Pregnancy and working

• Night work and overtime are prohibited.
• The law provides for maternity leave and removal from work (if working conditions pose health risks).

If the work situation poses health risks for you or your child, the occupational physician may decide that you are no longer allowed to work in those circumstances.

The employer must check whether alternative employment without health risks is possible. If that is not the case, you must stop the work completely.

Work removal is possible both during pregnancy and after birth (up to a maximum of five months after delivery). Its duration is determined by the occupational physician.

You have to deliver CM:

• a certificate completed by the employer;
• a certificate from the occupational physician regarding the decision to commit compulsory removal from work (both in the case of removal from work during pregnancy and after birth);
• a medical certificate drawn up by your doctor with the expected date of delivery and, if applicable, the statement that it concerns a multiple pregnancy (only in case of absence from work during pregnancy).

You will receive:

• an information sheet: complete it as quickly as possible and submit it to CM. Your employer receives the request for salary data directly from CM. In the event of unemployment, the unemployment service provides the data.
• proof of return to work: return it completed to CM within 8 days after the end of work removal.

If the occupational physician does not allow you to resume work because you are breastfeeding , you fall under the work removal scheme and therefore receive a benefit from CM, also known as breastfeeding leave .

If you decide to stay at home to breastfeed, you are not entitled to a refund from CM. In this case, you stay at home without pay or you can fall back on a time credit system, which can be applied for through the RVA and the unemployment institutions.

A period of work removal can only be granted if there is a contract between employer and employee. If the contract is terminated , the removal of work and therefore also the benefits from CM automatically come to an end. If you have no other job, you must register with an unemployment institution in order to have a replacement income.

The situations below involve partial work removal .

• You work for 1 employer and are assigned alternative work or you are only allowed to continue part of your regular work, which means you suffer a loss of wages.
• You work for 2 employers: at one you have to stop work because it poses risks to you and your child; with the other you can continue working because there are no health risks.
• As an employee, you also have an independent activity, but you have to stop work because it poses risks to you and your child. If you wish to continue your self-employed activity, you must send an application form to CM's consulting physician to request permission.

As a pregnant employee, you may, with full pay, be absent from work to have pregnancy examinations carried out. This provided that:

• the investigations cannot take place outside working hours;
• the employer has been informed in advance;
• a medical certificate confirms the absence.