Maternity leave in Trinidad and Tobago is governed by the Maternity Protection Act Chap 45:57. The Act provides a minimum level of maternity leave benefits and protection for women. If some other law, industrial award or collective agreement gives the employee more favourable terms than the Act, those terms would apply.
Under the Act, an employee is entitled to:
maternity leave;
pay while on maternity leave;
resume work after maternity leave on no less favourable terms than were enjoyed by her immediately prior to her leave.
Requirements to obtain maternity benefits
To qualify for maternity benefits under the Act, the employee must:
have been working for the employer continuously for at least one year before the expected delivery date as certified by a doctor. In the case of daily-rated employees, the employee must have worked for at least 150 days in a period of one year;
inform her employer, in writing, at least eight weeks before the expected delivery date that she would require leave due to her pregnancy;
submit to her employer a medical certificate from a doctor, stating the expected delivery date; and
inform her employer in writing of her intention to return to work at the expiry of her maternity leave.
Maternity benefits 13 weeks' leave
A woman is entitled to 13 weeks' (three months) maternity leave and may proceed on leave six weeks before the expected delivery date as stated in the medical certificate or at a subsequent date at the employee's discretion. The employee is required to return to work no later than 13 weeks from the date she proceeded on leave. Even where the baby is born premature or dies either at birth or within the period of leave, the employee is still entitled to the entire 13 weeks with pay. Maternity leave is in addition to any vacation leave and sick leave to which that employee is eligible.
Time off for prenatal care
An employer must not unreasonably refuse time off with pay during work for a pregnant employee to go to the doctor for prenatal care.
Pay
During the period of maternity leave, an employee is entitled to receive one month's leave with full pay and two months' leave with half pay. An employee is entitled to the remaining two months' half pay from the National Insurance Board. If the two in total is less than her full pay, the employer must pay the employee the difference.
Where an employer has failed to pay contributions under that National Insurance Act and no maternity benefits are payable by the National Insurance Board, the employer must pay the employee the entire three months' pay.
Additional Leave
Where an employee is incapable of returning to work after the 13 weeks for medical reasons, either for herself or the baby, the period of leave can be extended by the employee for a further period not exceeding 12 weeks. The employee must inform the employer in writing of the date on which she intends to return to work and provide a medical certificate. During this additional period, the employee is entitled to be paid half pay for the first six weeks and no pay for the next six weeks.
The employee may be able to obtain sickness benefits for the remaining salary from the National Insurance Board. An employee may also postpone her return to work for non-medical reasons for no more than four weeks. She must give her employer written notice within ten working days, before the end of the 13 weeks, stating the reason why she is unable to return to work and state her intended return date. During this period, the employee is not entitled to be paid by the employer.
Limit on benefits
There is no limit on an employee's right to maternity leave, but the right to be paid for maternity leave is limited to once every two years from the beginning of the leave.
Promotion
An employee on maternity leave can't be deprived of an opportunity to be considered for promotion for which she is eligible and which may arise during her period of leave.
Pension computation
The time period for calculating pension or terminal benefits is not affected by the period of maternity leave.
Enforcement
If either the employer or employee fail to comply with the Act or the employee is terminated on the ground of pregnancy or any ground relating to pregnancy, the matter would be considered a trade dispute under the Industrial Relation Act and be referred to the Minister of Labour and if not resolved referred to the Industrial Court.
This article sets out general guidelines; all legal rules have exceptions and variations. How the law applies to you depends on the facts of your case.
