Not long ago, domestic legislation underwent certain changes: now not only the child’s mother, but also her husband, grandmother and other close relatives have the right to issue a maternity leave. In addition, adoptive parents and legal guardians of a minor have the right to go on maternity leave. Let's look at the conditions under which maternity leave is granted, how to properly apply for maternity leave for a grandmother , how to draw up an application and what documents will need to be provided.
Conditions for applying for maternity leave for a grandmother
To apply for maternity leave for your grandmother, you will need to comply with the following conditions.
- The employed mother and father of the child issue certificates from their place of work proving the fact that the parents do not use the right to go on maternity leave.
- The mother will need to issue a document about going back to work if she interrupts her maternity leave.
- It is necessary that the grandmother be employed on an official basis.
The grandmother may receive an old-age pension or be unemployed. If she does not work, she is given the right to go on maternity leave under the following circumstances:
- the baby’s parents have died or gone missing, as confirmed by a relevant court order;
- the mother and father were deprived of parental rights - for example, they suffer from a severe form of alcohol or drug addiction;
- the baby’s parents do not have the opportunity to raise and provide for the child due to serious health problems;
- the parents of the minor do not want to raise the child.
So, in the above cases, the grandmother can go on maternity leave, even if she is on an old-age pension or is not employed.
If the child’s mother is unemployed, then the grandmother will not be able to go on maternity leave. However, there is an exception when a woman gives birth to several babies at once. In this situation, the grandmother has the right to issue maternity leave for her second and subsequent children.
Design features
If your grandmother goes on maternity leave instead of your mother, the design is different. The main difference in situations in which a grandmother or other close relative goes on parental leave is the need to confirm that parents and other family members do not receive the benefits listed above.
For confirmation, you will need an official document (certificate, extract, information) from the relevant organization. For example, a certificate from the place of work of the mother or father, or an extract from the Employment Center stating that the parents do not receive the required benefits.
How to prepare documents
To apply for maternity leave, your grandmother will need to provide her employer with the following package of documentation:
- application for maternity leave indicating the start and end dates of maternity leave;
- birth certificate of the baby;
- a document establishing the existence of a family relationship between the grandmother and the child;
- a certificate confirming the absence of transfer of financial payments for the care of the baby to the baby’s parents (the document is issued from the place of employment of the adults);
- a document issued by a medical institution stating that the baby’s parents have a serious illness;
- a certificate stating that the mother is resuming her work activity or is studying full-time.
The application shall indicate the following information:
- request to provide the applicant with maternity leave (his full name, date of birth), start and end date of maternity leave;
- list of attached documentation;
- date of application, signature of the applicant.
The application is quite simple, you can download a sample below.
Application for parental leave to care for a child up to 3 years old.docx
The provided certificates and papers are certified by the seal of the manager, after which he puts his signature on the documents. An official does not have the right to refuse to issue a maternity leave to a grandmother. After the management checks the received documents, they sign an order stating that the subordinate is going on maternity leave.
The period of maternity leave is registered in the work book along with the length of service in the profession and the total length of service, except in cases where the old-age pension is paid ahead of schedule. An employer will not be able to deprive a grandmother of her job while she is on maternity leave (except for the liquidation of an enterprise or termination of the activities of an individual entrepreneur).
Domestic legislation allows the division of the maternity leave into 2 parts - until the child reaches 1.5 and 3 years. You can also fully or partially divide maternity leave between different family members.
If the child’s mother first went on maternity leave, but subsequently life circumstances changed, as a result of which she needed to go to work, then the woman will need to take the following actions:
- Inform the employer of your intention to return to work in the near future;
- Visit the accounting department and issue a certificate stating that the employee’s maternity leave is interrupted and payments for the child are no longer made.
Next, the grandmother turns to her employer with a request to go on maternity leave.
Which relative is more profitable to take parental leave for?
Registration of parental leave for immediate relatives is no longer exotic, as noted by the social insurance authorities. Each family decides individually who is wiser to send on maternity leave, fortunately the law allows it.
The Social Insurance Fund of the Sverdlovsk Region said that on average, about 50-55 grandparents take out parental leave per year instead of their children. Of course, there are fewer grandfathers on maternity leave, but over the past ten years there have already been 20 such cases. That is, on average, two men per year in the region go to help raise their grandchildren in the first years of life. Of course, if we take it as a percentage and compare it with the classic maternity leave scheme, when a mother goes on maternity leave, then these data will not amount to even one percent. But this is probably correct. The more time the child spends with his mother, the better. Another thing is that it doesn’t always work out.
“In our family, my daughter looked after the baby for six months, and then they issued leave for me,” says Natalya Semyonovna, who works in one of the government agencies. “Her salary is higher than mine, and it was beneficial for the whole family that she go to work early.”
As noted by the social insurance authorities, assumptions that more maternity leave will begin to be issued for grandparents after the retirement age is raised have not yet come true. At least so far there is no obvious surge. At the same time, it has long been a practice for fathers to go on maternity leave instead of women, when this seems more appropriate for the family. Moreover, some dads do this for the second time. According to statistics, about two percent of men take parental leave instead of the child’s mother.
The law allows this to be done by any of the closest working relatives - father, grandmother or grandfather. Guardians, adoptive parents, and even uncles or aunts have the same right. At the same time, the work experience is not interrupted, and pension points are regularly accrued.
How to apply for maternity leave for a grandparent
If grandparents work, the same rules apply to them as to the mother of the baby. During the period of maternity leave, any of them for one and a half years will be entitled to a benefit in the amount of 40 percent of the average income for the two years preceding the year before the leave. To apply for benefits at your place of work, you must provide the following package of documents :
— Application for leave.
— Child’s birth certificate.
— If the grandmother or grandfather worked in another place during the two years preceding the vacation, then you will need to provide a certificate of income received there.
— A document confirming the relationship with the child. As a rule, this is a birth certificate of your own son or daughter, that is, the father or mother of the baby.
— Documents confirming that both the father and mother of the child have not taken out such leave and are not receiving benefits.
Is it possible to apply for maternity leave for a grandmother if she is a non-working pensioner? As noted by the social insurance authorities, this can only be done in exceptional cases. When her grandson's parents are missing, deprived of parental rights, or in prison.
To the point
With the introduction of “presidential” payments for the first child of 450 thousand rubles, families with newborns breathed more freely. This solves a bunch of problems at once. And what is important, it allows mothers to stay with their baby longer. Not everyone knows that in small provincial towns 450 thousand rubles allocated for the first child is almost half of a small apartment.
How in other countries?
USA
In the States, large companies themselves have the right to decide whether to provide parental leave for their employees or not. For example, Facebook provides its employees with four months of paid parental leave. In December 2021, company founder Mark Zuckerberg also exercised this right. Other large companies also provide paid parental leave: Google (up to 22 two weeks for women, up to seven for men).
Iceland
After the birth of a child in Iceland, each parent receives three months of paid leave, which they cannot transfer to each other. They also have three more months left at their disposal, which they can divide among themselves at their discretion.
Sweden
Swedish legislation is considered the most “generous” and equal in terms of maternity leave. There, parents receive 480 days of paid leave, which they recommend dividing equally between parents. But at least 90 days must be taken by the father of the child.
How are maternity benefits issued for a grandmother?
If she works under an employment contract, she can go on maternity leave to care for the baby until the baby turns 3 years old. A grandmother can receive a benefit for caring for an infant up to the age of one and a half years, which will be paid every month from social insurance contributions in proportion to her average salary. The woman will receive 40% of her average earnings for 18 months.
In 2021, the maximum infant care benefit is 27,984 thousand monthly. The minimum amount of maternity benefits is 4,852 rubles for one baby, 6,751 rubles for the second.
In addition, the grandmother retains her pension benefit.
As for the child’s mother, she gets the opportunity to build a career and financially provide for her family, so in some situations, having a grandmother on maternity leave is beneficial for everyone.
Is maternity leave possible for a grandmother instead of a mother?
The current Russian legislation does not contain such a term as “maternity leave” in its generally accepted understanding. However, the Labor Code establishes special periods of exemption from work due to the birth of a child in the family.
- Leave related to a woman's pregnancy and childbirth . It is provided by the employer on the basis of a certificate of incapacity for work, which is issued to the pregnant woman at the antenatal clinic. Its duration depends directly on the expected date of delivery, which is calculated by the gynecologist based on the objective medical data of a particular patient. Its duration is a total of 140 days, but in some cases it can be significantly increased.
- Care leave up to 1.5 years. In practice, this leave is taken out by the woman simultaneously with the previous one. It should be noted here that this period is an insurance period, that is, it affects the formation of pension rights.
- Care leave from 1.5 to 3 years. Despite the opportunity, many women do not use this right. Previously, this was due to the fact that the amount of benefits during this period was minimal. In addition, the woman’s insurance period is interrupted.
As a rule, the term “maternity leave” refers to these three types of leave. And, despite its absence in the legislation, later in the article it will be used in the appropriate context, since it is extremely common at the everyday and colloquial level.
The Labor Code establishes that not only one mother, but also other relatives who directly care for the baby can go on care leave. In this case, such a person can also be a grandmother.
Attention! Maternity leave is granted only to the woman who has given birth to a child. And only she is awarded the appropriate allowance.
In practice, citizens have the most questions regarding whether maternity leave will be provided to a working grandmother. The answer to this is positive, but only if the child’s parents did not apply for the appropriate benefit.
It should be noted that only one relative can go on maternity leave to care for one child. However, if there are several children under the age of 3 in a family, then both parents and other relatives, including grandmothers, can go on vacation.
Example:
The family has 2 children aged 2 months. and 1 year and 7 months. Accordingly, the law allows that one of the children, for example, a two-month old, can have a mother on leave, while the grandmother can go on maternity leave with the eldest.
Let's sum it up
Today, not only mothers, but also other close relatives, such as grandmothers, can go on maternity leave. An officially employed grandmother has the right to go on maternity leave if the baby’s parents did not take advantage of this opportunity.
When an elderly woman is already a pensioner or unemployed, she will be able to go on maternity leave only in exceptional situations - for example, parents do not have the opportunity to provide for and care for the child and are deprived of parental rights. If the mother does not work due to serious health problems, then this is also sufficient grounds for applying for maternity leave for the grandmother.
In addition, the time spent by the grandmother on maternity leave will be counted as work experience. As a result, she will not have to worry about setting up a pension in the future.
Benefits and payments during maternity leave
The mother of the child is entitled to monthly cash benefits for care (up to the age of 1.5 years and 3 years). If you take leave for your grandmother, the employer pays her social benefits for up to 1.5 years. Social benefits are calculated at 40% of the average salary of an employee who submitted a child care application. The procedure for calculating average earnings is determined by government decree No. 922 of December 24, 2007 (as amended on December 10, 2016).
The current legislation provides for situations in which it is permissible to issue a maternity leave not in full, but in parts (paragraph 2 of Article 256 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation). So, for example, a mother arranges maternity leave for a newborn until he reaches the age of 6 months, and then starts working. And the grandmother (grandfather, father, guardian) takes care of the baby until 1.5 or 3 years old and receives established monthly benefits.
Persons entitled to care
Different people can take care of the baby. The categories of citizens who can apply for vacation pay are listed in Art. 256 Labor Code of the Russian Federation:
- father, natural or adopted;
- grandparents, both maternal and paternal;
- legal representatives appointed by decision of the guardianship and trusteeship authority;
- other persons, if they have expressed a desire and have the opportunity to support a young child.
Advice! Anyone who takes in a child is entitled to a cash benefit from the state. Payments are made to an individual account opened in the name of the minor. It is allocated from the income of the caregiver. To calculate payments, you must contact the social service with confirmation of going on vacation, documents to establish the identity of the adult and the child.
Documents for grandmother's maternity leave.
Documents you will need for your grandmother's maternity leave:
- statement;
- child's birth certificate (birth certificate);
- certificates stating that other relatives have not received benefits.
The application must be filled out in free form or according to the form established by the institution. A copy of the certificate does not need to be certified.
A certificate stating that the mother or father did not exercise the right to maternity leave is written in free form. It differs in every organization.
The application must indicate the following information:
- date of leave;
- information about the minor;
- Attached documents.
The application states the date of preparation and puts the personal signature of the applicant.
Maternity leave for close relatives
Based on the provisions of Art. 256 of the Labor Code, it is allowed to request time off to look after an infant until he is three years old.
Holidays for childcare can be arranged by:
- the parents themselves;
- grandmother or other close person who is related to the child;
- adoptive parents.
The rules for providing such rest for mothers are regulated by Art. 185 TK.
If a new mother wants or is obliged to continue working immediately after giving birth, then she can easily be replaced by close relatives - father, grandparents, guardian.
In accordance with legislative norms, such a person can be any of the relatives (not necessarily a close one) who actually looks after the baby.
A mother-in-law who decides to look after her grandchildren must contact her superiors with a corresponding application. After completing the necessary procedures, she will officially become a maternity grandmother.
While a woman is on maternity leave, her work experience continues to accumulate.
Attention! Management does not have the right to refuse maternity leave to a new grandmother. Dismissal in such a situation is also unlawful. Download for viewing and printing:
Labor Code of the Russian Federation dated December 30, 2001 No. 197-FZ
How many hours can you work on maternity leave?
The work schedule during maternity leave is established by mutual agreement of the employee and the employer. For part-time, it can be a half-day or a half-week, or a combination of both. But if the working day is irregular - only a partial week with a full working day (Article 101 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation). When working from home, the work schedule can be any, including reduced working hours.
Since a working mother will receive both a salary and a benefit, and the benefit is paid by the Social Insurance Fund, abuse must be avoided. Shortening the working day should objectively free up time for the baby. If it is 15–30 minutes a day or even an hour, social insurance may deny benefits.
Who else can take on such a responsibility?
According to the same article. 256 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation, any family member can go on parental leave:
- mother;
- father;
- grandmother;
- grandfather;
- another relative or guardian who will actually care for the child.
You can transfer your vacation to another family member at any time and several times. The law does not provide any restrictions until the child is three years old.
That's all you need to know about maternity leave for your grandmother. If she doesn’t mind taking a break, then this is an excellent opportunity for the mother to return to work earlier, for the child to spend more time with his beloved grandmother, and for the whole family not to lose the right to benefits.
What the law says
There is no term “maternity leave” in the Labor Code of the Russian Federation. This is a colloquial concept used by young mothers, referring to maternity leave for children under three years of age. But since it is often used, we will use it from time to time when talking about how to arrange maternity leave for your grandmother.
According to Art. 256 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation, it is quite possible for a grandmother to take out so-called maternity leave instead of a mother. Also, in addition to maternal or paternal grandmothers, other relatives have the right to care for a child up to three years of age. For example:
- father;
- guardian;
- other family members.
Any relative who is officially involved in raising children has the right to count on maternity payments provided by law. Read below for detailed instructions on how to apply for maternity leave for your grandmother.
How are maternity pay paid?
If a working mother-in-law goes on maternity leave, she has the right to receive 40% of the average wage.
The duration of payments is one and a half years. This happens through social services and the Social Insurance Fund. From the day the grandmother goes on maternity leave, she is entitled to the following payment options:
- social benefits until the child is one and a half years old;
- payments in the amount of 40% of the average monthly payment (paid monthly through the enterprise);
- allowance for minors over 1.5 years old (the amount is determined by law).
Benefit amounts
The benefits amount to 40% of the average payment for two years.
If the mother-in-law works part-time at several enterprises, then an application for maternity leave is written at each of them. But benefits are paid only at the main place of work.
The calculation takes place taking into account the total income. Why does each company take a certificate of income and give it to the accountant at the main place of work?
Attention! The minimum payment amount is: RUB 3,000. for the 1st newborn, for the second - 5817.24 rubles. The maximum you can get is 23,120.66 rubles.
For adoptive parents
When a family adopts someone else’s baby, relatives and they themselves can also go on maternity leave, including grandmothers. Why should the adoptive mother apply to the guardianship council to receive a certificate of inability to work?
Attention! This is necessary to maintain the secrecy of adoption. Because this creates the appearance of a natural appearance of a newborn in the family. This information is not provided even to the employer. If for some reason employees nevertheless become aware of the social relationship of the child and his parents (adoptive parents), then they must take measures to preserve the information that has become known to them. If this condition is not met, parents have the right to protect their interests in court.
Thus, all relatives (including socially acquired ones) have equal rights to official care of the newborn with all the ensuing powers and privileges.
However, actual care is not enough here. It is necessary that these powers be formalized legally.
