How to fill out an application for maternity leave and when to submit it?
The right to maternity leave is ensured by Art.
255 Labor Code of the Russian Federation. The law specifies that it is a period of incapacity for work during which the pregnant woman retains her position and average income. As with other vacations, to apply for maternity leave you need to fill out an application. The difference is that a pregnant woman’s vacation must be arranged, despite the vacation schedule.
She can take her main vacation without waiting, even without completing the minimum 6 months of work experience, and then go on maternity leave. Its duration is a maximum of 140 days, including a 70-day prenatal and 70-day postpartum period. It is not necessary to take maternity leave for the entire period. If she wishes, the woman can continue to work. The amount of the accrued benefit will depend only on the duration of the rest, because it cannot be received simultaneously with the salary.
How to compile and format it correctly?
Most often, a vacation application is drawn up by hand on A4 sheet. You can also type the text on your computer and print it.
In this case, you must remember to sign. The specifics of completing an application for leave depend on its type.
Thus, expectant or new mothers are entitled to the following types of paid leave by law:
- for pregnancy and childbirth;
- for child care up to one and a half and three years old.
About granting sick leave for pregnancy and childbirth
An application for maternity leave for pregnancy and childbirth is provided on the basis of a sick leave certificate. In it, the woman indicates the start and end date of the period of incapacity. A bulletin and a certificate from the antenatal clinic must be attached. You should not forget to mention this in the text of the document. You should also note in it the request to list benefits and payment information.
For parental leave up to 3 years old
A new mother can take maternity leave to raise a baby for 1.5 or 3 years. As a rule, the latter option is practiced.
There are two ways to apply for leave up to 3 years:
- first write an application for a vacation period of 1.5 years. And then extend it by submitting a request to the manager. In this case, the woman will have to write two petitions and appear at work several times. This option is suitable for those young mothers who have not yet decided how long they will be on maternity leave;
- Immediately apply for leave when the child reaches three years of age. The petition must indicate a clause on the payment of monthly benefits for up to 1.5 years. This is more convenient and simpler for the woman and management: there is no need to fill out paperwork twice.
The last option for writing an application for maternity leave is considered more correct.
To pay maternity benefits
Maternity pay is usually indicated in the application for parental leave. If this point was missed, then you should separately submit a request for maternity pay. The last option is suitable for students and unemployed young mothers.
The document must include the following information:
- Your full name and that of the child;
- passport details;
- baby's date of birth;
- location;
- benefit accrual period (1.5 years);
- payment information;
- attached documents (certificate that the father has not been granted child benefit, a copy of the baby’s birth certificate).
Expert opinion
Irina Vasilyeva
Civil law expert
A woman can submit an application to the head of the enterprise or to the social security authority at her place of registration.
Reasons for providing
Maternity leave is entitled to any woman registered with an enterprise under an employment contract. The basis is certain documents that need to be given to the employer:
- statement to the director;
- a certificate from the antenatal clinic confirming early (before the 12th week) registration (there is an opportunity to receive an additional payment);
- A sick note issued by a gynecologist confirming the pregnancy itself and the planned date of birth.
If you change jobs during the previous two years, you will also need certificates about the salaries in those companies. Based on the data from them, the average daily income and, accordingly, the amount of the benefit will be calculated.
Deadlines for registration and submission
You can submit an application for payment immediately after receiving a sick leave certificate at the antenatal clinic. According to general rules, the start of vacation should be the date of issue of the sick leave. It must coincide with the date of submission of the application to the organization. Under certain conditions during pregnancy (multiple pregnancy, complicated childbirth, etc.), the duration, beginning and end of sick leave can be changed by the gynecologist managing the pregnancy (read about how many days sick leave for pregnancy and childbirth is provided here, and From this article you will learn the grounds and procedure for extending the ballot).
A woman can go to rest even after sick leave is issued. Taking sick leave and receiving maternity benefits will be carried out only from the moment the application is submitted and documents are completed by the employer (how does sick leave differ from maternity leave?). If a woman decides to apply later, then the benefit will be assigned based on these dates.
Until filing, the pregnant woman continues to receive her salary. The documents provided by the employee are reviewed by the employer within 10 calendar days. The benefit is paid on the nearest payroll date.
Russian legislation pays special attention to working pregnant women. They cannot be fired, they cannot be involved in hard work, and they must also be allowed on maternity leave in a timely manner. But it happens that a pregnant woman expresses a desire to work. Is this legal, and also how to go on maternity leave when working part-time - read on our Internet portal.
When to write
The exact time when maternity leave should begin is not documented anywhere. Taking it is the right, but not the duty, of a working woman. She can prepare an application from the 30th week, and if she is carrying twins, from the 28th week of pregnancy.
How long before maternity leave should you write?
A woman has the right to write a statement as soon as she has a certificate of incapacity for work, or at any time before the birth itself. It sets the start date for the holiday - it could be tomorrow.
When to write an application for the period of maternity leave of the main employee
Regardless of her position, an employee can write a statement after receiving sick leave and go on maternity leave the next day. The employer has the right to ask her to postpone the start of her vacation so that he has time to find a replacement, but forcing her to do this is illegal.
To avoid conflicts with your superiors, it is still recommended to notify your superiors of the approaching maternity leave 2 weeks before it starts. During this period, they will have time to find a temporary replacement employee, and the enterprise will be able to continue to function without downtime or slowdowns.
Application for leave followed by maternity leave
Each organization approves basic vacation schedules. Everyone rests in order of priority, but pregnant women are included in the “preferential” category of workers. They have the right to take their main leave out of turn, including immediately before maternity leave. You just need to write and submit an application to management. It is advisable to do this 2 weeks in advance, at least 3 days in advance, so that the accounting department can handle payments.
Application for maternity leave
There is a single application for maternity leave (pregnancy and childbirth), which is submitted at any time after the 30th week or the 28th in case of multiple pregnancy.
Only this type of vacation is usually divided into 2 parts - a maximum of 70 prenatal days and a similar number of postpartum days. A woman can request as many days as she deems necessary, indicating the beginning and end of maternity leave. The amount of prenatal and postnatal payments depends on its duration.
Transfer due to pregnancy
If the employee feels well, she can remain at work until she gives birth. An alternative option is to take as many days off as you like before giving birth, but a maximum of 70. There is no provision for transferring pregnancy leave to the time after the birth of the child. However, subsequently it is possible to take out parental leave for up to 1.5 years, then up to 3 years.
The benefit is paid exclusively for vacation days that were actually used. It is strictly targeted, intended to compensate for lost income. If a woman remains at work, she continues to be paid, so no benefits are provided.
How much time to provide
The exact deadline for submitting an application for maternity leave is not specified in any law. This means that they can actually provide it even the day before the start of the vacation. There is only one important nuance: the benefit is transferred along with your next salary, so you won’t be able to receive it earlier.
Rules for drawing up an application
Form
The application for maternity leave is written on A4 sheet. It must be clean and free of extraneous writing. In addition, the application for pregnancy and childbirth must contain a certain structure.
At the top of the application, its addressee is indicated, as well as from whom this document was sent. The middle part contains information that the employee wants to go on maternity leave, and also reveals the reasons for this request.
The third, lower part of the application indicates the date, signature of the employee and lists the attached documents.
Content
This statement is written by an employee who is going on maternity leave. The application is drawn up in the name of her direct employer. If a woman on maternity leave works in a department, then she can write an application addressed to the head of the department
When is it written?
When to write an application for maternity leave?
The application is written immediately after the certificate of incapacity is issued (the next day). When drawing up an application, the date of receipt of the sheet is not indicated, but the date of submission of the application to the direct employer.
A sample application for maternity leave is available.
Application for maternity leave: how to write correctly
The legislator did not provide for a unified form of the document. Therefore, it is compiled arbitrarily or according to a scheme adopted by the company.
How to fill
Standard document structure:
- “hat” (top right corner) – position and full name of the manager, name of the company, position and full name of the employee;
- centered title – Statement;
- main text – requests for leave (it is important to indicate the timing and requirement for the issuance of benefits);
- attachment - a list of documents that are submitted with the application (sick leave, certificate from the antenatal clinic);
- in the bottom right corner is the date;
- Below is the employee’s signature.
What must be
Although the form of the document is arbitrary, there is information that must be included in it:
- correctly call maternity leave, that’s how it should be written, and maternity leave is a colloquial expression;
- vacation dates - they must coincide with those prescribed in the sick leave;
- a request for benefits - if you do not indicate it, you will have to write another application, again collect papers that are missing;
- list of attached documents.
If you register before the 12th week, you can claim a separate benefit for this. The request for its accrual should be indicated in the main text.
Application example
You can write a statement, for example, with the following content:
- “Document header”: to the General Director of Stroyservis LLC I.A. Stepanov from the secretary K.K. Smirnova.
- In the middle of the page is the word “Statement”.
- Text – “Please provide me with BiR leave from 08/07/2018 to 12/27/2018, accrue and pay benefits plus a one-time payment for registering with an antenatal clinic at an early date. I ask you to transfer the benefits to your salary card. I am enclosing a sick leave certificate and a certificate of registration in a medical institution.”
Is it possible to fill it out via mail?
If your application is not accepted at work under any pretext, you can send it by mail.
It is worth choosing a registered letter with an inventory and notification of delivery.
In case of misunderstanding and a conflict situation, the employee will then have a document confirming that the employer has definitely received the application.
Registration procedure
How is sick leave issued for pregnancy and childbirth? After thirty weeks, the employee will come to you with a package of documents to apply for sick leave for pregnancy and childbirth.
When is maternity leave issued? This must be done as soon as possible , so that from the day the order is drawn up, the woman begins to receive maternity benefits, and she herself can go on vacation.
Therefore, you, as an employer, must be prepared in advance to perform all the actions required of you and check whether the documents for maternity leave have been collected correctly.
What documents are needed to apply for maternity leave?
Certificate of incapacity for work for pregnancy and childbirth
What is needed to apply for maternity leave? The most important thing in the package of documents is the certificate of incapacity for work. Based on this document, the timing of maternity leave begins to count .
This document is issued at the antenatal clinic when a woman reaches thirty weeks of pregnancy.
The certificate of incapacity for work indicates the passport details of the expectant mother, the name of the treatment institution that issued the document, as well as the recorded gestational age.
In addition, the chief and attending physicians put their signature on the certificate of incapacity for work, as well as the seal of the medical institution, thereby proving the fact that the document is genuine.
The certificate of incapacity for work must be drawn up on a special form and mainly on a computer . A handwritten document is not a certificate of incapacity for work.
Some medical institutions may indicate the estimated date of birth in this document. It is easier for an employer to focus on this period and calculate the length of time a woman in labor will be on maternity leave.
Statement
Another important document is an application for maternity leave, drawn up by the mother herself. This document contains a link to the certificate of incapacity for work.
How to write an application for maternity leave? An application for sick leave for pregnancy and childbirth is drawn up on an A4 sheet of paper . There is no exact form for drawing up an application, fixed by law.
The main thing is that the document is sent to the name of the organization and its head . It is also important to indicate the information from whom the form was received.
In the text of the application itself, the maternity leaver, referring to the certificate of incapacity for work, speaks about her term and asks to be allowed to go on maternity leave, retaining her place in the organization.
Next is the signature of the writing employee and the date of compilation.
The application can be drawn up either by hand, but in clear and understandable handwriting, or on a computer.
If the organization has a local regulation that talks about how the application should be filled out, be sure to use the recommendations.
You can also see the application and see examples of how to fill it out on the Internet.
Order on maternity leave
Based on the documents received, a leave order is drawn up for the employee. True, before sending a maternity leave on her well-deserved leave, it is necessary to carefully check the documents and calculate the deadlines.
Once you are sure that maternity leave can begin today, draw up an order.
Let us recall that an order is a local normative act of a single organization , which has legal force on its territory and is mandatory for execution. In addition, all employees must familiarize themselves with the order, so it is posted on the information board for a while.
The order is approved by the seal of the organization, as well as the signature of the employer. It has a strictly established form t - 6 (leave order form).
The certificate of incapacity for work, the employee’s statement and a copy of the order are sent to her personal file.
Certificate that the woman is registered for early pregnancy
If a woman registers with an antenatal clinic before reaching 12 weeks , then she also has the right to an additional payment in the amount of five hundred rubles.
However, for this, a certificate of early registration must be provided to the employer.
The employer must check the certificate, read it and attach it to the personal file if it is truly genuine.
The certificate is taken by the woman at the consultation where she is registered.
Maternity leave for a pregnant woman: who signs the order, application
The application is signed by a personnel officer, accountant or manager.
Then an order is issued based on it. The director must sign it, after which the employee must read it and also sign. In order to officially go on maternity leave, or rather on leave according to the BiR, you need to submit a sick leave and an application to your superiors. Its form is free, the main thing is to indicate the request for rest and indicate its exact timing.
You can write an application from the 30th week or from the 28th week during pregnancy with twins/triplets, and submit it at least the day before. It is better to inform your superiors about your plans at least 14 days before the maternity leave. This will avoid misunderstandings and give the employer the opportunity to find a replacement employee.
Application for replacement of the calculation year for payment of benefits
Maternity benefits, as mentioned above, are calculated based on wages for the two previous years. But if a woman was on maternity leave or has just recently returned from it and intends to become a mother again, her income for this period, of course, will be small.
What to do in such a situation? Such a case is provided for by law. In this case, the woman has the right and opportunity to replace this period with another, earlier one. But such a replacement can only be made upon submission of the appropriate application.
Here you can download a free sample of this document
It is written in the same form as for granting maternity leave. The text should make public the request to replace the previous two years with earlier dates. An example text could be composed as follows: “Due to the fact that in ... years I was on maternity leave and then on maternity leave, I ask you to postpone the calculation of benefits for ... years.”
