Unemployment benefit after being made redundant following pregnancy

Visas, Permits, Passports and Naturalization
1
Hi, I was pregnant and am now on maternity leave but will be made redundant when my maternity leave ends. I have contacted RAV to see what all I have to do there, but I was just wondering if anyone else had experience of a similar situation and how there dealings with the RAV went.

2
I certainly know mums who have been made redundant, or who were not able to agree to whatever terms their employer set on return (changing office, changing work days to something that doesn't match their childcare, not being willing to reduce the workload, rosters that don't allow them to leave the office in time to pick kids up from daycare...the list goes on.)...and they went on unemployment insurance for a period of time.

I am also aware that it's possible to take a part-time 'looking for work', take part time childcare (you have to have appropriate childcare to be ready to work tomorrow if something comes up), and be paid part-time unemployment insurance...

Hope that helps...

3
I thought you had to prove you have appropriate childcare available which makes it very difficult. Unless you are very lucky or rich not many people can afford to pay for childcare while they are not working (over potentially a few months if not longer).

4
Yeah, that's definitely the catch, you have to be pretty sure that it's worth it financially in the long term, to get through the short term...

Otherwise, no childcare, no unemployment benefits, but I'm pretty sure we have had forum members who said they were able to prove to the RAV that a combination of father-care and grandmother-care, or a 'Tagesmutter' (family day care) or a shared nanny 'on call' was enough to justify the job searching. I'm sure they make you jump through many hoops...

5
Yes it is correct that you must have childcare in place to get unemployment benefits, because you must be available for work.

That being said I do not think anyone has ever been denied benefits for this reason, simply say you have childcare in place, e.g parents, spouse, childminder, etc.

6
Yeah I was made redundant because they needed to reduce staff and so the easy target (and this is all very last minute). I've got a place at a Kindergrippe from February onwards that would have covered by regular part time hours, but that's February and this is October! So the childcare thing could be an issue. I didn't know it was possible to look part time for work. I'll have to work it all out to see if it's worth it.

I had always planned to go back to work after my baby was 6 months old. Do any of you know what would happen if I was claiming unemployment benefit and then decided a few months down the line that I wanted to be a stay at home mum? (At the minute I still want to work but I know things change).

7
No problem at all, they just stop paying you, bit like when you have found a job !

8
If you're on maternity leave now, doesn't your notice period take effect when you go back? If so, you're pretty close to February anyway....

9
I am in the same position they are closing my office, and I am due to give birth in 3 weeks. They know that they cannot terminate my employment unless we come to an agreement until 16 weeks after birth. So if we did an agreement does this affect my rights, e.g. In Switzerland they will not take a baby from month 1, so does this mean that you cannot claim benefits until later. I habe child care arranged from April? Would I be able to claim maternity benefit instead? However, technically then I would have 3 months notice, so my understanding is that you cannot claim benefits in a notice period.

10
My understanding is that they can't technically sever your work contract until you return to work after the maternity leave. The maternity leave is an 'insurance' not paid directly by the employer, so it shouldn't be affected by internal politics. Assuming you are on 'sick' leave in the final stage of your pregnancy, that is covered under either your employer's regular sick leave provisions, or by sick leave insurance if it's been a longer period of sick leave.

You switch to maternity leave (insurance) the day the baby is born. You take the full maternity leave.

If you are clear about your rights and what you are willing to accept from your employer, then there's no law that says you can't negotiate your position now for the sake of clarity. However, the employer can't be seen in any way to interfere in your sick leave or maternity leave, so they may be unwilling to approach you right now because it could look bad for them.

However, that doesn't mean you can't negotiate up-front if it works for you. Basically you can expect as minimum the maternity leave insurance (14 weeks) plus 3 months full normal pay in lieu of notice for the termination of your contract, if you will definitely not go back to work. However, they can also still expect you to turn up to 'work out' your notice period, that really depends on the employer.

You can speak to the RAV today to get advice if you need to - they normally will give you the advice to maximise your payout from your employer/insurance because it avoids them having to pay you...in the meantime, if you are clear about not being able to return to work from April, then you have a really long time to look for another job.

If you've been in your current position for a long time, you might also be in a bargaining position to demand a slightly bigger redundancy package, or possibly assistance like them paying for sessions with a careers consultant or psychologist, or giving time off work to go to interviews etc.

Personally, I'd be trying to negotiate now, whilst you are either still in the office, or on sick leave, than doing it once the baby comes. I'd be going for the security of knowing what will happen, rather than playing it out to the last minute...

11
"However, the employer can't be seen in any way to interfere in your sick leave or maternity leave, so they may be unwilling to approach you right now because it could look bad for them".

hi swisspea,

what do you mean exactly?

basically i am in the same position, I am due to start back to work imminently and i have been informed that my job will be made redundant in the very near future. I am due to go in to the office whilst still on my maternity leave to clarify matters and to sign that i've been informed of such.

also does anyone know what the position would be if you were pregnant again?

12
DO NOT go in and sign anything to clarify matters, you will be informed (given notice) when you return to work, you cannot be given notice until then. Notice takes effect from the end of the month when it's given, so on Friday you will get an extra months pay.......

13
Sorry - but they can give you notice during your leave if their maternity policy is longer, ie 6 months. If that's the case, legally they could give you your notice after 17 weeks and then tack on your notice period to that. I'm dealing with this same situation and it totally sucks.

14
Well standard maternity leave is 17 weeks, so yes you are correct if you have a generous employer.

15
Source please? All documents I have state it is 14 weeks.

16
The materinity insurance covers 14 weeks. The redundancy protection is 16 weeks.

17
I have, twice for that matter, and twice by the same employer (as in between it changed its mind and kept me), after the maternity leaves ie 14 weeks, legally they can do that. However, you may want to consider to sue them for discrimination under the Gleischstellungsgesetz. You have 3 months to do so after receiving your notice period. Make sure you get/negotiate your reference letter before though.

Re. the unemployment benefits, you can only register to RAV once you have received your notice. and once you have registered, you'll need to look and apply for jobs even during your notice period, otherwise you might get penalized.