What are the maternity and paternity leave rules in Gibraltar?

Short answer

Pregnant employees in Gibraltar are entitled to 14 weeks' statutory maternity leave and may qualify for a government Maternity Allowance for up to 18 weeks. There is no statutory paternity leave, although parents with a year's service can take unpaid parental leave.

Detailed answer

This is not legal advice. It is provided for information purposes only and you should not rely on it without taking legal advice.

Legal basis

The rules are in the Employment (Maternity and Parental Leave, and Health and Safety) Regulations 1996. Maternity Allowance and the Maternity Grant are paid by the Department of Social Security.

Maternity leave

Pregnant employees are entitled to 14 weeks' statutory maternity leave, with no minimum service requirement. Leave starts on the date you notify your employer (no earlier than the 11th week before the expected week of childbirth), or earlier if you are off work because of pregnancy after the start of the 6th week before that week. You cannot work for the first two weeks after giving birth. Once you have notified your employer in writing, you are entitled to paid time off for antenatal examinations.

Right to return

If you have at least one year of continuous service by the start of the 11th week before your expected week of childbirth, you can return to work at any time up to 29 weeks after the beginning of the week of the birth. During leave your terms and conditions, apart from pay, continue.

Maternity Allowance and Grant

Employers have no legal duty to pay maternity pay. Eligible mothers may receive Maternity Allowance from the Department of Social Security for up to 18 weeks. You need at least 26 weeks of contributions as an employed person in the 52 weeks ending with the 15th week before the expected week of confinement, and you must have taken maternity leave. Self-employed mothers need 26 weeks of self-employed contributions plus 26 weeks of additional voluntary contributions in the same period. Claim from 11 weeks before the expected week of birth and no later than six months after starting maternity leave. The Department's maternity guide gives the rate as £87.64 a week.

A Maternity Grant of £700 per child is also payable if the contribution conditions are met; it can be claimed from nine weeks before the expected week of birth.

Health and safety

If a legal requirement means you should not do your normal work because you are pregnant, have recently given birth or are breastfeeding, your employer must offer suitable alternative work. If none is available, you are suspended on maternity grounds and paid a week's pay for each week of suspension.

Paternity leave

There is no statutory paternity leave. Public sector fathers receive ten paid working days; private sector employers set their own policies. Shared parental leave has been under consideration since 2019 but has not been legislated.

Parental and family leave

• Up to four months' unpaid parental leave per child after a year's continuous service, capped at four weeks a year, before the child's fifth birthday (or fifth anniversary of adoption).
• Up to five working days of unpaid leave a year for urgent family reasons such as a child's sickness or accident.