05 Policies on Maternity Protection for Female Employees

According to the provisions of Article 155 of the Labor Code 2012, maternity protection policies include the following policies:

1. Employers are not allowed to employ female workers to work at night, overtime, and to go on business trips in the following cases:

- Pregnant from the 7th month or from the 6th month if working in mountainous, remote, border, or island areas;

- Nursing a child under 12 months old.

2. Female workers doing heavy work during pregnancy from the 7th month are entitled to be transferred to lighter work or to have their daily working hours reduced by 01 hour while still receiving full salary.

3. Employers are not allowed to dismiss or unilaterally terminate labor contracts with female workers for reasons of marriage, pregnancy, maternity leave, or nursing a child under 12 months old, except where the employer is an individual who died, was declared by the Court as lacking civil act capacity, missing or dead, or where the employer is not an individual and ceases operation.

4. During pregnancy, maternity leave as prescribed by social insurance law, and nursing a child under 12 months old, female workers are not subject to labor discipline.

5. Female workers during menstruation are entitled to a daily rest of 30 minutes; during the period of nursing a child under 12 months old, they are entitled to a daily rest of 60 minutes during working hours. The rest time is fully paid according to the labor contract. The specific rest time for female workers is clearly guided in Clauses 2 and 3 of Article 7 of Decree 85/2015/ND-CP as follows:

- Female workers during menstruation are entitled to rest as follows:

+ 30 minutes per day, at least 03 days in a month;

+ The rest time is fully paid according to the labor contract;

+ The specific rest time is agreed upon by the worker and the employer in accordance with actual working conditions and the needs of the female worker.

- Female workers during the period of nursing a child under 12 months old are entitled to rest as follows:

+ 60 minutes per day during working hours to breastfeed, pump, store milk, and rest;

+ The rest time is fully paid according to the labor contract.

Thus, besides the maternity policies according to the provisions of the Social Insurance Law 2014 applicable to participants in social insurance, female workers are also protected by law with regards to maternity through policies and regulations on rest time and working hours.

Thu Ba

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