Can a grandmother go on maternity leave to care for her grandson?

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The modern structure of society is blurring the traditional boundaries between men and women. Representatives of the “weaker sex” increasingly prefer to earn money, build a career and devote themselves to concerns related to running a business.

However, the birth of a child in a family significantly changes the accepted way of life, usual contacts and priorities. This is not surprising, since the first years of a baby’s life require constant care. However, contrary to popular belief, current legislation allows not only the mother , but also other relatives to go on appropriate leave.

Maternity leave or leave to care for a baby

Article 256 of the Labor Code establishes the right of a mother to leave to care for a child up to 3 years old, or, in popular parlance, to maternity leave.
Situations in which a new mother is unable to care for her child are common. In this case, the maternity leave is issued to another family member, for example, parental leave is issued to a grandparent. Regardless of who filed maternity leave, he is entitled to benefits:

1. A guaranteed amount of 40% of the applicant’s average salary is paid by the employer monthly until the child turns 1.5 years old. The benefit is transferred at the expense of the Social Insurance Fund; it is not subject to personal income tax.
2. Abolished payment in the amount of 50 rubles from the employer. The monthly supplement has been canceled as of 01/01/2020. But if the payment was scheduled before this date, then social benefits continue to be paid. The amount increased by the regional coefficient is paid by the employer monthly for up to 3 years, at the expense of the organization, without withholding taxes.

IMPORTANT!
Additionally, the employee is entitled to financial assistance if this is provided for in the wage regulations or employment contract.

According to Article 256 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation, a decree has the right to be issued by:

• dad;
• grandparents, both on the mother's and father's sides;
• other relatives who will actually care for the newborn;
• legal guardians and adoptive parents.

All of the above family members have the right to claim cash payments (child care benefits) established by Part 3.2 of Art. 14 of Law No. 255-FZ.

IMPORTANT!

Please note that only the mother of the child is entitled to maternity leave!

Parental leave: regulatory documents

When applying the legislation, it is recommended to be guided by the explanations of the Resolution of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation No. 1 of January 28, 2014. The act states that the possibility of going on leave and receiving child benefits is not limited by the degree of relationship.

The legal basis for a grandmother to be on leave in connection with caring for a young child is the following acts:

1. Art. 256 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation - categories of citizens who have the right to support children in the absence of the mother.
2. Art. 14 of the Family Code of the Russian Federation – categories of close relatives.
3. Art. 13 Federal Law “On state benefits for citizens with children” No. 81 of May 19, 1995 - a list of persons who have the right to receive payments in favor of minors.
4. Art. 14 Federal Law “On compulsory social insurance in case of temporary disability and in connection with maternity” No. 255 of December 29, 2006 - determines the procedure for calculating monthly benefits when raising young children.

The duration of maternity leave is limited to 3 years. Termination of rest is allowed when the child reaches 1.5 years of age. The grandmother, like the mother or other family members, in some cases is entitled to payments from the state. If a mother expresses a desire to leave work, she can go on maternity leave an unlimited number of times within 3 years. She retains the right to a workplace.

Design features

If your grandmother goes on maternity leave instead of your mother, the design is different. The main difference in situations in which a grandmother or other close relative goes on parental leave is the need to confirm that parents and other family members do not receive the benefits listed above.

For confirmation, you will need an official document (certificate, extract, information) from the relevant organization. For example, a certificate from the place of work of the mother or father, or an extract from the Employment Center stating that the parents do not receive the required benefits.

In what situations will this be required?

The official reasons for taking carer's leave are not relevant and may vary significantly, for example:

• mother, father or both parents need treatment and are on sick leave;
• parents are full-time students and are required to attend classes;
• a woman raises a child alone, and her earnings exceed the income of working grandparents;
• the child’s mother died during childbirth or died due to a serious illness, and the father is forced to work and needs support;
• the woman is on maternity leave to care for another child whose age does not exceed 3 years, or she has a disabled child under 16 years of age in her care.

In the case of a multiple pregnancy with the appearance of twins or triplets in the family, after the mother returns from maternity leave, you can arrange leave to care for each of the children for different family members, including grandparents.

A working pensioner may ask for leave based on his own desire to help a young family or in the case of insufficiently caring parents towards their young children due to a lack of parental feelings.

List of documents

To apply for maternity leave, the grandmother should prepare a package of documents:

1. Free-form application for parental leave for a child up to 1.5 or 3 years old.
2. A copy of the child's birth certificate.
3. Documents confirming that the mother, father or other guardian is not on maternity leave and does not receive cash payments provided for in Part 2 of Art. 14 of Law No. 255-FZ.

The relative or guardian presents the completed package of documents at his place of work. The employer does not have the right to refuse the application, since this is a direct violation of labor legislation (Part 3 of Article 256 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation), entailing administrative liability (Article 5.27 of the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation). In case of refusal, the employee has the right to file a complaint with the labor inspectorate or court. Also, the employer does not have the right to fire an employee who has applied for parental leave.

The work experience, as well as the insurance period, is not interrupted while the grandmother or other family member is on maternity leave. Explanations are given in FSS letters No. 02-09-14/17-04-31319 dated 01/16/2018, No. 02-13/07-7424 dated 08/09/2007.

IMPORTANT!

By taking maternity leave instead of the mother, the grandmother has the right to continue working, but there are restrictions. To maintain the required payments, you will have to work from home or on a flexible schedule, but not full time!

Organizing a vacation for grandma

To properly arrange maternity leave for your grandmother, you should pay attention to a number of points. The employment of a close relative is of key importance. If she officially works, then she will receive payments. If you are retired without maintaining your position, transfers of funds by social services are not carried out.

The employer at the place of employment does not have the right to delay or refuse maternity leave for the grandmother. She retains her position until she goes to work when the child reaches 1.5 or 3 years of age.

Dismissal due to absenteeism with the wording that only the mother should go on maternity leave is subject to appeal to the Labor Inspectorate and in court. For violation of the law, an enterprise may be subject to administrative liability in accordance with Art. 258 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation in the form of a fine with the obligation to reinstate the employee’s rights.

It is important to know! It is impossible to arrange leave for a grandmother if the father and mother do not perform labor functions equally. If they are not busy, they are required to care for the baby independently without the involvement of others. When applying for benefits, certificates from the place of work of both parents are provided. An exception is allowed for mother and father studying full-time at the institute.

Possible reasons for a grandmother going on maternity leave:

• The child is an orphan without a mother or father.
• Both parents are deprived of parenting rights; the fact is established by a court decision.
• The mother or father is serving a sentence in prison for a long time.
• Close relatives were recognized as missing by a court decision; it is impossible to establish their whereabouts.
• Mom needs to go to work if she has a mortgage or other loans that cannot be repaid through maternity payments or benefits.
• There are no other close relatives who can take care of the minor; government services refuse to take responsibility for the child in connection with possible upbringing by the grandmother.
• The mother and father have persistent health problems, a disability group has been identified that does not allow them to fully care for a newborn or young child, or move independently due to physical disabilities, or a mental illness has been identified.
• An adoption took place, the decision was established by the court with the consent of the guardianship and trusteeship authority.

Working grandma

In practice, the question often arises whether a grandmother can apply for and receive money for maternity leave. If she is employed under an employment contract, and the mother is not able to care for the baby, other relatives have the right to apply. All payments will be made for her, as well as for the blood mother.

Retired grandmother

Funds for children are paid by the state for the needs of minors. They are transferred to a special account opened in the name of the child. The person responsible for its maintenance, whether it is the mother or other citizens in a close relationship, has the right to spend from it only for purposes related to the upbringing of the minor. It is prohibited to spend money for the personal purposes of adults.

Attention! The fact of payment of a pension does not matter for the calculation of social benefits for a granddaughter or grandson.

Registration procedure

All documents must be completed correctly. The process to qualify for leave is as follows, the steps you need to follow are:

1. Collection of necessary documentation.
2. Submitting an application at the grandmother’s place of employment.
3. Issuance of an order by the employer regarding maternity time.

The request to the employer indicates the period until the birth of the newborn is either 1.5 or 3 years. Subsequently, you can either engage in work activity earlier than the designated date, or extend it until the child is three years old.

The social service agency will require the following papers:

1. Birth certificate in copy and original for verification of authenticity.
2. Grandmother's ID card, pension certificate.
3. Information about the work of mother and father.
4. Parents will be required to provide certificates stating that they did not receive compensation for their children from each place of employment. Such papers have a limited validity period of 30 days.
5. If the daughter is a student or the child’s father is a full-time student, then certificates from educational institutions about enrollment in faculties will be required.

Re-registration from mother to grandmother

The procedure for re-registration of leave is not provided for by law. It is possible to leave the mother’s maternity leave, and then submit an application for the need for rest in connection with childcare at the grandmother’s place of work. This is allowed under the following conditions:

• Parents have not used their full rights to child payments.
• The grandmother must officially work, even if she is listed as a pensioner.
• If the mother’s time off from work is interrupted, a document about this must be obtained from the enterprise; other relatives during this period cannot take vacation pay and arrange payments for young children.

Payment Features

The applicant indicates the need to accrue benefits when contacting the employer with a request to go on vacation. There should be no separate paperwork for payments. If the mother is employed, then financial assistance will be calculated based on her recent earnings:

• In the first year and a half, the payment is 40% of its average value for the last 24 months.
• From 1.5 to 3 years, compensation for women on maternity leave is 50 rubles. per month, the increase is made taking into account the regional coefficient.

It is important to know! The period of maternity leave is included in the length of service. This is due to the fact that during the first 1.5 years, contributions are transferred from assigned payments to the Social Insurance Fund. From 1.5 to 3 years such a benefit is not provided.

Social benefits in the absence of both parents or their ability to participate in the child’s life will be set to a minimum. Its size is equal to the subsistence level.

Mom is employed part-time or works from home

Maternity leave for grandmother in accordance with Art. 256 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation can be issued in connection with the actual care of a newborn.

At the same time, the fact that parents are working does not matter if they do not live with the baby and do not care for him. Since the mother did not take advantage of her right to rest while working part-time, the grandmother of her grandson or granddaughter has the right to go on maternity leave instead of her daughter. She will be paid for the period of forced absence on site at the expense of the employer or social services if she is retired.

Mother doesn't work

If the mother does not have an official place of employment, she is obliged to look after the newborn on her own. Taking leave for your grandmother and receiving social benefits for her in such a situation is not allowed.

Advice! Regardless of whether a woman is employed at an enterprise or is listed as unemployed, maternity leave with appropriate payments is issued only in her name. Other citizens are not entitled to such benefits. This period should be distinguished from the maternity period prescribed in connection with caring for a newborn.

How to apply

Follow the instructions on how to apply for maternity leave for your grandmother in 2020:

Step 1. Obtain the necessary documents.

The required form is a written confirmation that the baby’s parents did not go on maternity leave. Get confirmation from both mom and dad's place of work. There is no established form of the document; the employers of the child’s parents draw up a certificate in any form.

A copy of the birth certificate does not need to be certified. It is enough to get the original and a well-readable copy to verify the data.

Step 2. Receive a statement from the employee.

There is no single application form for maternity leave. Most employers have developed and approved their own forms.

Step 3. Issue a maternity order.

A regular leave order is drawn up on Form T-6.

How are seniors paid?

When parents entrust the upbringing of a child to the grandmother, they most often justify this action with a well-paid job and the desire to fully provide for the family.

However, it is important not to forget that a grandmother who officially left work on maternity leave can count on 40% of her average income every month .

The duration of such social payments is 1.5 years, after which the accrual stops.

Retired grandmothers can also qualify for the minimum amount of social benefits during maternity leave, but only if the child’s parents fall under at least one of the above points.

Benefits and payments during maternity leave

The mother of the child is entitled to monthly cash benefits for care (up to the age of 1.5 years and 3 years). If you take leave for your grandmother, the employer pays her social benefits for up to 1.5 years. Social benefits are calculated at 40% of the average salary of an employee who submitted a child care application. The procedure for calculating average earnings is determined by government decree No. 922 of December 24, 2007 (as amended on December 10, 2016).

The current legislation provides for situations in which it is permissible to issue a maternity leave not in full, but in parts (paragraph 2 of Article 256 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation). So, for example, a mother arranges maternity leave for a newborn until he reaches the age of 6 months, and then starts working. And the grandmother (grandfather, father, guardian) takes care of the baby until 1.5 or 3 years old and receives established monthly benefits.

What the law says

There is no term “maternity leave” in the Labor Code of the Russian Federation. This is a colloquial concept used by young mothers, referring to maternity leave for children under three years of age. But since it is often used, we will use it from time to time when talking about how to arrange maternity leave for your grandmother.

According to Art. 256 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation, it is quite possible for a grandmother to take out so-called maternity leave instead of a mother. Also, in addition to maternal or paternal grandmothers, other relatives have the right to care for a child up to three years of age. For example:

• father;
• guardian;
• other family members.

Any relative who is officially involved in raising children has the right to count on maternity payments provided by law. Read below for detailed instructions on how to apply for maternity leave for your grandmother.

Maximum and minimum values ​​of maternity benefits

When calculating social benefits, a limit was set; for 2021 it amounted to 27,984.66 rubles. The maximum benefit amount is limited to the maximum average daily earnings. It is calculated from the maximum base for contributions to VNiM for the two years preceding the year of the start of parental leave. For vacations starting in 2021, the limit is RUB 2,301.37. per day ((RUB 865,000 + RUB 815,000) / 730). The benefit limit is calculated as follows: RUB 2,301.37. per day x 30.4 days x 40% = 27,984.66 rubles.

The minimum amount of benefit for caring for the first child from 02/01/2020 is 3,375.77 rubles.

The benefit, calculated from the minimum wage, for vacation starting in 2020 is 4,852 rubles.

The minimum allowance for caring for the second and subsequent children from 02/01/2020 is 6,751.54 rubles (RF RF No. 61 of 01/29/2020).

If in the region of residence there is an increasing regional coefficient for wages, then the amounts of social benefits are recalculated taking it into account.

Guarantees provided

Labor legislation protects the rights of persons on leave to care for young children: grandparents are no exception to the rule.

Important information for HR! The time spent on parental leave to care for a grandchild is credited to the working pensioner’s length of service , and the employee cannot be dismissed or laid off until he returns to work (read about dismissal during parental leave here). At the end of the vacation, management is obliged to provide the grandmother or grandfather with their previous place of work.

If a grandparent wants to go to work and still maintain child care benefits, she can:

• apply for part-time or part-time work;
• maintain the right to receive benefits and receive wages in proportion to the time worked;
• maintain payments in case of transition to remote (home-based) work.

The accounting department's requirement for the HR department employee to issue an order for “parental leave” of up to 1.5 years to apply for benefits is unauthorized, since payments are made on the basis of an order for parental leave for a child up to three years of age.

If an order is issued before the child reaches one and a half years of age, after this period the employee will have to write a new application. If he does not do this on time, or does not show up for work immediately after the deadline, responsibility will be assigned to the personnel officer who incorrectly completed the order.

It happens that an employee who convinced the personnel officer that he will definitely go to work early and asked to take leave before the desired date, for good reasons (for example, illness or disability of a child) does not start work. In this case, absenteeism cannot be counted against him due to incorrect execution of the order.

Reference. Grandparents can warn about early departure to the workplace, but are not obliged to do this, taking advantage of the right to go to work on any day. This means that their salary will be accrued starting from the day they leave, and the employee replacing them will be subject to dismissal.

Managers must pay special attention to the benefits and guarantees associated with the care of young children, prescribed in Art. 264 Labor Code of the Russian Federation:

1. ban on business trips, night work and weekends;
2. limiting overtime work;
3. the right to receive additional leave.

All these benefits apply to the family member who is caring for the child, so the grandparent can claim them.

It must be remembered that working pensioners, if the employer refuses to accept documents for leave to care for a grandson or granddaughter, can defend their rights with the help of supervisory authorities or in court. As a rule, the laws will be on their side, and the head of the enterprise may receive a serious penalty related to a direct violation of current legislation.

Thus, from a legislative point of view, it does not matter which relative will receive leave to care for a small child. The state gives working grandparents the right to legally take an active part in raising their grandchildren, while counting on financial support.