Maternity leave (RA 11210)

How it works

RA 11210 covers female workers regardless of status. Qualification for the SSS cash benefit is contribution history: at least three monthly contributions in the 12 months before the semester of the contingency, not a one-year service anniversary. The employer advances the benefit and SSS reimburses. The salary differential between actual pay and the SSS cap is the employer’s problem. An optional 30 unpaid days can follow. Up to seven days may transfer to the father. Notice the pregnancy to the employer so SSS paperwork can move. For a U.S. company hiring one Filipino teammate, write this into the brief, the employment contract, and the peso payroll file before the start date. Slack habits do not override the Labor Code, BIR, or NPC. If the local employer of record holds the paper, they run the statutory step; you still owe a clean operating definition so the seat does not fail in week three. Put a number on the example when you budget loaded cost, because a nameless allowance always returns as a December surprise or a missed SLA.

Example: live birth, ADSC × 105 paid by SSS reimbursement. If monthly basic is ₱70,000 and the maternity circular still caps the salary-credit math below that, the company funds the gap for 105 days. Budget the differential when you hire women of childbearing age, which is most teams.

How it differs

Paternity leave is RA 8187’s seven days for a married father on the first four deliveries. Solo parent leave is a different statute. SIL is five days after a year.

Common errors

Ending a probationary seat because of pregnancy. Refusing the differential because ‘SSS should cover it.’