Multiple pregnancies

If you are expecting twins or other multiples, you may stop working sooner. You may then take maternity leave eight to ten weeks before your due date. If you stop working ten weeks before your due date, you will have ten more weeks of leave after you have given births. If you stop working eight weeks before your due date, you will have 12 more weeks of leave after you have given birth.

Notify work that you are pregnant

It is up to you to decide when to inform your manager that you are pregnant. However, it is your statutory duty to notify your manager no later than three weeks before you wish to take maternity leave. We would prefer you to notify us sooner, because this gives us enough time to make arrangements for during your absence.

Request maternity leave via the Service Portal, so that the Service Point Personnel can apply for maternity benefits from the UWV. For instruction please read this Knowledge Item.

Notify your manager of your absence on the first day of your maternity leave and again when you resume work. Notify the Service Point Personnel when you have given birth.

Spreading your last weeks of maternity leave

From six weeks after you have given birth, you can spread the remaining maternity leave over 30 weeks. Discuss this with your manager and submit your request to the Service Point Personnel within three weeks of giving birth. The total duration of the leave does not change.

Illness during pregnancy or after giving birth

If you fall ill and this is related to your pregnancy or the birth, notify the Service Point Personnel as soon as possible but within no more than three working days of falling ill. If we are late in informing the UWV that you are suffering from pregnancy-related symptoms, the UWV will fine us. If you have indicated that you want your maternity leave to start four weeks before your due date but you fall ill within six weeks of your due date, the day on which you report sick counts as the start of your maternity leave.

If you have a multiple pregnancy, the same applies, except that this concerns the period of eight to ten weeks before your due date. If you want to take leave eight weeks before your due date, but fall ill ten weeks before your due date, the day on which you report sick counts as the start of your maternity leave.

If you fall ill during maternity leave, the maternity leave continues as usual. Your leave will therefore not be extended by the number of days that you have been sick. If you are unable to work after your maternity leave ends, you must report sick following the usual procedure.

Extended maternity leave if your baby is admitted to hospital

If your baby is admitted to hospital for a longer period of time, you may be entitled to extra maternity leave. This gives you the opportunity to care for your child at home for a number of weeks. For an extension of the maternity leave, you will not be given extra leave for the 1st week that your baby was in hospital. Depending on the situation, you can get a maximum of 10 weeks extra maternity leave. Check the website of the UWV on how to calculate this extra maternity leave.