I am an employee and I am pregnant
You are entitled to pregnancy leave (before the birth) and maternity leave (after the birth). In total you are entitled to 16 weeks of leave on full pay (100% of your salary). If you are expecting more than one child, you are entitled to 20 weeks' leave on full pay. Your employer can recover these wage costs via the loss of income benefit.
Digital reporting by your employer
Since the 1st of July, 2021, the process of reporting leave and applying for a loss of income benefit has been digitised. Two to four weeks before your leave starts, your employer will give notice of your leave in the SZW web portal via MijnCN. When doing so, your employer will need a letter from your obstetrician stating the expected due date. You can give your employer a copy of this letter.
If you do not want to share this letter with your employer for privacy reasons, you can share it directly with us by emailing a scan of the letter to ld.szw@rijksdienstcn.com.
Commencement date
You can take pregnancy leave 4 to 6 weeks before your due date. If you are expecting a multiple birth, you may take leave 10 to 8 weeks before your due date. You can add any residual pregnancy leave to your maternity leave.
If your baby is born later than the calculated due date, your maternity leave will not be shortened. It will start on the day after the birth and continue for 10 weeks. Your total leave can therefore last for longer than 16 weeks (20 weeks with a multiple birth).
If your baby is born earlier than the calculated due date, your leave will not be shortened. You will always have a total of at least 16 weeks paid leave (20 weeks with a multiple birth).
Additional protective measures
Since the 1st of January, 2021, there are additional measures to protect employees who are pregnant or who have just given birth.
During your pregnancy you cannot, for example, be forced to perform work between midnight and 6.00 a.m. You will also be entitled to expressing and feeding breaks during working hours throughout the first nine months after the birth. As an employee you must inform your employer in advance if you want to take advantage of these breaks which will last, in total, no more than a quarter of your daily working hours.
If you need more information about your personal situation, please do not hesitate to contact us.