Within the next period of time it is expected to be activated platform for the payment of maternity allowance to self-employed persons (freelancers, self-employed and farmers).

According to what the legislation stipulates, the Public Employment Service (PYPA) will pay the beneficiaries a monthly amount equal to the applicable minimum wage for nine months, following a check of insurance awareness.

In fact, retroactive effect is also foreseen, as the special maternity protection benefit is also entitled to all mothers who had a child up to 14 weeks, before the end of 2023 and, in particular, from September 24, 2023 onwards.

With the extension of the DYPA maternity allowance to this category of insured persons, which is part of a network of actions implemented by the government to support the family, the Ministry of Labor and Social Security aims to equalize the benefits for all insured women. An additional goal is the reconciliation between family and professional life, which also contributes to addressing the demographic problem.

It is recalled that, with Law 4997/2022, the temporal extension of maternity protection was established for private sector employees, in proportion to the special parenting leave to which mothers working in the public sector are entitled. In other words, the duration of the special maternity protection leave was increased from six to nine months for mothers insured in the e-EFKA (t. IKA- ETAM), who work as employees with a fixed or indefinite employment relationship in companies or holdings of the private sector.

What is provided?

Specifically, the mother insured by the e-EFKA, self-employed, self-employed and farmer, is entitled to a special maternity protection benefit, lasting nine months, which begins after the payment of the e-EFKA maternity allowance.

Especially, in the case of adoption, the payment of the special maternity protection allowance starts the day after the finality of the court decision on the adoption, regardless of whether the beneficiary received a maternity allowance from the e-EFKA.

The special provision of maternity protection for self-employed persons is also entitled to the presumptive mother of article 1464 of the civil code, who obtains a child through the process of surrogacy, and the self-employed person who adopts a child from the time the child joins the family up to the age of eight .

The mother is entitled to transfer up to seven months of the special maternity protection benefit to the father, regardless of whether he is employed under private law or is self-employed or a farmer.

For as long as the father receives the leave that the mother has transferred to him, he is entitled to the benefits provided for, as long as he is insured.

In the event that the father works in a dependent labor relationship under private law, he receives, in addition to the special maternity protection benefit, a proportion of holiday gifts and leave allowance and is insured based on the insurance regime to which he is subject.

In particular, the time of the special maternity protection leave is counted as insurance time in the main pension and sickness branches of the e-EFKA, as well as in the relevant supplementary insurance bodies, and the prescribed contributions are calculated on the respective minimum wage, from which the DYPA withholds the prescribed insured contribution and pays it to the competent bodies, together with the prescribed employer contribution borne by DYPA.

In case of having a child by same-sex spouses, the beneficiary of the special parental benefit is determined by a joint declaration of the spouses to the Electronic National Social Security Agency.

In this case, the beneficiary parent is entitled to transfer up to seven months of the special benefit to the other parent, regardless of whether he works in a dependent employment relationship under private law or is a freelancer or self-employed or a farmer.

The provision is tax-free, non-assignable and non-confiscatable, in the hands of the State or third parties, notwithstanding any other provision to the contrary, it is not bound and not set off against confirmed debts to the tax administration and the State in general, Legal Entities under Public Law, Local Organizations Self-Government and their legal entities, insurance funds or credit institutions, is not counted in the income limits for the payment of any social or welfare benefit and is not subject to any fee, levy or other withholding in favor of the State or e-EFKA.