Maternity Pay: everything about this social benefit

Are you a mother and looking for a financial benefit? O Maternity pay appears as a good option for policyholders who wish to dedicate themselves to the first moments of their children's lives. In this content, we will explain everything you need to know about Maternity pay and how to receive the benefit.

What is Maternity Pay?

The Maternity Salary is a social benefit from the INSS, which offers support during the period when mothers are away due to pregnancy, adoption and even legal abortion. With this, a payment is made that starts up to 28 days before birth and extends for 91 days after.

Generally, this benefit for mothers is aimed at different situations, as mentioned initially:

• Birth of a child;
• Abortion permitted by law (in cases of rape or risk to the mother's life);
• Stillbirth (fetuses that died during birth or in the womb);
• Adoption;
• Legal custody for adoption.

Who may be entitled to the benefit?

Just like any other INSS benefit, there are some rules that beneficiaries need to pay attention to in order to be entitled. So, if you want to participate in and receive financial support, you need to follow the rules below:

• Workers with a formal contract;
• Individual (self-employed) and optional contributors;
• Special policyholders (rural workers);
• Maids;
• Unemployed women who are still in the INSS grace period.

Furthermore, many people are unaware that the benefit granted by the INSS is not just restricted to mothers. 

This is because, as of 2002, the law that regulates this aid began to extend the right to receive the benefit also to adopters and parents.

What is the value of the Maternity Salary benefit?

Initially, the value of the benefit will be calculated based on the beneficiary's last full salary, based on the month worked.

However, if the salary is variable, the benefit will be calculated by the simple arithmetic average of the last six salaries. 

It is worth noting that this calculation ensures that the benefit fairly reflects the insured's financial situation, providing the necessary support during the period of absence.

Attention! Please note that the value of this financial benefit cannot be less than the salary for the current year.

How to request the financial benefit?

As the benefit is from the INSS, policyholders need to request the benefit through the Meu INSS application.

In principle, you need to meet all the criteria established by the responsible body. We have created a step-by-step guide that can help you with the process!

• Download the My INSS app, Play Store It is App Store;
• Then, log in with your details (CPF and password);
• Already logged into the application, select the “New Order” option;
• On the next screen, enter the maternity pay service;
• Then, in the list, select the name of the service;  
• Finally, read the instructions that will appear on the screen. 

What documents are needed?

The documents required to request maternity pay vary according to the type of insured person and the specific situation.

Overall, the documents are:

• CPF;
• For women who are going to leave 28 days before giving birth: medical certificate of pregnant woman; 
• For adoption cases: birth certificate issued after the court decision 
• For custody cases: Guardianship term indicating that the custody is intended for adoption.

What is the difference between Maternity Pay and Maternity Leave?

Firstly, Maternity Pay is the benefit paid to the insured person who leaves work due to pregnancy and other situations.

Remembering that this benefit aims to replace the insured person's remuneration during the period in which she is away, providing financial support.

Maternity Leave is a benefit aimed at taking time off work, however, they still receive a salary.

In other words, during maternity leave, the employee continues to receive her salary fully paid by the employer, and the employer can request reimbursement of this amount from the INSS.

Written by

Juliana Raquek