Question

Dear HR professionals,

I would like to know what should be done when staff is going on maternity leave and her contracts ends do we extend her contract while on leave automatically.

Thanks

PO

Reply 1

For contract expiry, the common practice will be to communicate with the employee in advance based on the notice period in the contract to discuss whether a not the contract is to be extended.
Should the staff’s contract expires during maternity leave, her maternity benefits will be paid up to the last day of work and it is up to mutual agreement between employer and employee to decide if this contract is to be automatically renewed.

Zax

Reply 2

Based on your question, I assume the employee is on fixed term contract and the contract ends before she fully utilizes her maternity leave entitlement. My understanding is that after the contract ends, you will not pay her anymore salary and therefore she is no longer entitled to her unused maternity leave. In this case, based on goodwill and mutual agreement, the contract may be extended to cover the unused maternity leave.

AL