A female employee is on maternity leave. In period of her absence a new worker is employed in her working position. How the labour relationships with a woman on maternity leave andemployee in her position should be registered officially. And how an employee in position of a woman on maternity leave should be legally fired, − in the following.
Official registration of maternity leave
Official registration of maternity leave is carried out on the basis of sick leave certificate. If a woman wants to go on such a vacation later than period specified in her sick leave certificate, she should submit an application indicating the date when she will go on maternity leave. In this case she loses a part of maternity benefits. It is not allowed to go on maternity leave earlier than period specified in her sick leave certificate. However, it is possible use the right to annual leave.
On the basis of submitted documents, the management issues the corresponding order, and accounting department calculates maternity benefits and provides an application to the Social Insurance Fund on temporary disability, on basis of which the Fund transfers maternity benefits for female employee.
In order to go on maternity leave, it is needed an application of a woman for whom such parental leave is provided. An order is issued in the company on the basis of this document.
If the employee wishes to get back from such a leave, she has the right to submit relevant application to the company at any time and starts working from the date specified therein.
Hiring and firing of a temporary employee
A new employee should be registered officially with taking into account the current legislation mentioned above.
Therefore, in the period when a woman on maternity leave, an employer has the right to employ another worker in order to fill temporarily position before the actual return to work of a woman, who is on maternity leave. Therefore, a fixed-term contract of employment should be concluded with such an employee (Art.23 of the Labour Code, hereinafter − Labor Code).
Employees who work on fixed-term contracts have the same rights as those who are employed under the terms of indefinite contracts. It means that they have the right to claim the vacation, temporary disability benefits, social guarantees and privileges established by the collective agreement and the law, etc. in a general manner.
Such an employee should be registered officially according to the staffing schedule approved by the company, and the official salary, defined by the staffing schedule. That is, for the employee the salary cannot be set different than the one that determined by staffing schedule for the position.
Procedure for official registration of labor relations under fixed-term employment contract is the same as the indefinite. But certain nuances below should be considered.
A temporary employee should indicate the urgency of the labour relationships in the application provided to the company for hiring. Moreover, the wording should be clear to avoid misunderstandings when dismissing due to the fact of getting back a woman from the maternity leave. For example: “Please, accept me for employment as an accountant under the fixed-term contract for a period of maternity leave of Bura M.P. the accountant until the day of her actual getting back from the maternity leave”.
Based on the application, the company should issue the order on employment under the fixed-term contract, in which should be necessary indicated: “Accept before the actual fact of getting back of main employee to work”. For example: “Accept Bila V.D. for the position of accountant under the fixed-term employment contract from 01.03.2016 with a salary according to the staffing schedule for the period of maternity leave of Bura M.P. until the day of her actual getting back from the maternity leave”.
This wording gives the right to the employer to dismiss the employee, accepted under the fixed-term employment contract, in case if the woman on maternity leave at her wish gets back to work earlier than her child reaches three years old.
An entry should be in the work book of a new employee on the basis of the order. Recording about the urgent character of the employment contract in the workbook should not be entered.
In case of dismissal, the employee should not apply for the dismissal, and the employer is not obliged to notify him/her about the dismissal, because the employee gave his/her agreement to conclude the fixed-term employment contract.
The dismissal is prepared by the order, the wording of which, for example, could be: “Dismiss Bila V.D. the accountant from 01.05.2016 due to the expiry of fixed-term employment contract (para.2 of Art.36 of Labour Code)”.
The record about the dismissal also indicates the established terms of the employment contract: “Dismissed due to the expiration of the employment contract, para.2 of Art.36 of Labour Code”.
