Maternity protection law in Germany explained

If you work in Germany and expect a child, the Maternity Protection Act (Mutterschutzgesetz) protects your health, income, and job. It prevents dismissal during pregnancy and the postpartum period. You do not work in the last six weeks before birth and eight weeks after, while maternity allowance and employer supplements keep your net income largely unchanged. This article explains your rights under German maternity law clearly and simply.

Who is protected by the Maternity Protection Act?

• The Maternity Protection Act protects the health of pregnant and breastfeeding women and their children at work, in training, or at university.
• Women can continue working without health risks or disadvantages.
• Applies not only to employees but also to:
  • Trainees / vocational students
  • Interns
  • Employee-like individuals
  • Schoolgirls and university students (in certain cases)

When does the protection of the Maternity Protection Act begin?

Maternity protection begins as soon as you are pregnant. Notify your employer immediately when you learn of your pregnancy and your expected delivery date. If you are breastfeeding, inform your employer as early as possible, § 15 MuSchG.

Checklist:

• Notify your employer immediately
• Submit a doctor’s or midwife’s certificate
• Keep a copy for yourself
• Ask HR about additional steps or forms

What are the protection periods before and after childbirth?

Before childbirth:

A pregnant woman may not be employed in the last six weeks before childbirth. However, she can expressly declare her willingness to work. This declaration can be revoked at any time.

The expected date of childbirth is decisive for calculating the protection period before childbirth. Your respective health insurance funds offer period calculators for this purpose, e.g. (in German only) the AOK period calculator & period calendar | AOK employer service or DAK: period calculator maternity protection (dak.de)

After childbirth:

The employer may not employ a woman for a period of eight weeks after childbirth. The protection period after childbirth can be extended to twelve weeks:

• in the case of premature births,
• in the case of multiple births and
• if a disability is medically diagnosed in the child before eight weeks after the birth.

If a woman delivers early, the law extends her postnatal protection period by the days that shortened her prenatal protection period.

What protection do you have with regard to working hours during pregnancy?

Special working time rules during pregnancy:

• Max 8.5h/day (8h if under 18)
• No overtime, add hours from other jobs
• Minimum 11h rest after work
• No night work (8 p.m.–6 a.m.), limited exceptions
• No work on Sundays/public holidays unless consent given
• Time off for medical exams and breastfeeding

These regulations are intended to ensure that pregnant and breastfeeding women are not overburdened.

If your work involves overtime, night shifts, or physical strain, request a written adjustment plan from your employer. Document all agreements

No overtime

• Pregnant and breastfeeding employees may not work more than 8.5 hours per day; for employees under 18, the limit is 8 hours per day.
• Working hours from multiple employers are added together.
• After finishing work, an uninterrupted rest period of at least 11 hours is mandatory.¹

No night work

• Employment between 8 p.m. and 6 a.m. is generally prohibited for pregnant and breastfeeding women
• Limited exceptions exist, for example, if the competent authority approves work between 8 p.m. and 10 p.m. under specific conditions.²

No work on Sundays or public holidays

• The employer may not employ a pregnant or breastfeeding woman on Sundays or public holidays. There are statutory exceptions to this rule, for example, if the woman has given her explicit consent and other requirements are met.³

Time off for examinations and breastfeeding

• The employer must release a woman from work for the time necessary to undergo examinations within the framework of statutory health insurance in the case of pregnancy and motherhood. This also applies to women who are not covered by statutory health insurance.
• The employer must release a breastfeeding woman at her request during the first twelve months after childbirth for the time necessary for breastfeeding, but at least twice a day for half an hour or once a day for an hour.⁴

Employers must carry out risk assessment

The employer must carry out a risk assessment after being notified of the pregnancy. In doing so, the employer is obliged to

• Organise the working conditions so that they avoid health risks to a pregnant or breastfeeding woman and her child as much as possible and eliminate all ‘unjustifiable risks’.
• The employer must assess the risks for each activity according to type, extent, and duration. They must decide whether (1) no protective measures, (2) a reorganisation of the working conditions or (3) a continuation of the activity at this workplace is possible.
• The employer must observe a specific order of priority: first, the reorganisation of the working conditions, then a change of workplace, and finally a ban on employment.
• The employer must offer the woman a meeting to discuss the risk assessment.

NOTE: You can discuss any questions you may have with the works council, the company doctor or the occupational safety specialist.

Which activities are not allowed for pregnant and breastfeeding women?

The Maternity Protection Act lists many activities that pregnant and breastfeeding women must not perform. They must not carry out work that:

• with certain hazardous substances or biological substances.
• in a job that exposes the woman to physical, mechanical, or other harmful effects.

Medical prohibition of employment

If a medical certificate shows that continuing to work would endanger her health or that of her child, the employer must not employ a pregnant woman. You can find more details on this in our article ‘Employment ban during pregnancy’.

Protection of the workplace during pregnancy

The law prohibits an employer from terminating a woman’s employment (whether ordinary, extraordinary, or with altered conditions of employment) under the following conditions:

• Termination during pregnancy
• Dismissal up to four months after a miscarriage after the 12th week of pregnancy
• Dismissal up to the end of her maternity leave after childbirth (but at least up to four months after the birth)

The employee must inform the employer within two weeks of the dismissal if the employer did not know about it at the time, and the employer must take this into account. However, in special cases, the competent authority may exceptionally declare the dismissal to be permissible.

Nevertheless, the three-week deadline for filing a complaint must be observed

If you receive an ‘obviously’ unlawful dismissal during your pregnancy, the three-week deadline still applies, during which you must file a complaint with the labour court after receiving the dismissal. If you miss this deadline, the dismissal is considered effective after the deadline has expired. You can find more information in our article on the Unfair Dismissals Protection Act.

Financial benefits during and after pregnancy

If an employment ban prevents a woman from working, the employer pays maternity pay under Section 18 MuSchG, based on her average earnings before pregnancy. This maternity pay differs from the maternity allowance, which the employer and health insurance fund pay only during the protected periods (six weeks before and eight weeks after the birth).

What is the maternity allowance and when is it paid?

A woman with statutory health insurance receives maternity pay during the protected periods (6 weeks before and 8 weeks after birth) and on the day of birth.

• If you are in employment at the time of the protected periods, you will receive maternity pay.
• The maternity pay is calculated according to the average net earnings per calendar day. However, you can only receive a maximum of €13.00 per calendar day.
• You will receive the maternity allowance for the entire period of the protected periods, even if the protected periods are extended.
• Your health insurance fund pays the maternity allowance.

Procedure for applying for a maternity allowance

To apply for a maternity allowance, proceed as follows:

• You will need a certificate with the expected date of birth, issued by your doctor or midwife.
• Contact your respective health insurance company to find out what other requirements you need to meet. You should also clarify which documents you will need to submit after the birth.
• Send the required documents to your health insurance company. They will check your entitlement and contact you or your employer for any other necessary information.
• The health insurance fund pays you maternity benefit from the beginning of the protection period until the expected date of delivery.
• After the birth, the health insurance fund requires the birth certificate and, in the case of premature births, further medical certificates. It is advisable to clarify all of this in advance.
• You remain insured during the protected periods.
• Further information for the AOK (only in German): Maternity pay: What you should know | AOK
• Further information for the DAK (only in German): Maternity pay (dak.de)

Special case: private insurance

A woman without statutory health insurance receives federally funded maternity pay during the protection periods and on delivery day. This amounts to a maximum of €210. To receive this, you must submit an application to the Federal Office for Social Security. You can find more information and contact details here: Frequently Asked Questions – www.bundesamtsozialesicherung.de

What is the maternity pay supplement and who pays it?

The emplyoer pays the maternity pay supplement under Section 20 MuSchG. This supplement is the difference between 13 euros (from the health insurance fund) and the average net earnings per calendar day of the last three calendar months before the start of the period of protection before the birth. The allowance is paid for the duration of the protection periods, which also applies to extended deadlines. More information:

• for AOK: Maternity pay employer allowance | AOK employer service
• for DAK: Entitlement to maternity pay from the employer (dak.de)

Maternity protection and transition to parental leave

The transition from maternity to parental leave is crucial for young families. This section explains when each phase begins and ends, which working time rules apply, and how maternity and parental benefits work.

When does maternity leave end and when does parental leave begin?

The maternity leave period after the birth lasts eight weeks (12 weeks if there are grounds for an extension). During this time, there is an absolute ban on employment. It is not possible to earn additional income during this time. After the 8 or 12 weeks have expired, parental leave can begin. The Federal Parental Allowance and Parental Leave Act (BEEG) allows you to work up to 32 hours per week on average each month.

Is the period of maternity leave credited towards the duration of parental leave?

How do the financial benefits in maternity protection and parental leave relate to each other?

If the mother immediately begins parental leave after the maternity protection period, the law credits the 8 weeks of maternity protection toward her parental leave.

The two benefits are not paid at the same time. If the mother takes parental leave immediately after the maternity protection period, the following applies:

• The maternity allowance is fully credited to the parental allowance, Section 3 of the Federal Parental Allowance and Parental Leave Act (Bundeselterngeld- und Elternzeitgesetz BEEG). Reason: The maternity benefits and the parental allowance have the same purpose. They compensate for the loss of income after the birth.
• Result: If the maternity benefits are higher than the parental allowance, you will only receive the maternity benefits. If the parental allowance is higher, you will receive the difference in the form of a parental allowance in addition to the maternity benefits.
• Further information: Parental Allowance and Parental Leave brochure from the Federal Ministry for Family Affairs: Parental Allowance and Parental Leave (bmfsfj.de) This also applies if you are already on parental leave with another child and are expecting another child.
• If you have private insurance, you are not entitled to maternity pay. You will only receive a one-off reduced maternity allowance of €210 from the Ministry of Social Security (BAS). This is not deducted from the parental allowance.

Frequently asked questions (FAQs)

1. § 4 MuSchG ↩︎
2. § 5 MuSchG ↩︎
3. § 6 MuSchG ↩︎
4. § 7 MuSchG ↩︎
5. BAG 2 AZR 156/24 (2025) ↩︎