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Maternity allowance is payable to pregnant employed women, pregnant
self-employed insured women and pregnant women who are working abroad for
Cypriot employers and are voluntary contributors, and also to any woman who
adopts a child which has not reached the age of 12 or whose husband adopts such
a child.
Conditions:
- the insured woman must be on maternity leave and not receiving the full
amount of her salary or wage from her employer,
- at least 26 weeks must have passed between the day on which the woman
became insured and the week in which her maternity leave began,
- insurable earnings totalling not less than 20 times the weekly basic
insurable earnings amount must have been paid or credited to the woman in
the previous contributions year.
An insured woman is entitled to maternity allowance for 16 weeks, commencing
from any week between the sixth and second week before the week in which she
expects to give birth. If the birth occurs after the week in which it was
expected, the period of 16 weeks is increased accordingly. If the application is
submitted after the birth, the period of 16 weeks is fixed on the basis of the
date of the birth instead of on the basis of the expected date of the birth.
In the case of adoption, the insured woman is entitled to maternity allowance
for 14 weeks commencing from the week of the adoption.
The amount of the maternity allowance is determined on the basis of the
weekly average of the insured woman’s paid and credited insurable earnings in
the previous contributions year. Maternity allowance is made up of a basic
allowance and a supplementary allowance.
In order to be paid maternity allowance the insured woman must submit a claim
on a special form which can be obtained from any social insurance office and
from the website of the Social Insurance Service.
Text last edited on: 12/2007
Source: European Union
© European Communities, 1995-2008
Reproduction is authorised.
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