Brief introduction

Law No. 7/2008 (Labor Relations Law) as amended by Law No. 8/2020 came into force on 26 May 2020. The Law increased the paid maternity leave of female employees from 56 to 70 days, and introduced the Maternity Leave Pay Subsidy Measure as a transitional arrangement.

Maternity Leave Pay Subsidy Measure, stipulating that employers must pay at least 56 days of maternity leave pay to eligible local female employees who give birth (or other circumstances where female employees are entitled to maternity leave according to law) within three years after the above law came into force.  The SAR Government will provide Maternity Leave Pay Subsidy to relevant employees.  The amount of the Subsidy is the difference between the maternity leave pay actually given by the employer and the maternity leave pay that the employee is entitled to receive according to law, and the upper limit is 14 days of basic remuneration.

Female employees who meet the following eligibility requirements at the same time can apply to the Social Security Fund for Maternity Leave Pay Subsidy:

  1. Within three years after Law No. 8/2020 came into force (i.e. from 26 May 2020 to 25 May 2023), a female employee who is in any of the following situations will be entitled to maternity leave according to law:
    • Childbirth;
    • Give birth to a stillborn baby;
    • Involuntary miscarriage after more than three months of pregnancy;
    • Live birth baby dies during the female employee’s maternity leave.
  2. When the fact referred to in Point 1 occurs, the female employee must be holding a Macao SAR Resident ID Card and must have established a labour relationship with her employer for more than one year NOTE.

（NOTE: If a female employee’s labour relationship with her employer only reaches one year during her maternity leave, she will be entitled to basic remuneration for the maternity leave that she may still enjoy after one year of labour relationship. In this case, the employer must pay at least 56 days of the maternity leave pay, and the female employee may apply to Social Security Fund for Maternity Leave Pay Subsidy if there is any remaining maternity leave pay to which she is entitled.）