Maternity leave: 126 days (63+63), the 85% allowance, the special tax treatment (CAS only), the eligibility conditions and what the employer has to do.
Translated from Romanian. This article covers Romanian labour and tax law; the Romanian version is canonical and is updated first.
Maternity leave (also called pregnancy and confinement leave, concediu de sarcină și lăuzie) protects the employee in the period before and after the birth. It has a fixed duration, a tax regime of its own and clear eligibility rules. Here is what the employer needs to know in order to manage it correctly.
Maternity leave lasts 126 calendar days, split in principle into two periods of 63 days each: the antenatal leave (before the birth) and the postnatal one (after the birth). The periods can be adjusted between them on medical grounds, provided a minimum of 42 postnatal days is observed — the confinement period, compulsory for the mother’s recovery. In practice, some of the antenatal days that were not taken can be carried over to after the birth, but the 42 postnatal days remain a minimum floor of protection.
For the duration of the leave, the employee receives an allowance of 85% of the calculation base, that is, of the average gross monthly income over the reference period (the last months of contribution history). The allowance is borne by FNUASS (the National Health Insurance Fund), not by the employer.
Here lies the important particularity: only CAS 25% (the pension contribution) is withheld from the maternity allowance. The allowance is exempt from CASS (the health insurance contribution) and from income tax. That is why the effective net amount received is closer to the gross figure than in the case of an ordinary salary — a detail that has to be reflected correctly on the payroll register, otherwise undue withholdings appear.
To qualify for the allowance, a minimum contribution history of one month within the previous 12 months is generally required. There are also situations covering uninsured women, with special rules (for example the granting of the benefit under certain conditions related to the moment of the birth). The general framework is set by OUG 158/2005 (Emergency Ordinance 158/2005).
The leave is justified by a medical certificate: the antenatal one can be issued a certain number of days before the probable date of birth (in principle up to 30 days before), and the postnatal one after the birth. The documents are submitted to the employer, who processes them on the payroll register and reports them.
Maternity leave (pregnancy and confinement) is different from child-raising leave (concediu pentru creșterea copilului, CCC), which starts after maternity and has its own rules on duration and allowance. It is also worth mentioning paternity leave, the father’s entitlement in the first weeks after the birth. Where the mother dies, part of the rights may transfer to the father, under the conditions of the law.
The employer’s role is to record the leave correctly (suspension of the contract for its duration), to reflect the special tax treatment on the payroll register (CAS only) and to report accordingly. The employee is protected against dismissal during pregnancy and during maternity leave.
The Leave module combined with payroll handles the special tax treatment of the maternity allowance — withholding only CAS, without CASS and income tax — and deterministically flags the contribution history and the contract suspension. This avoids the incorrect withholdings that appear when an exempt allowance is treated as ordinary income. The SAGA-format export comes out with the bases already aligned for Declarația 112 (the monthly tax return), and the transition to child-raising leave is tracked in the same records.
Informational article, accurate at the date of publication. Not medical, tax or legal advice. The rules on maternity leave depend on the specific case and may change — always check the framework in force at the official source (CNAS, ANAF, Monitorul Oficial) or consult a specialist before taking a decision.
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