After pregnancy, many women strive to gain strength in order to quickly return to their favorite job, and there is nothing wrong with allowing a grandmother to babysit her beloved grandchildren. The legislation allows pensioners to leave work and officially babysit their grandchildren while their mother continues to pursue a career.
If you have a lot of questions about this seemingly not the most obvious opportunity, and you are thinking about interrupting your protracted maternity leave, this material is for you.
What is maternity period?
Maternity leave to care for a child is a separate type of leave , which is provided to the mother for the period until her baby turns three years old. Do not confuse it with maternity leave, when a woman is just preparing to give birth and is going through the recovery period after childbirth.
In Article 256 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation, which regulates the rights of citizens to leave and designates its terms, there is no such word “maternity leave”; it is rather a popular expression. While the mother is on maternity leave, she is paid benefits, her job and position are retained, and she does not have the right to fire her (read more about providing maternity leave for children up to 1.5 and 3 years old here). This period of non-work is not considered a break in work activity; she can even work part-time or at home without losing benefits.
Any woman can go on maternity leave , and it doesn’t matter whether she works, studies, serves in the army or spends her time at home. It can be used not immediately, but at a time convenient for the parent, or used in parts before the required three years expire (how to apply for an extension of parental leave to 3 years?). Another feature is that close relatives can go on parental leave if the mother can’t wait to return to work, but more on that below.
A mother can always officially go on maternity leave and work part-time or under a civil contract, but in fact the child will be cared for by a non-working grandmother. This way you can receive a small salary and maintain benefits.
It begins as soon as the required days of leave after pregnancy expire, and can last up to three years, at the request of the mother. It is not forbidden to interrupt it earlier (read about how to draw up and submit an application to interrupt parental leave under 3 years old, and from this article you will learn how to apply for early leave from maternity leave). Many people go to work as soon as the child turns one and a half years old , since the state does not pay childcare benefits any further (with the exception of certain categories of low-income people with many children).
If a woman is officially listed as working, then it is better for her to register her leave immediately so as not to miss out on the required benefits.
To take advantage of maternity leave, you need to write an application at work and present the baby’s birth certificate and a certificate from the father’s work (confirms that none of the relatives went on vacation).
Apply for benefits immediately and at the same time. To do this you need to prepare:
- application for benefits;
- birth certificates of other children (if any);
- and a salary certificate for the last two years from two previous places of work.
Read more about how to apply for parental leave for a child up to 1.5 or 3 years old here.
Child care costs amount to 40% of average earnings.
Maternity leave, conditions of provision
In order for the grandmother to take leave for the baby, she must meet the following conditions:
- Working parents of the baby confirm with certificates from their place of work that they do not enjoy the right to maternity leave.
- If a mother interrupts her vacation to take care of the baby, take a document confirming the fact of going to work.
- The grandmother must be officially registered with the employer.
If the grandmother has unemployed status or is an old-age pensioner, maternity leave and all social benefits are provided if:
- missing or deceased parents;
- parents who have been removed from parental rights;
- due to poor health they are not able to raise a child;
- refuse to raise a child.
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Design features: benefits, payments and duration
According to Article 256 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation, anyone who undertakes to care for a child can go on vacation instead of a mother . For this, the degree of relationship is not important, and it is not necessary to live with your parents. The maternity leave can be used in full for up to three years, or you can go on vacation one at a time.
You can take leave for your grandmother if she is officially working. The main feature of registration is to prove that other relatives do not receive child care benefits. Her employer will have to pay the required money in the amount of the same 40% of average earnings until the child turns one and a half years old. Then a small compensation will be awarded.
From January 1, 2020, the maximum benefit amount was set at RUB 27,984. per month.
Even though a working grandmother is retired, her work experience is not interrupted, and she is given a guarantee that she will keep her job while she looks after the baby (we talked in detail about whether parental leave is included in the work and insurance experience). In this article) . The official old-age pension will not disappear either.
A non-working pensioner can also go on maternity leave , but in exceptional cases: if the parents are dead, missing, deprived of parental rights, disabled, incompetent, in prison, or evading raising children. In this case, the benefit will be minimal. To go on maternity leave, she needs to contact the social security authorities.
Under what conditions is parental leave granted to a grandmother?
Leave to care for a child is granted until the child turns 3 years old. This period is taken into account in the general labor and special experience. While the grandmother is looking after the baby, her job is retained if she is employed. After the end of her vacation, she has the right to return to her position under the same conditions without changes. Such guarantees are provided by labor legislation if two conditions are simultaneously met:
1. official employment of the grandmother;
2. The child’s parents do not have the opportunity to care for him due to being busy at work or studying at a university, this applies to both the mother and the father.
Important: the employer does not have the right to refuse to provide benefits related to raising a child to the grandmother due to the employment of the parents, who are obliged to assume responsibilities in connection with raising the child in full.
For the grandmother, all guarantees under labor law that are provided to the mother remain valid:
· unpaid leave upon request at any time without reference to the vacation schedule;
· ban on sending on business trips;
· Overtime work is not allowed, unless consent is obtained;
· it is impossible to force people to go to work on weekends and holidays;
· it will be illegal to engage in the fulfillment of obligations at night.
If the position held by the grandmother is subject to reduction, this will not affect the employee’s ability to go on maternity leave. If the termination of the employment contract did not occur before the announcement of the staff reduction, then it is impossible to fire her.
Storinikova R.E., labor inspector
Important: If two children appear in the family at once, then you can apply for leave for two relatives who contribute funds to the Social Insurance Fund, that is, when working or running a business. Thus, the mother can take a vacation with the grandmother.
How to apply: step-by-step instructions
Let's look at the procedure. How will the grandmother arrange her maternity leave:
- The decision that the mother goes to work, and the grandmother will look after the grandson, is important to think about and discuss with the whole family. If you think that it will be better for your baby, then we begin to arrange a vacation.
- Grandmother collects the entire package of necessary documents (see below).
- Writes an application with all the conditions (see below for the procedure for registration).
- He hands it along with the documents to the boss’s desk.
- After the documents are accepted, an order is issued, on the basis of which the grandmother officially goes on maternity leave.
The employer is obliged to accept the application and begin paying you benefits in the prescribed amount and before the due date. If for some reason the employer refuses to accept your application, then the issue must be resolved in court.
What documents are needed, how to write an application?
To obtain the right to parental leave, the grandmother prepares the following documents:
- application for parental leave (up to 1.5 or up to 3 years);
- a copy of the baby's birth certificate;
- grandmother’s passport and work book;
- certificate confirming employment;
- salary certificate for the last two years;
- documents confirming that other relatives do not receive similar benefits (from work, study, social security, if one of the parents is unemployed).
Sometimes they require confirmation of the degree of relationship. Be aware that the law does not say that it is mandatory to provide such a certificate, so you are not required to prove family ties (see paragraph 6 of Article 13 of Law No. 255-FZ).
The vacation application is written in any form . Ask for the form in the HR department or in the accounting department (you can find it on the Internet or even write it by hand). The text should indicate:
- name of the organization, full name of the head;
- Full name and position of the applicant;
- purpose of the application (request to provide parental leave for up to 1.5/3 years);
- mark the start and end date of the vacation;
- Full name, date of birth of the child;
- request to assign benefits and compensation (you can write immediately, or you can make a separate application);
- list of attached documents;
- date, signature and transcript of the surname.
Procedure for applying for parental leave for a grandmother
The application for leave is submitted with supporting documentation at the grandmother’s place of work. The petition indicates the dates of going on parental leave and its termination. If you plan to stay with the child until he reaches 3 years old, this must also be indicated in the notice. It is also possible to receive a transfer to remote work or be employed part-time. The work schedule will not affect the payment of social benefits in any way.
This is important to know: How is unpaid leave paid upon dismissal?
The mother has the right to go on maternity leave several times during different periods for 3 years; she cannot be limited in this opportunity. The grandmother must go to work if the mother is temporarily looking after the children. The employer does not have the right to prevent the employee from being sent on leave again.
Ramentsev R.L., employee of the personnel department of the enterprise
After receiving the application, the employer issues a leave order and transfers it to the accounting department to assign benefits and attach documents to the personal file. If the grandmother works, then only income for the last 2 years is taken into account for the calculation. The size of pension payments does not matter.
Who else can take on such a responsibility?
According to the same article. 256 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation, any family member can go on parental leave:
- mother;
- father;
- grandmother;
- grandfather;
- another relative or guardian who will actually care for the child.
You can transfer your vacation to another family member at any time and several times. The law does not provide any restrictions until the child is three years old.
That's all you need to know about maternity leave for your grandmother. If she doesn’t mind taking a break, then this is an excellent opportunity for the mother to return to work earlier, for the child to spend more time with his beloved grandmother, and for the whole family not to lose the right to benefits.
Is it possible to put my grandmother on maternity leave?
Everyone is already accustomed to the fact that a mother is entitled to leave during which she takes care of her baby. You can stay at home until your son or daughter is three years old.
The mother of a small child often comes to the conclusion that if she did not sit at home, but worked, the family would be provided with benefits and money. The question arises: with whom to leave the baby. Hire a nanny and pay her a salary? After this, there is not as much money left as you dreamed.
Grandparents work and dad too, but there is a way out. Article No. 256 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation states that an officially employed grandmother, father or grandfather of a child can replace the mother when caring for the child.
