The Federal Supreme Court (STF) unanimously decided that the period of maternity leave begins with the mother or newborn’s hospital discharge, whichever happens later. The measure is valid for cases where hospitalization exceeds two weeks.
The action came from the Solidarity party and questioned part of the Consolidation of Labor Laws (CLT) and the law that deals with Social Security benefits. For the party, the “restrictive and literal interpretation of the way in which maternity leave is calculated has substantially reduced the lapse of coexistence between mothers and children and undermines breastfeeding recommended by health authorities”.
In April 2020, minister and rapporteur Edson Fachin granted, through an injunction, the extension of the maternity leave period for mothers and babies who were hospitalized. On Friday (21), the trial was concluded in plenary.
In his opinion, Fachin states that, “contrary to the notion that development and social justice flourish more easily in the midst of the omission of the State, welfare state scholars have demonstrated that redistributive results emerge with the universalization of coverage and not with the its reduction and abatement”.
The CLT guarantees pregnant employees 120 days of maternity leave, without prejudice to employment and salary. The employee must, by means of a medical certificate, notify her employer of the date on which she leaves work, which may occur between the 28th day before delivery and the day of the baby’s birth. Rest periods, before and after childbirth, may be increased by 2 weeks each, subject to a medical certificate.
Approximately 280 thousand babies are born premature in Brazil per year, according to data from the Ministry of Health, and cases of hospitalization for long periods of mothers and babies are “frequent”.
Source: CNN Brasil
