Maternity and post-maternity leave
Many are unemployed when they go on maternity leave, and thus also unemployed after maternity leave. If you are unemployed after maternity leave, you are certainly not alone. Many people are unemployed after maternity leave and need to start looking for work. If you are unemployed after maternity leave, your options are a bit different than if you were to go straight into a job after maternity leave. Here we have tried to make it clear by listing the options and the rules that you have to deal with in this situation. If you are looking for a cheap unemployment insurance fund, you can find an overview here.
Table of contents
Do you need professional input during your maternity leave and would you like to be with other mothers in the same situation?
Here are the rules: unemployed on maternity leave ↓
Scroll down to read what to do if you are on maternity leave.
Find the cheapest unemployment funds here
Maternity leave - if you are unemployed
As a rule, you are entitled to 46 weeks' maternity leave on daily benefit. It is possible to extend this by a further 8 weeks (but without receiving any more money). Fourteen weeks after the birth are earmarked for the mother, after which the last 32 weeks can be shared freely between the mother or father.
When do you go on maternity leave?
When you are on leave, you usually go on maternity leave 4 weeks before your due date.
Extend maternity leave
As an unemployed person on maternity leave, you have the right to extend your maternity leave by up to 8 weeks. You will not get any more maternity pay by extending your maternity leave. However, you can choose to reduce your maternity pay so that it is paid over the whole period. This means that the 32 weeks of maternity pay during parental leave will be paid for 40 weeks instead.
Save maternity leave as available
As an unemployed person, you cannot postpone your leave. This is because you have to be in work to be able to postpone. If you get a full-time job while you are on parental leave, you can, with the agreement of your employer, postpone the remaining part of your parental leave.
Unemployed on maternity leave: holiday pay
Taking leave during parental leave is not the same as postponing leave when you are on leave. If you take a break during your leave to take holiday, you lose those days of parental leave. Being on maternity leave is an impediment to taking leave, as your maternity leave is an impediment to taking leave. Therefore, you are allowed to get holiday pay at the same time as maternity pay, but staggered by the holiday.
If you would like to receive holiday pay at the same time as your maternity pay, you have two options:
1. You can be paid a maximum of 15 days' holiday after 1 October 2016 and the rest after 1 May 2017 if you are still on maternity leave,
or
2. The option to wait until after 1 May 2017 to receive all your holiday entitlements, if you are still on maternity leave at that time.
Registering as unemployed after maternity leave
When your maternity leave ends, you must go to jobnet.dk on your first day of unemployment and register as unemployed. Your unemployment insurance fund will then be notified and you will be invited to a meeting to discuss your situation.
Source: borger.dk
Maternity network - put the baby brain on pause
Read about maternity networks here
It's great to be on maternity leave with your baby - but sometimes it's okay to need to put the baby brain on hold and focus on your professional development and career instead. That's why CA has launched a maternity network focused on career development. You can of course bring your baby along 🙂
The network meets once a month. It's a great way to get new input and be with other mothers who also want to stay connected to the labour market. Each meeting focuses on professional or career aspects. The meetings include personal profile analysis, work-life balance, changing values and the challenges of returning to work.
If you want to read more about the maternity network, you can do so on the CA website - click here
