Notify employment of a pregnant or breastfeeding woman

If one of your employees has informed you that she is pregnant or breastfeeding, you must inform the competent supervisory authority.

A woman within the meaning of the Maternity Protection Act is any person who is pregnant, has given birth or is breastfeeding. In principle, your employee is free to decide whether and when she informs you of her pregnancy or breastfeeding period. You only have to notify the supervisory authority responsible for you once your employee has informed you of her pregnancy.

Regardless of the type of employment relationship, the Maternity Protection Act also applies to

• Women who work part-time,
• Women in marginal employment (mini-jobs),
• Women with fixed-term employment contracts or in the probationary period,
• Women who are in vocational training and trainees,
• Women with disabilities who are employed in a workshop for disabled people,
• women working as volunteers within the meaning of the Youth Voluntary Service Act or the Federal Voluntary Service Act, and
• women who work as members of a spiritual cooperative, deaconesses or members of a similar community in a permanent position or on the basis of an employment contract, including during the period of their extracurricular training there.

You should also provide information about the type of employment in the notification to the competent supervisory authority. This will avoid any queries. You must always provide the following information:

• Name, address and date of birth of the expectant mother and
• the expected date of delivery.

Please contact your local government office to find out what other information is required.

If you wish to employ the pregnant or breastfeeding employee after 8 p.m., you must apply for this separately.

If you have notified the supervisory authority of an employee's pregnancy, you do not need to make any further notification if your employee returns to work and is breastfeeding.

Important notes:

• You may not disclose the information about your employee's pregnancy and breastfeeding period to third parties without authorization (except to the persons in your company who are entrusted with the execution and implementation of protective measures).
• In addition to the duty of disclosure, as an employer you have further obligations, for example regarding health protection in the workplace and benefits during and after pregnancy. If you do not comply with the maternity protection regulations, you may be punished. The supervisory authority can also advise you on maternity protection issues.
  

Responsibility lies with the relevant regional council.

Please contact the responsible regional council

Forms: no formal requirements

Online procedure possible: yes

Written form required: no

Personal appearance required: no

• Your employee has informed you that she is pregnant or breastfeeding.

You must provide notification of the employment of a pregnant or breastfeeding woman in writing or verbally:

• In Hesse, the notification form is available online. Download it and fill it out. However, you can also make the notification informally.
• You can also provide information about the type and duration of your pregnant employee's employment in order to avoid any queries from the supervisory authority.
• Send the notification to the regional council responsible for you
• As a rule, you will not receive a confirmation of receipt.

Note: If you wish to employ your pregnant or breastfeeding employee after 8 p.m., you must apply for this separately. If you wish to employ them on Sundays and public holidays within the scope of the law, you must notify the supervisory authority.

If your employee has informed you of her pregnancy, you must inform the responsible regional council immediately.

The Maternity Protection Act does not apply to

• Self-employed persons,
• board members and managing directors of legal entities or companies (unless they are also predominantly employed),
• housewives and
• female civil servants, judges and soldiers.

You can find more information on the subject of maternity protection and sector-specific protection regulations on the Hessian Ministry of Social Affairs and Integration's website Arbeitswelt Hessen.