Labor contract expires while on maternity leave: Resolution

The labor contract expires while on maternity leave is not a rare case. In this situation, employees and employers need to clearly understand the provisions of the law to protect the rights of both parties. So, do labor contracts that expire during maternity leave need to be re-signed? How will social insurance benefits be affected? Let’s join Long Phan to solve these problems in the article below.

Do you need to renew the labor contract when it expires during maternity leave?

According to Clause 3, Article 137 of the Labor Code 2019, employers are not allowed to unilaterally terminate labor contracts with employees due to maternity leave.

However, according to Article 34 of the Labor Code 2019, the labor contract will terminate when the agreed time in the contract expires, unless there are special regulations. When the labor contract expires while the employee is on maternity leave, the company is not required to re-sign the contract without a new agreement.

This means that even though the labor contract expires, the company must clearly notify it not to renew the contract and protect the employee’s maternity rights.

Social insurance benefits when taking maternity leave after the contract expires?

According to Clause 2, Article 12 of Circular 59/2015/TT-BLDTBXH, the period of maternity leave from the time of leave until the expiration of the labor contract is counted as the period of social insurance payment.

However, after the labor contract expires, the employee no longer continues to participate in social insurance with the company, so the period of maternity benefits after the contract expires will not be counted in the social insurance payment period.

Thus, in case the labor contract expires during maternity leave, the employee will still enjoy social insurance benefits until the contract expires. However, maternity benefits will not continue after the contract expires if there is no new agreement on extending the labor contract.

How to handle the situation when the labor contract expires during maternity leave?

According to Article 45 of the Labor Code 2019, the employer is responsible for notifying the employee in writing about the termination of the labor contract when the contract expires. This applies even if the employee is on maternity leave.

In case the labor contract expires and the employee has not returned to work after maternity leave, the employer must still fulfill the obligation to notify the employee.

If the employee does not re-sign the labor contract, they will not continue to participate in social insurance and other benefits of the labor contract.

In addition, in case the labor contract expires when the employee is raising a child under 12 months old, the company is responsible for giving priority to signing a new labor contract for the employee, according to the provisions of Article 137 of the Labor Code 2019.

Labor Contract Consulting Services in Long Phan

When a labor contract expires during maternity leave, understanding the legal regulations is important to protect the rights of employees and employers. At Long Phan, we support customers with consulting services on labor contracts as follows:

• Consulting on terms in labor contracts such as rights and obligations of employees and employers.
• Consulting on types of labor contracts (definite-term contracts, indefinite-term contracts, seasonal contracts).
• Consulting on procedures and processes for re-signing labor contracts after the expiration of the old contract.
• Provide guidance on amending and supplementing labor contracts when there are changes in work, salary or other terms.
• Consulting on resolving labor disputes between employees and employers.
• Consulting on the rights of employees when the labor contract is unilaterally terminated illegally.

Letting the labor contract expire during maternity leave does not violate the law, but employees need to be clearly informed about this. Customers can refer to the detailed regulations on protecting rights in this case and resolving issues related to social insurance. For specific advice, please contact Long Phan via the hotline 0906735386 to receive timely support.