Does Maternity Leave Count Towards Wage Increases for Employees?

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According to the provisions of Clause 1, Article 23 Labor Code 2012, the content of the labor contract, promotion, and salary increase policies are among the key contents of most common labor contracts.

According to Article 34 Social Insurance Law 2014, female employees who give birth are entitled to maternity leave before and after childbirth for a period of 06 months. In the case of twins or more, for each additional child, the mother is entitled to an additional 01 month of leave.

Based on the provisions of Article 102 of the Labor Code 2012 regarding allowances, subsidies, and salary increases policies as follows:

"The policies on allowances, subsidies, promotions, salary increases, and incentive policies for employees shall be agreed upon in the labor contract, collective labor agreement, or stipulated in the employer's regulations."

The law does not clearly stipulate which events are counted or not counted toward the time for a salary increase for the employee, as this depends on the labor contract, collective labor agreement, and the company's regulations.

To be specific: Clause 2, Article 1 Decree 148/2018/ND-CP, promotion and salary increase policies shall be implemented according to a separate agreement between the employee and the employer regarding conditions, time for a salary increase, or according to the employer's regulations, collective labor agreement.

2. Amend Clause 6, Clause 7, Clause 8, and Clause 9, Article 4 as follows:

"6. Promotion and salary increase policies: according to the agreement between the parties on conditions, time, salary level after promotion or salary increase, or agreed to implement according to the employer's regulations, collective labor agreement.

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Thus, whether maternity leave time is considered for a salary increase completely depends on the labor contract, collective labor agreement, and the company's regulations and policies. If these documents stipulate that maternity leave will count toward the time considered for a salary increase, the employee is fully entitled to have this period considered for a salary increase.

- Nguyen Trinh -

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