An employee goes on maternity leave

Sooner or later, in the life of every accountant or entrepreneur, there comes a time when an employee goes on maternity leave :) and the first thought that arises is: "What to do? Where to go? How to arrange it all and how much to pay?". We hasten to reassure you: it will be easier for you than for the expectant mother :)

In this article, we will consider how the law regulates the granting of maternity leave and its duration. We will find out how to properly fill out a sick leave form, how to calculate maternity benefits, how to document maternity and paternity leave, and other issues.

What does the law say about maternity leave?

Two laws guarantee the provision of maternity and paternity leave, as well as childcare for children under 3 or 6 years of age: "The Law on General State Social Insurance in Article 25(1) and the Law on Vacations in Article 17.

What is the duration of maternity leave?

The standard duration of maternity leave is 126 calendar days (70 days before and 56 days after childbirth). However, there are other options for leave:

• in case of complicated childbirth or the birth of more than 2 children - 14 calendar days are added and amount to: 70 days before childbirth and 70 days after (56 + 14);
• 56 days are granted for the adoption of one child, and 70 days for two or more. Not only women, but also men can receive this leave, but one of them can receive the benefit by agreement;
• women who fall into categories 1-3 of Chernobyl victims are granted leave for 180 calendar days (90 days before and 90 days after childbirth).

How long does parental leave last?

In addition to the 126 days of paid leave, you can take unpaid parental leave for children under three or six years of age. This right can be exercised not only by the mother but also by the child's father, as well as by grandparents or other relatives who will be caring for the child.

Such leave ends on the child's birthday, when the child turns three or six years old. For example, if the birthday is May 2, the employee must return to work on May 3. Moreover, this rule applies regardless of whether the leave was interrupted or not.

During maternity leave, a woman is guaranteed that:

• the position she holds will not be cut;
• you can interrupt your vacation at will and then go back on vacation;
• you can work part-time;
• a woman can be dismissed only in the event of liquidation of the enterprise;
• you can extend the leave until the child is six years old, in case of medical necessity.

If a woman works part-time, who calculates maternity pay?

Maternity benefits are paid by the Social Insurance Fund (hereinafter referred to as the SIF). An application to the Fund is submitted at the main place of work and from a part-time job. In this case, the woman brings the original sick leave certificate to her main place of work, where a copy is made and certified by the manager and the company's seal. Then the woman brings this copy to her part-time job, where maternity benefits are calculated in the same way and submitted to the Social Security Fund.

How should sick leave be filled out in case of pregnancy and childbirth?

A sick leave certificate is issued at the thirtieth week of pregnancy. It states:

• primary diagnosis - 30-week pregnancy;
• final diagnosis - estimated due date;
• the cause of disability is pregnancy and childbirth (8);
• outpatient and inpatient modes;
• exemption from work - for 126 calendar days, starting from the date of opening of the sick leave;
• return to work - the date of the end of the vacation.

If the delivery was complicated, premature, or multiple births, the woman is issued another sick leave certificate for 14 calendar days. It is issued by the same hospital where the first certificate was issued. When filling out the form, it is indicated that it is a continuation of the first one, and the series and number of the previous certificate are indicated.

Who pays maternity leave and when?

Maternity leave is fully paid by the SIF, and the company pays a 22% unified social contribution on this amount. Personal income tax and military duty are not withheld from maternity pay.

In order to receive maternity benefits, an entrepreneur must submit a claim form to the local branch of the Social Insurance Fund. The application must be accompanied by a payment order for the payment of the unified social tax for the current or previous month.
After submitting the documents, within 10 days (although in practice it can take more than a month), the money should be transferred to the account for social payments (2604).

How to calculate the amount of maternity benefits?

In order to correctly calculate maternity benefits, you will need the Procedure for Calculating the Average Wage. Next, we need the following information:

1. Calculation period - usually the previous 12 months, before the month of maternity leave
2. Income for the calculation period for which the unified social tax was charged.

The formula for calculating maternity benefits is quite simple:

Amount of maternity pay = Average daily salary * Number of days of maternity leave

                                       Income for 12 months before the insured event
Average daily salary = ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                      Number of calendar days in the settlement period

Please note that if a woman goes on maternity leave starting in March 2020, the calculation period will include 366 days, as in February 2020, there were 29 days.

There is also an important point to keep in mind. Before applying for maternity pay, you need to check the minimum and maximum limits on the average salary for 1 calendar day. In 2020, the minimum amount is UAH 155.16, and the maximum is UAH 2031.70.

If a woman brings an extended sick leave certificate for 14 days, the same amount of average daily wage is used for the calculation as for 126 days.

After receiving the funds from the Fund and transferring them to the employee, you need to submit a Notice of Payment to the Insured Person to the Social Insurance Fund. It must be submitted within a month from the date of receipt of funds from the Fund.


If you have any questions that we have not covered in this article, please leave them in the comments and we will try to answer them.