Maternity protection, parental leave and parental allowance

Important regulations at a glance

• According to the Maternity Protection Act, pregnant women are subject to a prohibition of dismissal, starting with the announcement of pregnancy until 4 months after the birth of the child.
  This does not affect their own right to terminate their employment.
  After the end of maternity leave, an employee has the right to return to her former or a comparable position.
  Alternatively, she can take parental leave (but this is also possible at a later date).

• The employer is obliged to ensure a safe and healthy working environment for pregnant or nursing mothers.
  This means limiting working hours to 8.5 hours per day or a maximum of 90 hours in a two-week period.
  Work between 8pm and 6am is not permitted.
  Exceptions to this are possible for female employees working in hospitals, restaurants, hotels, etc.

• The employer must provide suitable rooms for breastfeeding.
  Breastfeeding time must also be granted during working hours, irrespective of break times.

• If the work situation involves the handling of hazardous substances or if the work environment itself may be hazardous to health, the employer must assess the situation for its hazard potential and, if necessary, give the pregnant or breastfeeding mother an alternative workplace.
  The risk assessment is usually carried out by the supervisor at the UdS.

• Since 2018, the maternity protection regulations also apply to female students.

You can find the full text of the Maternity Protection Act here.

As there are important protective measures and rights associated with the status as a pregnant employee, you should not wait to report your pregnancy, as the regulations only take effect once the employer has been informed.
This notification can be made informally; at the UdS, for example, by sending an email to the personnel department (responsible administrator).
Notifying only the direct superior is not sufficient here.
However, he/she should also be informed by you.

During the maternity protection period, employees receive the so-called maternity protection wage.
This corresponds to the amount of their salary, but is made up of a payment from the health insurance fund and the employer.
This also applies if they were already not allowed to work before the start of the maternity protection period on a doctor's orders.

Maternity protection periods

The maternity protection period normally begins 6 weeks before the expected date of birth and ends 8 weeks after; for multiple births it is 12 weeks.
The same period applies to children with disabilities, but in this case the extended period of protection must be applied for after the birth.
Many health insurance funds offer online calculators for calculating the maternity protection period.
For further details, please refer to our advice or the materials provided on our pages.

During the maternity protection period, employees are absolutely prohibited from working.
An exception is only possible during the six-week period before the birth, but only if the pregnant woman voluntarily, but revocable at any time and explicitly, declares that she wants to continue working.
Such a procedure should be urgently discussed with the doctor.

'...I would like to inform you that I am pregnant.'

Some supervisors are initially unsettled by this actually joyful news and do not know what to do - especially if they are in the situation of having a pregnant employee in the team for the first time.
The same applies to deans of studies/professors and pregnant students.
What steps need to be taken?
What regulations must be observed?

As a family-friendly university, Saarland University offers support not only to its female employees and students, but also to their superiors or deans of studies/professors.
You can contact the Family Office office, for example; we will be happy to help.

The Office of Occupational Safety and Health can help you assess the risk posed by chemical substances and/or physical conditions.
You can also find the hazard assessment forms there.