Managing Maternity & Paternity Leave in Morocco: What Employers Must Know

Managing the touchy subject of maternity and paternity leave in a foreign country is far from a straightforward task.

To help you better understand how maternity and paternity leave play out in Morocco, our experts have compiled this simple guide:

Maternity leave in Morocco

Duration of maternity leave and work during pregnancy

A pregnant employee is entitled to 14 weeks’ fully paid maternity leave, once the pregnancy has been confirmed by a medical certificate. If more advantageous terms are set out in her employment contract, a collective agreement or the company’s internal regulations, she is entitled to those.

The employee has the right to suspend the employment contract for a period of 7 weeks before the expected date of childbirth and ending 7 weeks after that date.

Employers may not ask female employees who have given birth to work during the 7 consecutive weeks following childbirth.

The employer must ensure that the work assigned to the employee is lightened during the period immediately before and after childbirth.

Medical conditions and extended maternity leave in Morocco

If a medical condition, certified by a doctor’s note as being a result of pregnancy or childbirth, requires for a longer contract suspension/maternity leave period, the maternity leave is duly extended. However, the extension of that contract suspension cannot exceed 8 weeks before the expected date of childbirth and 14 weeks after that date.

When childbirth occurs before the due date, the period of contract suspension can be extended until the employee has exhausted the 14 weeks of contract suspension to which she is entitled.

An employee who gives birth before her due date must notify her employer, by registered letter with return receipt, of the reason for her absence and the date on which she intends to return to work.

Post-childbirth period in Morocco

An employed mother can choose not to return to work at the end of the 7-week period/14-week period following childbirth so she can raise her child.

However, she must notify her employer of her intentions at least 15 days before the end of the maternity leave period. In this case, the suspension of the contract may not go over 90 days.

Unpaid maternity leave in Morocco

An employed mother can, with her employer’s consent, take one year of unpaid leave to raise her child. Once she returns to work, her employer must return her original position to her. She should then be entitled to the benefits she had prior to the suspension of her contract.

Resignation

The employed mother may also choose not to return to work.

In this case, she must send a registered letter with return receipt to her employer at least 15 days before the end of the suspension period of her contract, to notify them. Importantly, an employee in this position may resign without observing the notice period or paying compensation for termination of her employment contract.

An employee whose pregnancy is certified by a medical certificate may also leave her job without notice and without having to pay compensation in lieu of notice or for termination of the contract.

Terminating pregnant employees in Morocco

An employer may not terminate the employment contract of an employee who is pregnant, as certified by a medical certificate, during the period of pregnancy and during the 14 weeks following childbirth.

The employer may also not terminate an employee’s employment contract during the period of suspension resulting from a medical condition certified by a medical certificate and arising from pregnancy or childbirth.

However, provided that the termination is not notified or does not take effect during the period of suspension of the contract, the employer can terminate the contract if there is serious misconduct or other legal reasons behind the decision.

 

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Terminating a pregnant employee before knowing of her pregnancy

If a notice of termination is given to the employee before she provides a medical certificate ascertaining her pregnancy, she may, within 15 days of receiving the notice of termination, provide proof of her condition by sending a medical certificate to the employer via registered mail with return receipt requested.

In this specific case, the termination would be nullified.

However, this does not apply for fixed-term employment contracts.

Breastfeeding breaks in Morocco

During a period of 12 months beginning on the date of her return-to-work following childbirth, an employed mother is entitled daily to a special break for breastfeeding. This pause is paid as working time.

It lasts for half an hour in the morning and half an hour in the afternoon.

This time is separate from the rest periods applied within the company. The employed mother may, with her employer’s consent, take the time set aside for breastfeeding at any time during working days.

If a company employs at least 50 female employees over the age of 16, they must provide a breastfeeding room on premises or in the immediate vicinity.

Breastfeeding rooms and childcare in Morocco

Breastfeeding rooms may also serve as daycare facilities for the children of employees working at the company. The conditions for admitting children, the requirements for breastfeeding rooms, and the conditions regarding supervision and hygiene facilities in these rooms are established by the government authority responsible for labour.

Several neighbouring businesses in a specific area may contribute to the creation of a daycare centre established in accordance with the appropriate conditions.

Paternity leave in Morocco

Every male employee is entitled to 3 days’ leave on the occasion of the birth of their legally acknowledged children.

These 3 days can be taken consecutively or non-consecutively, depending on the agreement between the employer and the employee.

However, these 3 days of leave must be taken within one month of the date of birth.

 Where the birth takes place during a period of rest for the employee (because of paid annual leave, sickness or an accident of any kind), the employee is still entitled to 3 days of paternity leave. This means that their current leave period will be extended by the 3 paternity leave days.

Paternity pay in Morocco

This leave is 100% remunerated, at the rate of the employee’s normal working rate.

This allowance is paid to the employee by the employer in the pay packet immediately following the employer’s submission of the birth certificate issued by the registrar.

The employer is reimbursed for this allowance by the National Social Security Fund up to the amount of the monthly contributions paid to said fund.