3.2.20 Maternity protection

Goal and purpose

The hospital management ensures that the life and health of mother and child always take precedence over the operational or economic interests of the hospital. With this objective, the requirements of the Maternity Protection Act and the Maternity Protection Directive Ordinance are implemented.

Area of application

Applies to all expectant or breastfeeding mothers working in the HOSPITAL. Personnel department and employees with personnel responsibility

Description of the process

Expectant mothers should inform the HR department and the management of the clinic/institute of their pregnancy and the presumed date of delivery as soon as they are aware of their pregnancy. Expectant mothers are obliged to make this notification if employment restrictions or prohibitions under the Maternity Protection Act apply or if they are entrusted with management or leadership functions (so-called "key employees") (duty of loyalty under the employment contract). The notification of expectant mothers must be submitted to the HR department in the form of a certificate from a doctor or midwife.

Tasks of the HR department

The HR department informs the supervisory authority and the company medical examination centre of the employee's pregnancy (Appendix 2). The HR department sends the forms for workplace assessment (Appendix 1 and 5) to the management of the clinic/institute. The pregnant woman can seek advice from the staff council, the women's representative, the company doctor and the occupational safety specialist. To do so, she must complete the relevant declarations (Appendix 3). The HR department sends the declarations signed by the pregnant woman to the above-mentioned organisations. The procedure in the HR department is shown in Appendix 4.

Tasks of the clinic/institute management

The management of the clinic/institute is responsible for analysing the hazards, implementing the appropriate protective measures and observing the employment prohibitions laid down in the Maternity Protection Act. As part of the annual safety briefings (reference to the VA operating instructions/instructions), staff must be informed about possible hazards during pregnancy. The management of the clinic/institute shall carry out the workplace assessment in the event of pregnancy with the involvement of the company investigation centre and, if necessary, the occupational safety specialist.

Assessment of the workplace

Irrespective of a reported pregnancy, the management of the clinic/institute management must check the workplaces in their area of responsibility in accordance with Annex 1 with regard to possible hazards for pregnant women and instruct the staff annually. In the event of pregnancy, the management of the clinic/institute must check the pregnant woman's workplace for possible hazards in accordance with the questionnaire in Appendix 5 and document the result on the questionnaire. The completed questionnaire shall be returned to the Human Resources Department and kept in the personnel file.

Exemption for examinations

The management of the clinic/institute and the personnel department must release the woman from work for the time required to carry out the examinations within the framework of the benefits provided by statutory health insurance for pregnancy and maternity. The same applies in favour of the woman who is not insured under the statutory health insurance scheme. This does not result in a loss of pay.

Protection periods

The protection periods are 6 weeks before the birth and 8 weeks after the birth. The woman may not be employed during this period. For mothers after premature and multiple births, this period is extended to twelve weeks, and in the case of premature births and other premature deliveries, by the additional period that could not be utilised in accordance with § 3 Para. 2 of the Maternity Protection Act. In the event of the death of her child, the mother may, at her express request, be employed again before the expiry of these periods, but not in the first two weeks after the birth, if there is no medical evidence to the contrary. She may revoke her declaration at any time. Women who, according to a medical certificate, are not fully able to work in the first few months after giving birth may not be required to work beyond their capacity. The employment bans for expectant mothers continue to apply to breastfeeding mothers. This does not apply to work on means of transport. The Health and Safety Office, the authority responsible for health and safety at work, may authorise exceptions.

Granting of breastfeeding time

At their request, breastfeeding mothers must be given the time required for breastfeeding, but at least half an hour twice a day or one hour once a day. In the case of continuous working hours of more than eight hours, a breastfeeding period of at least forty-five minutes should be granted twice upon request or, if there is no breastfeeding facility in the vicinity of the workplace, a breastfeeding period of at least ninety minutes should be granted once. The working time is deemed to be continuous unless it is interrupted by a rest break of at least two hours. The granting of breastfeeding time does not result in a loss of earnings. The breastfeeding period may not be worked before or after by breastfeeding mothers and may not be counted towards the rest breaks stipulated in the Working Hours Act or in other regulations.

Remuneration during employment bans

The HOSPITAL must continue to grant at least the average earnings of the last three months before the beginning of the month in which the pregnancy occurred. Permanent reductions in earnings that occur during or after the end of the calculation period and are not based on a prohibition of employment under maternity protection law must be taken into account.

Display of the Maternity Protection Act

The Maternity Protection Act can be found in the appendix "Recognised rules".

Prohibition of cancellation

A woman may not be dismissed during pregnancy and up to 4 months after giving birth if the HR department or the management of the clinic/institute or the Executive Board was aware of the pregnancy or birth at the time of the dismissal or is notified within two weeks of receipt of the dismissal; exceeding the deadline is irrelevant if it is due to a reason for which the woman is not responsible and the notification is made without delay. The dismissal is only effective if the authority responsible for occupational health and safety declares the dismissal to be permissible. If a pregnant woman resigns, the HR department must immediately notify the authority responsible for occupational health and safety of the pregnancy and the dismissal.

Information

The hospital management is obliged to inform the authority responsible for occupational health and safety upon request.

1. to provide the information required to fulfil the tasks of this authority truthfully and completely,
2. submit or send for inspection the documents showing the names, type and periods of employment of the expectant and nursing mothers as well as wage and salary payments and all other documents relating to the information to be provided under number 1.

Responsibility, qualification The HR department is obliged to notify the authority responsible for occupational health and safety and the company medical examination centre of the employment of a pregnant woman without delay (see Appendix 2). It may not disclose the notification of the expectant mother to third parties without authorisation. The hospital management transfers the obligations arising from the Maternity Protection Directive Ordinance to the management of the clinic/institute. The management of the clinic/institute therefore has the task of assessing the workplace of pregnant or breastfeeding employees in good time with regard to the hazards, documenting the result and taking all necessary precautions and measures to protect them (see Appendix 1 and 5).

Documentation

The HR department must compile the documents showing the names, type and periods of employment of expectant and nursing mothers as well as wage and salary payments and the documents required by the supervisory authority. The documents must be kept for at least two years after the last entry. The management of the clinic/institute must document the risk assessment in accordance with Annex 1 or 5. The documents shall be stored in the personnel department in the pregnant woman's personnel file.

Notes and comments

Not specified

Applicable documents

Maternity Protection Act (MuSchG) of 24 January 1997 (BGBl 1997 I p. 23 ff), last amended by Article 1 of the Act of 16 June 2002 (BGBl 2002 I p. 1812), Maternity Protection Directive Ordinance (MuSchRiV) of 18 April 1997 (BGBl. 1997 I p. 782), Workplace Ordinance (ArbStättV), X-ray Ordinance (RöV), Radiation Protection Ordinance (StrSchV), Hazardous Substances Ordinance (GefStoffV), Technical Rules for Hazardous Substances TRGS 900, Technical Rules for Hazardous Substances (TRGS) 903, Technical Rules for Hazardous Substances TRGS 905, Genetic Engineering Safety Ordinance (BGBl I p. 297) of 14.3.1995, Biological Substances Ordinance (BioStoffV) of 27.1.99 (BGBL I p. 50), accident prevention regulation "Health Service" (VBG 103 or GUV 8.1), information sheet for handling anaesthetic gases, guide for pregnant women in the health service (KRANKENHAUS).

Terms

Key personnel: persons with management or leadership functions or specialised knowledge within the scope of their official activities; i.e. persons in so-called key positions. Management of the clinic/institute management: the management named in the organisation chart.

Attachments

• Workplace assessment during pregnancy with questionnaire for workplace assessment during pregnancy
• Notification according to § 5 of the Maternity Protection Act
• Declaration to the staff council, company medical examination centre and occupational safety specialist
• Organisational process in the HR department

Release note: Author: FA Hamburg, 1 October 2007