Giving birth before maternity leave, will I lose my insurance benefits?

They blamed me for giving birth before my maternity leave without telling them. I was busy at the time, and I didn’t know that if I gave birth before, I would have to tell them. The company said it was none of their business and refused to go with me to work with the insurance company.

I would like to ask, if I give birth before maternity leave, will I lose my insurance benefits? Will I, my agency, or the insurance company be responsible for the maternity benefits? What should I do?

Consulting attorney

Women who have just given birth are always given priority and protection. There is no legal provision that stipulates that social insurance (SI) contributors who give birth before maternity leave will not receive maternity benefits.

Cases not entitled to maternity benefits are:

Case 1: Employees do not have enough time to pay social insurance according to regulations

According to Article 31 of the 2014 Law on Social Insurance, female employees giving birth are entitled to maternity benefits when meeting one of the following two conditions:

- Female employees have paid social insurance for 6 months or more within 12 months before giving birth.

- Female employees who have paid social insurance for 12 months or more and have to take time off work to rest during pregnancy as prescribed by a competent medical examination and treatment facility must pay social insurance for 3 months or more within the 12 months before giving birth.

Female employees who meet the above conditions on social insurance payment period but terminate their labor contract, work contract or quit their job before giving birth are still entitled to maternity benefits according to regulations.

Case 2: Voluntary social insurance payment is not eligible for maternity benefits:

According to Articles 86 and 87 of this Law, unlike the case of compulsory social insurance participation, voluntary social insurance participants only contribute to the pension and death fund.

On the other hand, according to Article 4 of this law, maternity benefits only apply to employees participating in compulsory social insurance, specifically:

- Compulsory social insurance has the following benefits: sickness; maternity; work accidents, occupational diseases; retirement; death.

- Voluntary social insurance has the following benefits: retirement; death.

So, you can compare the two cases above for your specific situation. If you do not fall into the two cases above, your company must be responsible for working with the insurance agency to resolve your maternity benefits.

You can complain to the company director. If the matter is not resolved satisfactorily, you can complain to the Chief Inspector of the Department of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs where the company is headquartered.