 2 different vacations, the only common feature of which is their connection with the birth of a child.

1. Maternity leave
2. Leave related to the need to care for a child up to 1.5 or three years of age.

Components of the maternity leave:

• have different bases;
• are issued separately and each in its own way;
• of various durations;
• payment differs between the employer and the state.

Rumor has united them into a common “maternity leave”, since in practice in most cases they go one after the other and have no breaks between them.

REFERENCE! Legislatively, the right to leave related to future motherhood is regulated by Art. 255-256 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation. Special and work experience is not interrupted by a long maternity leave.

Who is entitled to maternity leave?

The Labor Code enshrines the right of any working woman to go on maternity leave, namely:

• an employee who has signed an employment contract (work experience does not matter);
• registered with the Employment Service with the official status of unemployed;
• female students studying full-time;
• a woman in military service;
• the female part of the civilian personnel of military institutions.

NOTE! Some types of paid benefits during this leave are available to everyone, and some - only to officially employed expectant mothers.

Timing is an important issue in motherhood

When establishing the duration of maternity leave and the time of leaving for it, the legislation is guided not only by the natural rhythms of childbirth, but also by the conclusions of the doctor leading the pregnant woman, which is reflected in the relevant legal acts.

Each type of leave that constitutes maternity leave has its own specific timing.

Maternity leave (Maternity leave)

In the last months leading up to childbirth, it becomes difficult for a woman, and sometimes she cannot cope with her usual work duties, and often even the journey to her place of work. The state provides her with the opportunity to be considered temporarily disabled, that is, to issue a sick leave for the prenatal and postpartum periods. The duration of these periods varies:

• before the expected birth, a woman is allowed to rest for 70 days according to the calendar;
• after childbirth, sick leave will continue for another 70 days if the birth was normal, and for 86 days in case of complicated birth situations (in particular, a cesarean section);
• if not one baby is expected to be born, but several at once, the happy mother will be allowed to rest 2 weeks earlier - the prenatal period will be 84 days;
• the parent of twins and more children after childbirth is entitled to 110 days of paid sick leave;
• the countdown of these deadlines begins with the issuance of antenatal clinic sick leave, which happens in a normal pregnancy at 30 weeks, and in a multiple pregnancy - at 28 weeks.

ATTENTION! If there are unexpected discrepancies in the estimated dates on which the vacation is based (for example, a woman gives birth ahead of schedule, postponed or the gestational age was incorrectly calculated), the vacation dates remain unchanged. To extend it, you need a new sick leave and, on its basis, additional leave.

When adopting a small child (up to 3 months), a woman is also entitled to leave similar to that provided under the BiR.

Instructions for expectant mothers: how to apply for leave under BiR

1. At 30 weeks (or 28, if more than 1 baby is expected), the pregnant woman receives a certificate of incapacity for work from the antenatal clinic doctor and has it certified by her supervisor.
2. A pregnant employee writes to her employer in her own hand. This document must indicate the reason for future absence from work (A&W) and the terms calculated from the sick leave. It’s worth immediately adding a clause about the request to accrue the corresponding benefits, otherwise they will have to be processed separately.
3. The HR department, based on the application and sick leave, issues an order to provide this type of leave. The expectant mother is completely free from labor worries from the date specified in the order.

Additionally, you need to prepare the following documents:

• copy of ID;
• a certificate from the accounting department about income for the last 2 years;
• bank account number or plastic card (for transferring benefits);
• a certificate from the housing complex stating that the woman registered before the 12-week period (an additional payment is due for early registration).

Parental leave for up to 1.5 or 3 years

Issued after the birth of the child before the expiration of postpartum vacation days: the first vacation will smoothly transition into the second.

IMPORTANT! This type of leave, unlike the first, can be issued not only to the child’s mother, but also to any person who will care for him - father, relative, guardian, the choice is up to the child’s family: it is possible if the mother has resumed working activity after the birth of the baby.

Labor guarantees for those on this leave:

• maintaining the workplace at the “pre-maternity leave” workload;
• payment of monthly “employer” compensation;
• taking into account the first 1.5 years of child care in the pension period;
• impossibility of dismissal before going to work.

FOR YOUR INFORMATION! The difference between a 1.5-year and a 3-year vacation is only in the payment of monthly benefits from the employer and the pension period. Is not different types vacation, but one, issued once, which can be completed at any convenient time before the child turns 3 years old.

Documenting

1. Mother or other officially employed person close person submits a written application to his employer (it also includes requirements for the accrual of 2 monthly payments - benefits and compensation).
2. Providing a birth certificate for the baby.
3. If it is not the mother who arranges the leave, a certificate is needed stating that she is not using her right to maternity leave.
4. Registration of the order by the HR department (the applicant receives a copy).

IMPORTANT INFORMATION! Two maternity leaves cannot be taken out at the same time. If before the end of the maternity leave a woman is going on a second one, then the dates in the two orders should not overlap each other. In such a situation, it is financially more profitable for a woman to apply for B&R benefits than to continue to receive compensation from the employer. Thus, it is worth writing an application for going back to work, and then for a new leave for the second pregnancy and childbirth.

For adopted children, parental leave is issued in the same manner as for relatives.

Pregnancy is a wonderful time in a woman’s life, but it is also a headache for her employer. The manager must know how to calculate and pay maternity benefits, within what time frame the transfer must be made, and what affects the amount of the benefit. Let's take a closer look at maternity leave, and also look at the features of calculating maternity benefits and the procedure for transferring them.

In ordinary life, maternity leave, as a rule, refers to the entire period while a woman is freed from work in order to bear, give birth to, and care for a child until he is 3 years old. But the legislation divided this concept into 2 segments: (basis - Article 255 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation) and (basis - Article 256 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation). While the monthly social payment for child care is consistently 40% of average earnings, the calculation of maternity benefits has its own characteristics.

Calculation of maternity payments

To count correctly maternity payments, let us turn to the order established by laws. To begin with, we note that the period for which a one-time maternity benefit should be calculated is 140 days, for a multiple pregnancy - 194 days, and for a difficult birth - 156 days. All this is reflected in Art. 10 of Federal Law No. 255-FZ. It also says that in the case when a woman is on leave to care for an already born child and is about to give birth to another, she needs to choose only one of the two benefits provided.

The period for which the lump sum maternity benefit should be calculated is 140 days.

Maternity benefits are paid to a woman in the amount of 100% of her salary. The length of her official work may have some influence. If it is less than six months, then the rate of the minimum wage - minimum wage (in 2018 it is 9,489 rubles) is taken as an indicator of average monthly earnings; coefficients are also taken into account.

The formula for the general definition of maternity pay includes 3 values:

1. The employee’s income for the previous 2 years (if, for example, the calculation is made in 2018, then 2016 and 2017 are taken).
2. The number of days in this period (730 or 731 days if the year was a leap year).
3. The number of maternity days required for calculation (140, 156, 184).

Rules for calculating benefits

There are certain restrictions and rules for calculating benefits. According to clause 3.2 of Art. 14 of Federal Law No. 255-FZ, the annual average earnings of an employee going on maternity leave cannot be higher than the maximum base amount for calculating insurance premiums. In 2018, this amount is set at 815,000 rubles, but you need to calculate the amount of maternity benefits based on the previous 2 years, so you need to know their limit.

In 2017, the maximum base for calculating insurance premiums was 755,000 rubles, and in 2016 – 718,000 rubles. When calculating maternity benefits in 2018, you must take these amounts into account.

Maximum benefit amount: (755,000 + 718,000) / 730 × 140 = 282,493 rubles 15 kopecks. The minimum benefit amount in 2018 is: (7500 × 12 × 2) / 730 × 140 = 43,675 rubles 40 kopecks.

The maternity leave calculator can be programmed at the enterprise independently (for example, in Microsoft Excel) or the payments can be determined manually.

Income for the previous 2 years does not include sick leave, prior maternity leave, as well as payments made for any other periods during which statutory insurance premiums were not charged on income received. If it so happens that the employee was on maternity leave during the previous 2 years required for calculation, then she can completely replace one or both calculation years with previous years. This way she can increase the benefit amount. That is, in this case, she has the right to choose the years for which her maternity leave is calculated.

As mentioned above, the employee’s length of service may affect the amount of maternity benefits. What should an employer do if his employee has 1 year of experience? The rule is the same for all officially employed women, so the calculation period will also be the previous 2 calendar years. In this case, the actual time worked, which falls on the previous calendar year, is taken in the amount of 100% of the average earnings (say, the last 5 months of that year), for the remaining months (in our example there are 19), earnings are set at the minimum wage.

The employee's length of service may affect the amount of maternity benefits. The rule is the same for all officially employed women.

At the same time, the maternity calendar is different for each employee, but the calculation of the benefit itself is carried out according to the same formula.

How are maternity benefits calculated?

As soon as the pregnancy reaches 30 weeks, the gynecologist at the antenatal clinic issues a sick leave certificate. It indicates the days for which maternity leave is paid.

The employee must provide the following documents to the accounting department or human resources department:

1. Certificate of incapacity for work for pregnancy and childbirth.
2. A certificate of early registration, if relevant (required for an additional lump sum payment in favor of a pregnant employee).
3. Your own statement in free form. You can see a sample.
4. A certificate of actual earnings received for the previous 2 years in the form established by Order of the Ministry of Labor No. 182n. It is provided if the employee has worked in another company over the past 2 years.

Maternity sick leave is paid in accordance with the general procedure, according to Art. 15 of Federal Law No. 255-FZ. Within 10 days from the date of receipt of documents from the employee, benefits are calculated and accrued, and payment is made on the next day of payment of wages. The payment deadline must be observed - for violation by the employer, according to Art. 236 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation, is obliged to pay a penalty. The surcharge for late payments is 1/300 of the established Central Bank refinancing rate for each day overdue.

The employer assigns and pays maternity benefits. The state compensates the funds paid by the employer, as stated in Art. 4 of Federal Law No. 81-FZ. Employees of the Social Insurance Fund transfer these funds within 10 days to the employer’s account. By the way, maternity benefits are taxed (Article 217 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation).

Maternity leave benefits are not taxed.

Additional payments

In addition to basic sick leave pay, employees going on maternity leave are entitled to additional payments:

1. One-time payment.

It is fixed, set taking into account the annual indexation and until February 1, 2017 it amounts to 15,382 rubles 17 kopecks. A one-time payment is made to only one parent. To receive it, you must provide the employer with the child’s birth certificate, an application from the parent applying for the payment, and a certificate stating that the other parent has not received this payment and does not plan to.

2. Payment for early registration at the antenatal clinic.

The 12th week of pregnancy is the milestone before which you must register in order to receive this payment. Until February 1, 2017, it is 576 rubles 83 kopecks and is paid simultaneously with maternity benefits. To receive a one-time payment, the employee must provide the accounting department with a corresponding certificate from the antenatal clinic.

The basic benefit and additional payments are also due if a woman, being pregnant after 30 weeks, continues to work and maintains her salary. However, as soon as maternity leave turns into parental leave, the social monthly benefit will be paid only if the woman is part-time or working at home ().

If the employee continues to work after 30 weeks and receives wages, she must still be paid benefits.

Some formalities

Before going on vacation, immediately after it, or after 3 years have passed since the birth of the child, the employee has the right to go on vacation if she wishes, and her work experience does not affect the situation (). Some women take such leave after the paid 140 days have passed because they receive a little more money than child care benefits, thereby stabilizing their financial situation a little.

A pregnant woman or a woman caring for a child under 3 years of age is not allowed. Based on Art. 261 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation, dismissal is possible only in the case of an agreement with a pregnant woman, but with its extension until the moment of childbirth or on her initiative at any time. If termination of the employment contract does occur, the woman is entitled to calculated compensation. She has the right to receive money for the next vacation of the previous period.

Maternity payments are due to every officially employed woman who is going to become a mother. They amount to 100% of her average earnings for the previous 2 years. The manager must pay her benefits, but not from his own pocket, but from the Social Insurance Fund. Any delay in payments is “punishable” by law, so you should be careful in fulfilling your duties.

Maternity leave- this is the time of absence from work due to the need to care for a child. People go on vacation based on their own application addressed to the head of the organization. The legislation provides for the duration of maternity leave until the child reaches 3 years of age.

In current legislation Russian Federation concept is not used "maternity leave". This expression is only a common slang name in our country for two types of leave, following each other, usually without interruption, and issued separately from each other: maternity leave - issued in the form of a period of incapacity for work (sick leave) of a set duration, and parental leave is provided for a longer period (up to the child reaches the age of 3 years) without interruption of work experience and work experience in the specialty.

General information

The right to receive maternity leave recorded in the Labor Code of the Russian Federation in Art. 255, . This right is reserved for all working women, including military women, the unemployed, students officially recognized as unemployed or registered at the labor exchange, as well as women who work in military departments as civilian personnel.

Attention

Paid for the period of maternity leave social security benefit, the size of which is equal to 100% of the average earnings of the expectant mother for the previous 2 full years.

Sample application for maternity leave during pregnancy and childbirth

An application regarding the need to go on maternity leave is absolutely no different from any other application, and also has a standard structure:

• “header” (upper right corner of the sheet), which indicates the name of the organization, surname, first name, and patronymic of its leader, and in the same corner below the surname, initials, and position of the applicant must be indicated;
• the name of the document, namely, “statement”, which is written without quotation marks in the middle of the sheet below the “header”;
• main text, which can be presented in any format; the main thing is that the applicant is able to write down a request for the vacation she needs, its temporary boundaries and state a request for the appointment of one or another benefit;
• Listed below are all additional documents attached to the application (as a rule, this is the original sick leave certificate issued by the medical institution, and the original certificate issued by the antenatal clinic, which confirms the state of pregnancy);
• in the lower right corner the applicant puts the date of filing the document, as well as her own signature.

After submitting the application and all necessary documents employer publishes order for maternity leave, a sample of which is given below.

I remembered an anecdote from life. “My husband never lies! He promised to send me on vacation to rest and sent me... on vacation... on maternity leave!... I’m resting!!!”

Indeed, many people on maternity leave take a break... from work. And from the first days of pregnancy they are interested in the most important question: when do they go on maternity leave? Career women can also ask the same question in order to calculate what they will have time to do at their favorite job before going on maternity leave.

Don't confuse the concepts

It just so happens that we call maternity leave the time we spend at home with the child, taking a break from work. But in the legislation such a term does not exist at all. The leave we call “maternity leave” consists of two separate leaves:

• For pregnancy and childbirth;
• For child care.

The Labor Code of the Russian Federation, Article 255 regulates maternity leave. Everything is clearly spelled out there, in black and white, as they say.

Maternity leave is also divided into two leaves: prenatal and postpartum, but only formally, because payments associated with going on maternity leave are made all at once, without interruptions.

When, how and for how long do they go on maternity leave?

As soon as the doctor notes that your pregnancy has reached the 30th week, you can immediately go on your long-awaited maternity leave. It is from this period that it is recommended to say goodbye to work and completely quit. In consultation, where the gynecologist will give you a certificate of incapacity for work, which indicates the duration of pregnancy and the date of expected birth. It must be presented at your place of work along with a certificate stating that you were registered before the 12th week of pregnancy, as well as along with a birth certificate containing three coupons.

Many women take annual legal leave from work before maternity leave, that is, in fact, you can go on maternity leave even at the 25th week of pregnancy if the duration of your leave from work is 5 weeks, for example.

How many days you spend on maternity leave depends on many nuances. In a normal pregnancy, prenatal leave is 70 calendar days. Multiple pregnancy gives you the right to rest for 84 days before giving birth, and if you are exposed to radiation, living in radioactively contaminated areas, then as much as 90 calendar days.

The duration of postpartum leave is determined by the birth. If they are normal (without complications), then after them you can rest from work for 70 calendar days. If - 86 days. Happy mothers of twins will receive 110 days of postpartum leave. For up to 30 weeks (if the child is born alive), there are 156 days of postnatal leave, and if the child is stillborn - then 86.

When adopting a newborn, you also have the right to postpartum leave: 70 days from the date of birth of the baby, and 110 days from the date of birth if you are adopting two or more children.

You need to know this!

Maternity leave must be paid for from social insurance funds, and if you are an entrepreneur or unemployed, then the benefit will be paid for by the insurance fund or social services. After maternity leave, as well as after parental leave, you can optionally go on annual paid leave. Or you can refuse maternity leave altogether, since you have every right to do so. There are many known cases where women successfully gave birth “on the job”: today at work with a belly, and after a couple of days off - without it.

As soon as maternity leave has ended, you can write an application for parental leave until your child reaches 3 years of age. For this period, your place of work and position are retained; the time of maternity leave is counted towards your total and continuous work experience and into your work experience in your specialty. However, you can go to work on a part-time basis at any time during maternity leave, then you will retain the mandatory child care benefit. If you reach the full rate, then child care payments are withdrawn.

And the most important moment! Pregnant women and women on maternity leave cannot be fired, since they are protected by the Labor Code. The Law also prohibits reducing wages “due to pregnancy.” At the same time, overtime work, business trips, work on weekends and at night - you are also not threatened, the Law states.

Whatever one may say, maternity leave is golden. With my first child, I personally did not manage to enjoy this happiness, but I waited for the second maternity leave long before the onset of pregnancy.

Don't miss the chance to be on maternity leave. Many will say: what about a career? Perhaps... but only after 20 years will journalism remain journalism (even with changes), but childhood years are gone irrevocably and the baby needs us most of all in the first three years, no matter how you look at it.

Happy maternity leave to you!

Especially for- Tanya Kivezhdiy

Maternity leave is popularly called leave granted to working women for a certain period of time before and after childbirth. Officially, it is called maternity leave. The right to rest is given to a woman at the legislative level and cannot be ignored by the employer. Sooner or later, all expectant mothers begin to wonder how long maternity leave lasts in order to understand when the long-awaited rest will begin and how many days later they will have to go back to work.

How long is maternity leave?

It is believed that maternity leave begins in the late stages of pregnancy and ends when the woman decides to resume work. This is partly true, but only partly. In fact, officially maternity leave usually begins from the 30th week of pregnancy and ends a certain number of days after the birth of the child. When the maternity leave ends, parental leave begins, which is often mistakenly considered part of maternity leave. We'll talk about it a little later, but for now we'll figure out how long maternity leave lasts, how it's paid, and in what situations its duration may change.

According to the law, a working woman has the right to temporarily stop working due to pregnancy and upcoming childbirth 70 days before the expected birth of the child. You are supposed to rest for the same number of days after childbirth. At the same time, the new mother’s workplace remains assigned, that is, she has the right to go to work at any time after the end of maternity leave. In addition, the Labor Code of the Russian Federation provides for situations relating to multiple pregnancies or complicated births.

Thus, the duration of maternity leave may be as follows:

• 140 days (when a woman is pregnant with one child and the birth occurs without complications);
• 156 days (if complications occur during or after childbirth);
• 194 days (for pregnancy and birth of two or more children).

Expectant mothers are entitled to mandatory insurance payments when going on maternity leave. This applies not only to working women, but also to students, women in military service, as well as those who were laid off due to the liquidation of a company (enterprise). Today, according to the law, payments are calculated based on the earnings that the expectant mother had during the 2 years preceding the date of maternity leave. But maternity payments are not provided for unemployed pregnant women.

Changing the duration of maternity leave

In practice, the duration of maternity leave is sometimes somewhat shorter than expected under the Labor Code of the Russian Federation. It should be understood that sick leave, which gives the right to receive payment for vacation, is issued at different times. The first document, according to the Labor Code of the Russian Federation, a woman receives at the antenatal clinic at 30 weeks, and the second - after the birth of the child in the maternity hospital. If the birth occurred earlier than the expected date, the duration of postpartum rest does not increase due to this.

Situations often occur in which a woman herself decides that she is quite capable of working a little longer than until 30 weeks of pregnancy, and refuses to go on maternity leave when she is given sick leave. Of course, the gynecologist will not change the date on the sick leave sheet, since she does not have the right to do so, but the woman can still agree with the employer that the maternity leave will actually begin a little later. In this case, the rest period will be calculated from the day the pregnant woman writes a statement. At the same time, she must understand that insurance payments will be less, since the maternity period in this case will be reduced. The number of days worked after the legal start date of maternity leave, indicated on the issued sick leave, will be paid as usual work activity. It will be impossible to compensate for the lost part of prenatal rest at the expense of postpartum rest.

A woman can go on vacation a little earlier if she combines maternity leave with her next paid vacation. It turns out that 14 or 28 days of well-deserved leave during work will be added to the 70 days of prenatal rest. In addition, in case of a difficult pregnancy, the expectant mother has the right to be on sick leave for as many days as necessary. Therefore, many pregnant women who feel unwell prefer to first go on sick leave and then immediately go on maternity leave. In this case, there will still be 2 sick leaves, and payments under the first document will not be included in the maternity benefit. The postpartum part of the maternity leave cannot be reduced under any circumstances.

Holiday to care for the child

As already mentioned, after the end of maternity leave, parental leave begins. In our country, it lasts until the child reaches the age of 3 years. During this period, the woman still retains her job and can go to work at any time.

Parental leave, unlike maternity leave, does not require the provision of sick leave. You just need to write an application and provide some other documents (children’s birth certificate, certificates, extracts from the work record book, etc.).

For the social insurance service, the period of caring for a baby is conventionally divided into 2 periods. One lasts from birth to 1.5 years, the second - from 1.5 to 3 years. Insurance payments are due only at the first stage. After the baby turns one and a half years old, the benefit will no longer be transferred. In the future, the young mother can only count on receiving compensation (50 rubles per month).

The period of child care can be extended by using annual paid leave. This becomes possible if the woman did not go on vacation before maternity leave.

Maternity leave can only be used by the mother herself, while other family members - father, grandmother, grandfather and even aunts and uncles - have the right to care for the child and receive benefits for up to 1.5 years. They can officially rest until the child reaches the age of 3 years. Typically, this option is chosen in cases where taking leave to care for a child under 3 years of age is more profitable not for the mother, but for another family member, taking into account the fact that the benefit is 40% of average earnings. If the mother did not work anywhere before pregnancy, the benefit will be calculated based on the minimum wage.

By the way, several years ago a law was passed according to which the maximum duration of parental leave can be 4.5 years. This applies to those women who are raising 3 children at the same time (the so-called “from maternity leave to maternity leave” situation). It turns out that the mother in this case can stay at home until each of the children turns 1.5 years old. Her job will be maintained for 4.5 years, and after this period the employer will be obliged to hire the employee at the previous rate. The amendments did not affect the possibility of transferring responsibilities for caring for the baby to other relatives: they still have every reason to do so.

For what to the expectant mother all this knowledge? Having an idea of ​​what rights she has, a woman will be able not only to correctly calculate the timing of her allotted vacations, but also, if necessary, to prove to the employer that she is right.