Anyone with knowledge of maternity rights in france (especially for teachers due just before the summer hols)

[estya]

My brother and his wife (who is a teacher) are expecting their first on 27th june. Money is tight for them so they can only afford for my SIL to take the paid time off. They tell me that she has to return to work after the normal summer hols end, about 8th sept, i think.
I have seen that she is entitled to 6 weeks before the birth (she is struggling with pregnancy symptoms so i doubt her doc will authorise a transfer any of this to after the birth), and 10 after the birth. And because the baby is due the last week of term, she'll have to start her mat leave so she isn't able to postpone any of it until the holiday ends.

It all sounds pretty rubbish, really. I wouldn't have expected teachers and their families to be treated so badly. Especially in france TBH.

Will she receive double pay (ie mat pay and her normal income) throughout the summer holiday period?
She tells me that she can't take any longer off. I think this is for financial reasons so I don't want to press to hard for details (which is why i'm, asking you guys). What are the income implications of taking longer? ie, in the uk we get about £125/week (taxed!), would she get a similar statutory basic payment or is it basically totally unpaid?

I'm hoping you'll say she can expect normal pay as well as maternity over the summer, in which case i'll suggest that they use this money to fund a further 6/8 weeks off.

so they only get 16 weeks in france?

Apparently.
I expect they can take more at a reduced payment, or perhaps unpaid? Here we only get 6 weeks at 90%, but then carry on at £125/week.
But I'm thinking that my SIL considers she has to go back because she can't afford not to.
I'm hoping that someone will say she is allowed to take a few more weeks. And that she will get her maternity pay on top of her normal income throughout the summer (as her contract says she is employed sept to end june, pay divided into 12 payments)

i'm not sure how it works in france but when i was pregnant i got 3 months half pay (employment pay) on top of maternity but most people i know who were lucky to get full pay did not get maternity pay aswell as i think its designed to supplement -not to increase above what you would have got normally - but may be different in france

that was when pregnant in uk by the way!

State maternity leave is 16 weeks regardless of your profession. She is being treated like the majority of French employed mothers.

I was signed off 6 weeks before my due date but actually baby was 3 weeks early so I got 13 week afterwards.

I would have thought that she isn't allowed to take any more time off for maternity leave. , especially if she works as a teacher for the state 'education nationale'. The money you receive while on mat leave is paid by the social security (not the employer).

After that may be able to can take 'congé parental' up until her child is 3 which is basically putting her job on hold. She may or may not be entitled to any benefits during this period. I was but even so it wasn't as much as my part time job earns.

"Will she receive double pay (ie mat pay and her normal income) throughout the summer holiday period?" Good question! I currently work with a woman who was a teacher when she had her babies so will ask her if she knows today.

France is very keen for people to have children but they are also keen for mothers to return to work so the 16 week makes sense from the national policy pov. Childcare costs are low. I found it pro-families but necessarily pro-mothers IYSWIM.

If she wants to continue BF, her employer has to provide her with a private space to express her milk. If she can get a CM near the school, she would be able to pop over in breaks between lessons.

I work for the education nationale - 16 weeks on full pay, not double but not reduced mat pay either.

If she's ill before the 6 weeks she can be signed off sick and it's very easy for teachers to get this (although I in fact have worked up til 37 weeks and only just started ML). If she's really not ready to return to work (for a medical or psychological reason) afterwards you can get 4 weeks additional sick leave. You can also take a small amount of congé parental but that's paid at something like 500?/month, however if you're paying childcare that may not be a huge financial blow. Tell her to investigate that with the CAF.

She is entitled to a BFing break at school if her childcarer can bring the child to her or possibly to leave for 1 hour and that break in the day is unpaid. Not entirely sure how that works with teachers as in whether the employer dictates when it is to fit around their needs or not.

It isn't particularly family friendly, although congé parental can be taken by either parent and many teachers I know seem to time their babies to benefit from holidays at the end of their ML! Disproportionate amounts born in April/May and also in January (but that may be so they're the oldest in the class ).

wow can't believe a country like france only offers 16 weeks!!! I thought they were all for the 'family' - 16 weeks is shocking, especially as its 9 months paid here and up to 15 months unpaid! (if you add on parental leave that is).

I just spoke to my colleague who had 3 children whilst employed by 'education nationale'. She said that most teachers avoid June babies if possible because the "congé maternité" coincides with the school hols. Her youngest is 9 so her info may be a bit out of date but she said there wouldn't be any pay on top of the salary during July and August.

SnapFrakkle sounds like you timed it right!

KitKat, it is a family friendly country but they don't believe that mother being at home for 9 months after the baby is born is essential.

I also work for Education Nat, and can confirm.
Maternity leave pay is just normal pay. After ML your only option is congé parentale, but the grant the CAF give you does not, by any stretch of the imagination, make up for loss of earnings. I think it's about 500 euros, as someone said.
Teachers' pay here is comparatively pretty low - they are the social group whose standard of living and social status has dropped most dramatically over the last 3 decades, according to a study I once read - so it is unusual for teachers to have savings enough to allow them to take congé parentale.
If her doctor is sympathetic, she can ask for an extra 2wks for BFing, which many GPs sign you off for as sick leave, I believe.

I had DS1 in March and DS2 in April, and in both cases that fitted in perfectly with the end of the semester, so I got July and Aug as unofficial extra ML (though I had to juggle to prepare all my new courses for the end of Aug). I could in theory have been asked to come in for invigilation and marking when the babies were 6wks old, but was lucky to have sympathetic heads of dept at the time.

Thanks for your replies everyone. I am quite shocked at the thought of her going back so early. In the UK we wouldn't even find childcare for babies at that age. And its such a pity that it feels like she is 'loosing' the summer holiday, but i guess thats just bad luck the way the dates fall.

Most of us in the UK only get 6 weeks at 90% money, then get £125/week (taxed) for the rest of 9 months - so similar to the e500/month - although teachers are public sector so probably get a bit more.
But for some reason i don't associate that with when i have to go back to work.

So it seems they aren't as hard done by as it seems on face value - sounds like its quite normal in france.

Thanks everyone.

etsya you would find it. CMs and nannies will take tiny, tiny babies and nurseries from 6 weeks.

Don't forget the system is set up so that going back when baby is 10 weeks old is the norm. At all my ante-natal classes there's been advice about what to do if you're going back earlier than 10 weeks and putting your baby into a crèche, finding childcare before baby is born etc

I would say it's structured around a 35 hour work week as well but when it comes to teachers that's not really that true!

It isn't so very long ago that UK ml was similar 3 months smp was still the norm when I had ds and you were due back by 6. It always amazes me how people are so quick to assume that UK employment rights - ie ml, holiday and benefits - are less generous than in either European countries or US.

Also, ime the childcare is brilliant, and is set up for even tiny babies (whether or not you agree with the Mum going back to work is a whole other subject!) When I had DS2 in France, the midwives were explaining the hospital creche facility for staff, which accepted babies (day & night) from six weeks...