Pregnancy is for most women a special time. During pregnancy, the employee is entitled to 16 weeks of paid leave. But what if an employee becomes ill during or after pregnancy? What do you need to know as an employer? At ZekerArbo we like to help you.
Every employee is entitled to 16 weeks of maternity leave(WAZO leave). During this period, the UWV continues to pay 100% of the salary up to the maximum daily wage. Vacation days and vacation allowance also continue.
Maternity leave starts between 4-6 weeks before the due date. If your employee is sick, then the employee always goes on leave 6 weeks before the due date.
Does an employee get sick because of pregnancy and/or childbirth? Then the UWV will take over the wage costs. It is important that you notify the UWV in time. This period of illness is not covered by maternity leave.
When the 16-week maternity leave begins, the employee is reported recovered. As written above, the UWV also takes over continued pay.
If your employee is still sick after the maternity leave as a result of the pregnancy or delivery, the UWV will also take over pay. Report this to the UWV in a timely manner as well.
Sometimes there is 'compound Sickness Absence'. This means that several absence reports within a short period of time are considered together as one absence period, for example if an employee is sick from the same cause before and after the leave.
With compounded Sickness Absence , sickness periods before and after maternity leave are added up, but only if the cause of the sickness is the same. Is the cause different after the leave? Then it is considered a new absence report.
Illness around pregnancy can be complicated. Do you have questions about how best to handle this? Then contact your employability coach at ZekerArbo. We will certainly help you further.
Unsure if it's compound Sickness Absence ? Here are some examples to get you started.
Situation 1:
The employee is sick before and after the leave due to the same cause (not related to pregnancy). In this case, there is composite Sickness Absence, and the sick days before and after the leave are added together.
Situation 2:
The employee is sick both before and after the leave, but from a different cause. The illness is unrelated to the pregnancy. In this case, there is no composite Sickness Absence, and the sick days are not added together.
Situation 3:
The employee is sick before and after the leave due to the same cause. After the leave, however, the employee takes a few days off before calling in sick again. In this case, there is no composite Sickness Absence because there are non-sick days in between.
Do you still have questions or want to know more about compounded Sickness Absence and pregnancy-related illness? The specialists at ZekerArbo are here for you!