How long is maternity leave in Jamaica?

What the law says

Who qualifies. Under section 3(1) of the Maternity Leave Act, an employer must grant maternity leave to a worker who has been continuously employed by it for at least 52 weeks when her absence begins. She must tell the employer she is, or wants to be, absent because of pregnancy or birth, and that she intends to come back.

A medical certificate. Under section 3(1)(c) of the Maternity Leave Act, if the employer asks, the worker must show a certificate from a registered doctor saying she needs to be absent because of the pregnancy or birth.

How long. Under section 3(2) of the Maternity Leave Act, the leave covers the time she is absent because of pregnancy or birth, but may not, except for extensions,

“exceed twelve weeks in respect of each pregnancy or confinement.”

So the standard leave is up to 12 weeks for each pregnancy, under section 3(2) of the Maternity Leave Act. It counts the weeks you are actually absent, before or after the birth.

Extensions. Under section 3(3) of the Maternity Leave Act, if a doctor certifies that illness from the pregnancy or birth, or the baby’s health, makes more time off necessary, the employer must extend the leave by up to 14 weeks. Under section 3(4), a longer extension is possible after a medical examination.

Paid weeks. Section 5(1) of the Maternity Leave Act says the employer of a qualified worker on maternity leave

“shall pay to that worker sums, to be known as maternity pay, in respect of the first eight weeks of her maternity leave”

So of the 12 weeks, the Act requires the employer to pay for 8 weeks, counted from the relevant day, under section 5(1) of the Maternity Leave Act. The Act does not require pay for the rest of the leave or for an extension.

How pay is worked out. Under paragraph 2 of the Schedule to the Maternity Leave Act, weekly pay for a worker paid by time is her normal wages for her last normal working week. For piece, task or commission work it is 1/13 of her normal wages over her last 13 working weeks. Overtime is not counted.

What changes the answer

Who is paid. Under section 5(5) of the Maternity Leave Act, maternity pay goes to a worker who is at least 18 and is not a domestic worker as the National Insurance Act defines one.

Telling the employer. Under section 5(2) of the Maternity Leave Act, to be paid she must tell the employer the expected week of the birth at least 2 weeks before the relevant day, which is the first day of the 11th week before that week.

A limit on paid leaves. Under section 5(2)(c) of the Maternity Leave Act, there is no maternity pay from an employer that has already given her paid maternity leave for 3 or more pregnancies.

Coming back. Under section 4(1) of the Maternity Leave Act, she has the right to return to the same job, in the same place, with her seniority and pension rights treated as continuous. Under section 4(3), she must give the employer at least 3 weeks’ notice of the day she will return.

If the job is gone. Under section 4(5) and (7) of the Maternity Leave Act, if redundancy prevents her return, she must be offered a suitable vacancy if there is one. Otherwise she is treated as made redundant on her notified day of return.

Firing over pregnancy. Under section 7(2) of the Maternity Leave Act, an employer who without reasonable cause ends a worker’s job wholly or partly because of her pregnancy commits an offence, with a fine of up to $1,000 as the 1979 Act prints it. Refusing her return counts as the same offence.

Refusing leave or pay. Under section 7(1) and (5) of the Maternity Leave Act, breaking the leave or pay rules carries a fine of up to $500, and the court must also order the employer to pay the maternity pay owed. Under section 7(6), these offences do not apply to the Government.