If you become pregnant while working in Germany, you are legally entitled to maternity leave, both during pregnancy and after the birth of your child. During this time, you are protected by a law known as the Maternity Protection Act, which provides you with security and peace of mind.
Germany’s maternity protection, the law under which maternity leave is provided, is designed to:
This covers not only women (and anyone who is pregnant, has given birth to a child or is breastfeeding, who does not identify as a woman) in gainful employment in Germany, but also women in vocational training and certain volunteering roles - regardless of their nationality.
It covers those who work part-time hours, who have fixed-term employment contracts, who work in mini- or midi-jobs, and who are still in the probationary period of their contract, as well as school and university students.
Maternity protection begins as soon as you are pregnant and applies until after childbirth and during the breastfeeding period. However, it can only effectively apply to your employer (for instance, in their duty of care towards you or inability to dismiss you) after you have informed them of the fact that you are pregnant or breastfeeding.
All women are entitled to 14 weeks of maternity leave during and after their pregnancy. This starts six weeks before the due date and ends eight weeks later, but can be extended to 18 weeks in the case of a premature or multiple birth, or if your child is found to have a disability within eight weeks of their birth.
If your baby is born early, your postnatal coverage is extended by the number of days before the due date the baby was born.
People working on fixed-term contracts are entitled to maternity leave for the duration of their contract. However, being on maternity leave does not entitle you to the extension of a fixed-term contract. Once your contract ends, so does your maternity leave.
During your statutory maternity leave, you can claim maternity benefit, provided you fulfill certain criteria. The maternity benefit is composed of two parts and is equal to your salary in the weeks leading up to your maternity leave. In essence, you will receive full pay for the duration of your maternity leave, provided you qualify for the maternity benefit.
Being on maternity leave does not change your entitlement to annual leave. In Germany, time during which you are not allowed to work (like when you’re on maternity leave) is treated the same as if you had worked during this time.
If you still have unused holiday days before your maternity leave begins, you can carry it over until after your maternity leave. If you take parental leave immediately after your maternity leave, you should also be able to use your leftover days after your parental leave.
As you may know, the German pension system works on a contributory basis: the more you contribute, the more you’ll receive as a pension benefit when you retire. Historically, therefore, women would have lower pensions because of the time they took out to give birth to and raise children, during which they would not contribute to a pension.
To redress this, the German government now considers any time taken out to raise children as a contributory period. When you take maternity leave, you will not be paying any contributions into your pension, but you will receive credits that will be taken into account when you retire. In total, you can have 36 months of child-rearing time credited towards your pension. During this time, you will be treated as if you had paid contributions like someone earning an average wage.
While maternity leave is a legal right and therefore does not need to be “applied for”, in general, you should inform your employer of your pregnancy as soon as possible. This is because, as soon as your employer knows that you are pregnant, they are legally obliged to comply with the maternity protection regulations outlined above (for instance, this protects you from dismissal).
Your employer also has to take appropriate steps to eliminate anything that might endanger your health or that of your child while at work. For instance, they might discuss adaptations to your working conditions to meet your needs during pregnancy.
You can also discuss with your employer when you plan to return to work after maternity leave and parental leave. You will need to apply for the maternity benefit directly with your health insurance company.
Starting in 2024, all fathers (and partners) in Germany will also receive 10 days of paid paternity leave (Vaterschaftsurlaub) following the birth of a child. During this time, you will continue to receive your regular salary. Before 2024, fathers and partners had no guaranteed time off, and the allowance varied from employer to employer.
Paternity leave is offered on top of annual leave and parental leave, and so will not impact your existing holiday days or their entitlement to parental leave.
The rule is enshrined in the same Maternity Protection Act that guarantees the rights of expecting mothers.
Once your maternity or paternity leave ends, you can then go on parental leave to take care of your child for a longer amount of time. Find out more about parental leave in Germany on our dedicated page.