Is maternity leave included in the length of service (nuances)?

The birth of a child, no matter what, is an event that dramatically changes the life of any woman. These changes occur especially sharply among officially employed mothers. Motherhood is certainly a wonderful and necessary time, but one cannot but agree that it somewhat pauses the path up the career ladder, because for some time you will have to leave work in any case.

How do maternity leave and length of service relate? Every working woman preparing to become a mother seeks an answer to this question. She needs to decide whether to devote herself to the child throughout the entire time allotted by the laws or to go to work as early as possible, trying to reduce the period of forced leave in order to take care of her future pension. In order for this dilemma to be resolved to everyone’s satisfaction, let us consider the legal norms and legislative innovations relating to this issue.

What is maternity leave and what is its duration?

Maternity leave is paid and provided to a woman for the successful completion of pregnancy and the birth of a child.

The decree is divided into two stages:

Stage 1 – rest during pregnancy and childbirth. They go there on the basis of a sick leave certificate. Since the woman has health insurance, sick leave is paid in full, regardless of length of service.

Stage 2 - parental leave upon reaching 1.5 years of age - begins after the end of the sick leave (upon application).

Important! The maternity leave is assigned by the employer, according to the sick leave certificate provided by the pregnant employee. Therefore, he is included in the insurance period and is considered a worker included in the length of service.

Available for a maximum of three years. Despite this, a woman can go to work earlier, but she must write a corresponding statement to the employer. This vacation is divided into two equal parts. The first is partially paid, and the second is at the discretion of the employer.

Categories receiving maternity benefits:

1. Officially employed persons;
2. Women studying in the employment service;
3. Full-time students;
4. Persons liable for military service in a civilian position.

Maternity leave means two long vacations

What is commonly called the general term “maternity leave” actually includes two different types of absence from work.

1. Leave to prepare for childbirth and recover after it is, in fact, not a vacation, but a period of sick leave; it is granted on the basis of a certificate of incapacity for work from a medical institution - a antenatal clinic. It is paid in the same way as other sick leave, in full in the amount of average monthly earnings. Its duration is 140 days in the case of the normal course of pregnancy and the birth process; a cesarean section or other complications will increase the sick leave to 156 days, and for the birth of twins or more children it increases to 194 days.
2. Leave to care for a small child. The law sets aside three years for this, but only during the first year and a half will a special allowance be paid for the baby, the amount of which depends on the woman’s average salary for the previous 2 years.

That is why, when discussing work experience and the relationship of “maternity” periods to it, you need to keep in mind the following points:

• what type of maternity leave is taken into account;
• when exactly is the woman going to return to work - 1.5 years after the birth of the child or 3;
• the ratio with what type of experience needs to be calculated: general, insurance or special.

What is work experience

This is labor or other socially useful activity that lasts for a certain period established in the Labor Code of the Russian Federation. Work activity is the basis for receiving a pension, vacation pay, temporary disability benefits, and receiving wages.

What periods are included in the length of service:

• Period of professional activity.
• The period during which a woman is on maternity leave.
• Studying at a university and serving in the armed forces.

According to the Labor Code, length of service includes the period when there is an official working relationship between the employer and the employee (starts from the moment the hiring order is signed).

Suspension of the working period is considered the moment of termination of the contract between the employee and the employer. The legislation provides for the time when the length of service is considered continuous if the citizen has not entered into an employment relationship.

What is length of service in terms of employment at work?

Work experience is not only the time that an employee (in our case, an employee) spends directly at the workplace. There are many periods counted toward length of service that do not directly include the work process. For example, this time includes annual vacations, sick leave, company-paid studies, and other events provided for by law.

Whether or not this period is included in the length of service is determined by a simple and obvious point: whether during this period the employee is charged with insurance contributions to the Pension Fund (Article 11 of Federal Law No. 173). Thus, if a person is insured in the Pension Fund system, all this time is counted towards his length of service.

It is necessary to distinguish why the time of a particular length of service is calculated.

Work experience in a specialty is all the time devoted to a specific professional activity, plus periods noted separately in the law. The time of this length of service is used, in particular, to determine the right to occupy certain positions.

The insurance period is those time periods when payments were made to the Pension Fund from a person’s income. The size of future pension payments depends on it.

And finally, special length of service - the number of years worked required for preferential retirement ahead of old age, which is provided for special categories of workers. Sometimes it is also called “length of service.”

Is maternity leave included in seniority?

Starting from 2007, maternity leave began to be included in the length of service for calculating pensions, but not for the entire period.

Incoming periods:

1. All maternity leave is included.
2. The time spent caring for a child is only up to one and a half years; the remaining 1.5 years are not included in the working life for calculating the pension.

Important! In total, the length of service should not exceed six years, this means that maternity leave is taken into account only for 4 children (one and a half years for each). All subsequent ones will not be included in the general period.

Expert opinion

Nikishina Anastasia Yurievna

General Director of the law firm Pravo Consult. More details

Note! According to current legislation, the period of care of one of the parents for a child until he reaches the age of one and a half years, but not more than six years in total, is included in the insurance period.

What you need to know about maternity leave

In modern labor legislation of the Russian Federation, the concept of “maternity leave,” which usually means leave due to disability caused by the birth of a child, is not applied.

It is outdated, but was used in the Labor Code, which lost its validity in 2001, “giving way” to the Labor Code (LC) of the Russian Federation that replaced it. However, the concept of “maternity leave” is so commonly used in everyday life that it cannot be ignored, so it will also be used in this article in its original meaning.

According to the Labor Code, there are three types of exemption from work related to the birth and upbringing of a child. Let's look at each of them.

Maternity leave

Its onset is influenced by the so-called preliminary date of birth (PDD), which is set by the gynecologist observing the pregnant woman. The doctor issues a certificate indicating the PDR, which the woman submits to the HR department. As a general rule, the duration of this period is 140 days (70 before childbirth and 70 after it).

Its duration can be increased in case of birth complications, as well as in the birth of several children.

Parental leave for up to one and a half years

This is a period that is paid by the employer or social security authority.

Child care leave up to 3 years

This period is no longer paid, but if a woman decides to use it, she cannot be called to work.
It is important to note that if the first type of leave, associated with the birth of a baby, can only be used by one woman, then the father or even grandparents can go on care leave.

The experience itself is divided into three groups:

1. Labor . Refers to the number of years actually worked.

1. Insurance _ The period during which insurance premiums were paid

1. Preferential. Duration of work activity in difficult or special conditions.

Based on all this gradation, it turns out that certain periods of maternity leave must be taken into account in different ways when calculating length of service.

Is maternity leave included in the pension period?

The procedure for calculating pension length for women is no different from that for men. The working period includes rest during pregnancy and childbirth. These include additional rest provided by the state to protect motherhood and childhood.

First you need to distinguish between two concepts:

1. Period of temporary disability due to pregnancy and childbirth.
2. Exemption from the need to engage in labor activity in connection with caring for a child until he reaches 1.5 or 3 years of age.

In the first case, the maternity leave is fully included in the length of service. The second one is turned on only for 1.5 years.

When determining the right to a pension in connection with teaching activities, only maternity leave for up to 1.5 years, which the woman received before 06.10.1992, is taken into account. When going on maternity leave at a later period, it is not counted towards the special length of service for receiving an early pension.

The period during which a female soldier was on maternity leave is included in the total duration of military service and is counted as length of service. For commercial enterprises, length of service takes into account maternity leave under general conditions.

Maternity leave and length of service: we turn on logic

Let’s consider how a woman’s absence from work associated with the birth and upbringing of a child will affect her insurance and special experience.

Experience and maternity leave

Strictly speaking, this period is actually not a vacation, but a period of temporary disability. This is sick leave , officially paid for by the employer, like any other working period, which means that from these payments the tax agent makes required contributions to the Pension Fund system.

Having received official registration of this period in the form of a certificate of incapacity for work, a woman can be calm - the days before childbirth and the postpartum period are fully included in both the general labor and insurance period and will not in any way reduce the size of the future pension.

The number of years required for “length of service”, which gives the right to preferential replenishment of the ranks of pensioners ahead of schedule for everyone, will also not change in connection with this type of leave.

RESULT: maternity leave is fully included in general labor, insurance and special work experience.

Calculation of timing of maternity leave

When did the time come for a woman to leave her job due to an “interesting” position and immerse herself in preparing for childbirth, quietly receiving 100% of her previous salary?

This is decided not by her herself, but by the gynecologist from the antenatal clinic who is leading her pregnancy. The law allows you to go on sick leave for this reason:

• from the 30th week of pregnancy during its normal course;
• from 28 weeks, if the expectant mother is expecting the birth of more than one child;
• from 27 weeks, if the family lives in an area that is unfavorable from an environmental point of view.

IMPORTANT! If a woman missed the deadline and applied for sick leave later than the 30th week, the date on it will still remain unchanged: the sick leave will be issued on the date that corresponds to her 30-week period.

A woman can simply wait for the antenatal clinic to hand her the appropriate document, which she must provide to the employer. But if she wants to calculate in advance when she will have to leave work, she can use an online calculator, of which there are many on the Internet, or make a simple calculation herself. To do this you need to know the following numbers:

• the first day of the last menstruation before conception or the expected date of birth (set based on the size of the fetus according to ultrasound results);
• singleton or multiple pregnancy;
• Is the woman going to take another annual leave before maternity leave?

The required number of weeks is counted from the set date - 30, 28 or 27. The result obtained will be the beginning of maternity leave. If annual is added to it, these days are added before the calculated date.

EXAMPLE. Krasavkina E.P. registered with the residential complex on July 15, 2021, Monday. Based on the results of the ultrasound, a diagnosis of “singleton pregnancy, gestation 10 weeks” was made. Let's calculate when she will receive a certificate of temporary incapacity for work. We add exactly 20 weeks to the specified date, we get December 5, 2021. This Monday Krasavkina E.P. can receive from the housing complex all the documents necessary for maternity leave. If she wants, before going on maternity leave, to first “take off” her allotted annual leave of 28 days, then in the application requesting this rest she must indicate November 07, 2016.

Is maternity leave included in the general insurance period?

Exemption for pregnancy and childbirth is fully included in the total insurance period. And for childcare, only the first year and a half gives the right to receive an old-age pension. Confirmation of the fact of transfers is the provision of maternity benefits, compulsory medical insurance policy (as part of pension insurance).

The insurance period of work is defined by Article 11 No. 173 of the Federal Law “On Labor Pensions” as the time of human activity in various fields. Since parental leave can be granted not only to the mother, but also to any other officially registered relative of the family, this will be considered for him.

By Order of the Ministry of Health No. 91 of 2007, sick leave is paid for the entire period of incapacity for work during which the citizen was considered insured. From January 1, 2021, care leave has been extended until the child turns four and a half years old, but one and a half years will be paid and counted.

What is insurance and work experience?

The concepts of labor and insurance experience are used with different meanings in different branches of legislation. To calculate vacation pay, you need work experience, to calculate social children's benefits and sick pay, you need insurance experience, and to calculate pensions, you also need insurance experience, but this is a pension one.

At the same time, the total length of service in pension legislation is the total number of years of work and other socially useful activities that were carried out before January 1, 2001.

The term now used is insurance experience. It includes not only the working time when the employee worked in a particular place, but also other periods, including part of the parental leave.

According to Art. 8 of the Federal Law “On Insurance Pensions”, taking into account the transitional norms enshrined in Appendix No. 3, in 2021, in order to assign an old-age insurance pension, you need at least 11 years of insurance experience. By 2024, this value will reach 15 years. There are cases when you can retire early; for this purpose, preferential insurance period is considered (Article 30 of the Federal Law “On Insurance Pensions”).

If you have an insurance record, a person has the right to apply for an old-age or long-service pension. At the same time, how large the pension will be depends on the length of service. The more contributions were paid, the longer the insurance period, the greater the pension will be.

We talked in more detail about whether vacation time is included in the length of service and insurance coverage in this article.

For the unemployed

The time when a woman was registered for unemployment, as well as the period until the child turned one and a half years old, caring for a disabled person of the first group and an elderly person over 80 years old is taken into account when assigning a pension, regardless of whether they were recorded before or after unemployment.

This time does not apply to preferential length of service. Persons receiving unemployment benefits have the right to include this time in their work experience, but without increasing the size of their future pension. They are given a certificate for counting.

The procedure for obtaining work experience for pregnant women

It happens that not every employer will be willing to respect the legality of a woman’s rights. And not everyone will hire her if she has no children and is young. After all, they understand perfectly well that maternity leave time will have to be allocated according to the law, and someone else will have to work.

Many employers are not going to talk about the fact that there are several features that will affect the overall picture. Namely:

1. The maternity leave provided cannot be reduced. All days that are prescribed to a person must be spent outside the workplace. Many entrepreneurs boldly violate this law, because downtime is not beneficial for them. They call a person even a day earlier, as long as she starts working. For this, you can be asked to pay cash benefits.
2. The amount of the monthly payment should be based on the average salary that the girl received. That is, the entire working period is traced and a specific amount is determined.
3. A girl can easily work several hours a day if she agrees to it. At the same time, benefits and wages are paid in the amount that she deserves.
4. If a second child is born, the first leave sheet is closed and the second one is opened. In this case, it is prohibited to fire a person or move him from his official position.

To avoid possible problems and difficulties regarding the inclusion of maternity leave in the work experience, a woman should approach the process of registering a maternity leave with knowledge of the matter, completing the established measures in a timely manner.

First of all, you need to obtain a certificate of incapacity for work as early as possible, preferably immediately after confirming the fact of pregnancy. Employees of the maternity hospital, antenatal clinic and a number of other medical institutions have the authority to issue these documents.

Special attention should be paid to the preparation of an application, which the pregnant woman must submit to the manager or other authorized person. This document is written in the name of the employer and drawn up in the HR department. The latter's employees, if necessary, will help with the preparation of the application. In general, there are no super-complex requirements for it. The main thing is to clearly formulate the reason for the vacation and correctly determine the duration.

The timing of maternity leave is set taking into account the characteristics of pregnancy and other important points, determined individually for a specific situation. Typically, leave is given from 28-30 weeks of pregnancy, and this is noted on the certificate of incapacity for work.

Additionally, a second application is drawn up requesting the provision of the required financial assistance. Along with this application, a sick leave certificate is submitted, as well as a certificate obtained from the antenatal clinic.

At the end of the document, the date of preparation is usually indicated, and the paper itself is certified by the signature of the applicant.

It is important to understand that women have the right to receive paid and guaranteed maternity leave only in the case of official employment and with an employment contract.

After completing maternity leave, the parent can take additional leave to care for the child until the latter reaches 1.5-3 years of age. In this case, not only the mother, but also the father, as well as other guardians of the child who are actually caring for him, have the right to receive it.

How is maternity leave counted?

The procedure for calculating the period that will be included in the length of service is established by Order of the Ministry of Health and Social Development of Russia No. 91 dated 02/06/2007. Based on the provisions of this act, the following norms were adopted:

• when calculating work periods, a month is taken to be equal to 30 days, and a year to 12 months;
• if the periods of leave to care for several children coincide, the dates at the request of the employee are counted;

• records of experience are entered on the basis of the work book data or replacement documents in its absence: certificates from the employer, archival extracts, payment calculations, etc.;
• in the absence of supporting documentation, length of service is accrued on the basis of a court decision based on evidence, in particular, witness testimony;
• if the submitted papers do not contain the dates of appointment to a position and going on maternity leave, then July 1 of the year is taken into account; if the date of the month is not indicated, the middle of the period, the 15th, is taken as a basis.

To go on leave and receive payments, a maternity leaver must take a certificate from the antenatal clinic and send an application to the employer.

After the birth of children, in order to calculate payments from the enterprise or social authorities, you should contact the institutions and provide a birth certificate from the registry office.

Additionally, a certificate from the place of employment of the second parent is attached stating that he does not receive payments or benefits at the expense of the Social Insurance Fund of the Russian Federation in connection with the birth of the baby.

If a woman in labor does not have permanent employment, then the amount of financial support for the period of child care is established by the state.

Social services monitor compliance with labor rights during pregnancy. Termination of a contract with a woman at such moments is punishable administratively.

The amount of the benefit, also in the absence of official employment of the woman, must be no less than the minimum wage accepted in the region of residence. Maternity payments are subject to charges to the Social Insurance Fund of the Russian Federation and the Pension Fund of the Russian Federation for the insurance part.

Does this include time spent on maternity leave from 1.5 to 3 years?

Maternity leave is a period of rest that is given to the mother so that she can be with her newborn. At this time, the woman is under special protection of the state; she cannot perform her work for valid reasons and enjoys social support measures.

Therefore, as a general rule, parental leave is included in various types of length of service - labor and insurance. However, there are some peculiarities: leave related to caring for a child under 3 years of age is not always taken into account.

Documents for maternity leave

Expert opinion

Nikishina Anastasia Yurievna

General Director of the law firm Pravo Consult. More details

The Russian Federation has an indicative form of law, therefore, in the absence of an official request from a citizen (application) for the provision of a service, it will not be provided to him.

Algorithm for processing documents and obtaining leave:

1. Collection of necessary documents.
2. Writing an application.

Documentation:

• a medical report from a doctor from the residential complex, which indicates the date of application and registration;
• a sick leave certificate issued by a gynecologist, it must contain information about the date of birth;
• if a woman worked at several enterprises - a certificate from each of them indicating the amount of wages;

After all the papers have been collected, a statement is written, which should contain a request for leave for a certain number of days.

Expert opinion

Nikishina Anastasia Yurievna

General Director of the law firm Pravo Consult. More details

Since maternity payments are state assistance, therefore, in order to receive benefits, it is extremely important not only to collect all the documents, but also to make sure that they are completed correctly.