Salary for Pregnant Women. For the women who are pregnant, you deserve the same treatment and payment from your employers. There is a regulation which stated that your employers must not give lower payment or worse contractual terms just because of your pregnancy. Your employer must pay you with equal pay claim.
If you are going to take maternity leave, you should make sure that your contract offers the maternity-related pay. However, if your contract does not provide the maternity-related, you will not continue to get the usual pay and other benefits with transferable cash value. You still can get any non-cash benefits which you have. As basic information, maternity-related payment is another payment. It is different than statutory maternity payment for the pregnant women or on maternity leave which is permitted under the contract. It can be seen that many employers who have good business practice will provide more generous maternity payment than the minimum number which is set by the regulation.
When you are hired for certain jobs, there will be maternity equality clause in your contract. This maternity leave is covering the calculation of maternity-related payment which is permitted under your contract, bonus payments during the maternity leave, and pay increases related to the maternity leave. The maternity leave only applies for pregnant women. There is no comparison for male workers related to the claim process.
Salary for Pregnant Women Examples
Here are some examples related to maternity leave. The first example is when the woman employee who gets the maternity-related payment is permitted to get the increase in payment. If the terms of the employment do not give the increase in the maternity related payment, the employer has to do the recalculation of her maternity payment to take account of the payment increase.
It is known that employers must pay the contractual bonus payment which is awarded to you during the maternity leave period. However, when your employers give your bonus, then the time which you are on the maternity leave will not be included. It is except the two or four weeks of compulsory maternity leave.
As example, a woman employee is leaving three months before the end of the accounting year in her employee. When taking the leave at the end of the accounting year, the bonuses for the whole year will be awarded to the staff. The bonus of the woman employee will be calculated based on the nine months of the accounting year when she was not on the maternity leave plus the two week compulsory maternity leave period for her. The main reason is because she is not the factory worker. It takes four weeks if she works in the factory.
Related to the maternity leave, the employer have the obligation to pay the rise or bonus when the employees in their due. The employers should not wait until the employee gets back from their leave. For example; if a woman employee is leaving for the maternity leave on 1st June. The contractual bonus for the year ending is on 3 April, and then it will be paid on 1st July. The employers stated that the bonus will be paid on 1st July if the woman does not on the maternity leave. If it does not happen, the employee can make the claim according to the maternity equality clause.
According to the EU’s top court, there is a regulation stated that the pregnant workers who are transferred to another job temporarily or granted time off should not lose the extra payments which they usually get. However, the pregnant workers are not guaranteed over the full amount or to be paid an on-call duty allowance during their maternity leave. The rule was established due to two cases involving women in Austria and Finland who took the payment cut during the pregnancy.
You should remember that pregnant women are protected from the unfair discrimination. Even so, they still have to meet the requirements which are set by the corporate policies. The Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development stated that the pregnant employees who do not follow the rules from the company and keep neglecting their job duties for another reason other than the pregnancy reason, they might be disciplined or terminated.
Related to the pregnancy, each organization or workplace will have different policies for salary for pregnant women or women on childbirth leave. There are some companies which gives regular salary or payment when she is on the leave. You might also see some companies which take the unused vacation time with regular salary rate. However, the employers have the obligation to pay the short-term disability benefits. These benefits are a percentage of the regular salary. This benefit will be only covered for six weeks. However, it is possible for women to take longer maternity leave, but they will not get any salary for pregnant women workers.
When you are pregnant, you still have the right to get the same treatment and salary as long as you do not neglect your jobs. It is stated that pregnant workers will be guaranteed to get the minimum payment and it is always available for women who are in the maternity leaves. The payment is similar to the sick payment. The regulation of giving the salary of pregnant women is important to protect mother and their children.
According to the Maternity Leave Act, pregnant women are permitted to take twelve weeks or three months for the maternity leave without payment. The workers are allowed to get the leave if they have been working for 12 months for their workplace as the minimum period. The period is considered as general rule in the majority of the states. However, it can be different from one state to another.
The employers must not discriminate the pregnant workers. However, in the reality, there are some workers who have been fired or refused their promotion because of their pregnancy. It is better for you to understand that certain practice does occur in the real life. The pregnancy sometimes also influences the salary of pregnant women.
To get the maternity leave, you have to request for it 30 days before processing the leaving. It is highly recommended for you to discuss the leave with your supervisors when you enter the second trimester. Discussing your pregnancy earlier can help you in your workplace to prepare for your leave.
Reference:
- Image: aauw.org
- Pay, benefits and bonuses during maternity leave. equalityhumanrights.com/advice-and-guidance/guidance-for-workers/pay-and-benefits/decisions-about-pay-and-benefits-for-women-and-men-equal-pay/pay-benefits-and-bonuses-during-maternity-leave/
Article publié pour la première fois le 13/08/2015