Maternity Protection Act 1994

The purpose of the above act is to protect women who are on maternity leave from various detriments, most notably, loss of employment while availing of this protected leave period.

In the employer’s and the employees mind the person is absent from work while on the maternity leave.

The law obligates an employer though to treat the employee on maternity leave as if she is not absent at all. The employee while on leave maintains all her employment rights contained in her employment contract or from legislation etc.

S. 22 of the 1994 Act states the following:

During a period of absence from work by an employee while on—

( a) maternity leave,

(b) subsection (1) (a) leave, as
defined in section 16(3) (3) , or

( c) leave granted under section 18 :

and during a period of natal care absence, the employee shall be deemed to have been in the employment of the employer and, accordingly, while so absent the employee shall, subject to subsection (6) and section 24 be treated as if she or he had not been so absent; and such absence shall not affect any right (other than, except in the case of natal care absence, the employee’s right to remuneration during such absence), whether conferred by statute, contract or otherwise, and related to the employee’s employment.

A very strong legal protection for the female employee on maternity leave can be seen in S.23 of the 1994 Act.

Very simply the law states that any purported termination of employment or even receiving a notice of termination from an employer is void at the outset. Therefore, the employer may send the employee a letter notifying her of the termination, however, this is not legally binding.

All of the following scenarios are offside:

• any purported termination of an employee’s employment while the employee is absent from work on protective leave;
• any purported termination of an employee’s employment during a period of natal care absence;
• any purported termination of an employee’s employment during a period of absence from work to attend ante-natal classes;
• any purported termination of an employee’s employment during a period of absence from work for breastfeeding;
• any notice of termination of an employee’s employment given while the employee is absent from work on protective leave and expiring subsequent to such a period of absence
•  any notice of termination of an employee’s employment given during a period of natal care absence and expiring subsequent to such a period;
• any notice of termination of an employee’s employment given during a period of absence from work to attend ante-natal classes;
•  any notice of termination of an employe ’s employment given during a period of absence from work for breastfeeding; 
•  any purported suspension from an employee ’s employment imposed while the employee is absent from work on protective leave, during a period of natal care absence or during a period of absence from work to attend ante-natal classes.

The Maternity Protection Act 1994 has been amended many times over the years and the revision version as of the 3rd of July 2023 is seen here.

Employment Law Articles