Can my employee take her maternity leave at a later date?

Labour Bulletin | 22 January, 2009 | Hot Topics:

PDF versionSend to friendPrinter-friendly version

Dear Reader

Welcome to this week’s Labour bulletin.

I think it’s fair to say that the biggest news this week was definitely Barack Obama’s inauguration and I was chatting to my colleague (we do that quite a bit) about how excited I am about the event even though he’s not our President. I’ve tracked his progress, am inspired by what he represents and was very excited on Tuesday; Nothando, on the other hand, said she’s over all the hoo-ha!

The one thing we did agree on was the mammoth task ahead of him. He’s under a lot of pressure to resolve the woes of America and the world in a miraculously short amount of time. It remains to be seen if he lives up to expectations...and I’ll be watching.

Speaking of difficult tasks...while you might not have to run a country, what you do is just as important to those it directly affects and you have to make sure you get things right! And labour law is one of those things.

The first step here is making sure your employees know the terms and conditions of their employment. Did you know you can’t change even one of these without your employees’ agreement or you could have a strike on your hands?

Find out more about this and what else you can and can’t do in the first update of 2009. It’s winging its way to you as I write this.

Of course you do need to be a subscriber to have access to this information.

Q&A from our subscribers

Can my employee take her maternity leave at a later date?

Question

My employee unexpectedly went into labour at seven months while she was on her December holiday. She gave natural birth to twins but because the babies were premature they’re not going to be discharged until the end of March.  My employee wants to return to work at the end of January and then take her additional three months maternity leave when her babies are discharged from hospital.

Can I allow this?  How does she claim for UIF if she takes her maternity leave at a later date?

Answer

Employees may go on maternity leave any time from four weeks before the expected date of birth.  Thus you can allow your employee to be on maternity leave in January 2009, return to work, and then take the remaining three months when the doctors discharge the babies in March. 

The employee can claim UIF during the months in which she’ll actually be away from work on maternity leave.

Until next time...

Sarah-Jane Bosch

Managing Editor

 


Editors note
Displayed if images are disabled by client. Necissary for SEO.

SarahJane Bosch
Labour Bulletin Editor

The Labour Bulletin team speaks to subscribers every week on landmark labour events and offer valuable and practical information from the Handbook, from questions and answers and from our experts that subscribers can use now to benefit their business.

All Content. Copyright © 2010. Fleet Street Publications Pty (Ltd)

Footer Menu

Disclaimer: All material on this site is provided for information only and may not be construed as medical or financial advice or instruction. The information and opinions provided on this site are believed to be accurate and sound, based on the best judgment available to the authors, but readers who fail to consult with appropriate authorities assume the risk of any injuries or losses. The publisher is not responsible for errors or omissions.