Employee Benefits: Paternity and Maternity Leave Philippines

As a business owner or HR expert, giving your employees the time they need during pregnancy and after childbirth is necessary for the child’s physical and emotional well-being.

It also gives working mothers the time needed for recovery and fathers the time to support their recovering partners through the postpartum period.

Of course, when it comes to paternity and maternity leave, Philippines has distinct features separating both, which we’ll get into. Along with India, Mexico, Vietnam, Argentina, Poland, and Ukraine, it’s one of the only top outsourcing countries that provide 100% paid maternity leave.

Now, let’s dissect the country’s regulations governing maternity and paternity leaves, the requirements, eligibility criteria, timing, duration, application process, and benefits. More importantly, we’ll explain where you stand as an employer or HR personnel based on these regulations. This way, you can keep your employee’s leaves compliant.

What is the Paternity Leave Act in Philippines?

The Paternity Leave Act of 1996 is mainly governed by the Republican Act (RA) 8187.

“AN ACT GRANTING PATERNITY LEAVE OF SEVEN (7) DAYS WITH FULL PAY TO ALL MARRIED EMPLOYEES IN THE PRIVATE AND PUBLIC SECTORS FOR THE FIRST FOUR (4) DELIVERIES OF THE LEGITIMATE SPOUSE WITH WHOM HE IS COHABITING AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES.”

Accordingly, your male workers who are married fathers are entitled to seven days of paid leave for the first four deliveries with their legitimate spouses. By giving employees the chance to be there for the childbirth and postpartum period, the act is meant to strengthen the family unit and solidify family ties.

Note that there are no SSS paternity benefits, meaning that you, as the employer, are liable for this benefit.

What are the requirements to apply for paternity leave Philippines?

The Handbook on Workers Statutory Monetary Benefits (2022 edition) states that your employee is eligible for paternity leave benefits when he meets the following requirements:

• Having employment at the time of delivery (regular, casual, probationary, seasonal, or fixed term).
• Being legally married and cohabitating with his wife who’s pregnant or has given birth or had a miscarriage or abortion.
• Informing you of his wife’s pregnancy and expected delivery date in a reasonable period determined by your company or by a collective bargaining agreement (unless it’s a miscarriage, which counts as an emergency).
• Not claiming this benefit more than three times.

What about the factors that make your employer ineligible for paternity leave? They’re as follows:

• Submitting a last-minute application for paternity leave.
• Not being legally married to the child’s mother.
• Having pending administrative or criminal cases that would stop him from applying for paternity leave.

When can working fathers file for paternity leave?

As mentioned earlier, fathers should file for paternity leave in a reasonable period before the birth determined by your company or by a collective bargaining agreement (except for miscarriages, which count as emergencies). This way, you can make the necessary arrangements.

As for the leave timing, it can be before, during, or after childbirth (or a combination of those). Nonetheless, it needs to be within 60 days of the child's birth.

For instance, your employee can schedule it so that he has one day before the due date, the day of the delivery, and five days after the birth “to effectively lend support to his wife in her period of recovery and/or in the nursing of the newly born child.”

How to apply for paternity leave Philippines?

Firstly, your male employee should check his qualifications and requirements. Then, he should notify you of the pregnancy and expected due date. Afterward, he proceeds with the paperwork.

Of course, you can set additional procedures for paternity leave filing for your company and add them to your company policies. Your employees may refer to your HR team for guidance on those.

The following is a list of document requirements for male employees who have a child on the way to present for the leave application to the HR department:

• A notice to the HR department about the pregnancy with the expected due date.
• A paternity notification form from your employer, which you must fill out to officially notify your company of your intention to take paternity leave and gives your employer information about you.
• A copy of your marriage certificate or other proof of marriage.
• In some cases: A proof of pregnancy consisting of a photocopy of your wife’s ultrasound and related medical records.
• Certified true copy or authenticated copy of the child’s birth certificate.
• For additional leave days: maternity notification form and SSS Allocation of Maternity Leave Credits (explained further below).

Who is eligible for maternity leave Philippines?

To qualify for maternity leave, Philippines employees in the public sector must be pregnant women in organizations, such as national government agencies, government-owned or controlled corporations, local government units, local universities and colleges, or state universities and colleges.

If they’re in the private sector, they must be employees with no less than three monthly SSS contributions in the 12-month period right before the semester of the birth, miscarriage, or emergency termination of pregnancy.

Female employees can also apply for maternity leave Philippines for every pregnancy, miscarriage, or termination of pregnancy.

How long is maternity leave Philippines?

An expecting employee is entitled to 105 days of paid maternity leave, Philippines. However, it can extended by thirty more days, but they’ll be unpaid. Single mothers are entitled to 15 extra days of paid leave.

In cases of miscarriages and emergency termination of pregnancy (like stillbirth cases), female employees have the right to sixty days of paid maternity leave under RA 8972.

Needless to say, as the employer, you can choose to provide your female workers with longer maternity leave periods.

What are the requirements for maternity leave?

To be eligible for maternity leave, Philippines employees must notify you of their pregnancy and their expected delivery 60 days in advance of the requested maternity leave. They’ll need to fill out the Maternity Notification Form and present you and the SSS with copies of the form.

This form notifies you and the SSS of the expected delivery date and states whether they intend to allocate maternity leave credits to the baby’s father or their partner or not.

After birth, your employee should file the Maternity Reimbursement Application Form: a formal request for the reimbursement of financial support needed during maternity leave, Philippines, which includes data about you and your employee. It nudges the SSS to reimburse you for the amount you paid.

Note that you’re legally required to pay the salary differential (without SSS reimbursement), which is the difference between the employee’s full salary and her SSS cash benefits.

Also, your employee must submit supporting documents, which are identification documents, any relevant supporting medical paperwork, and delivery proof, to the closest SSS branch.

What are the SSS maternity benefits?

As an employer, you must provide eligible female employees with their leave benefits within 30 days of their request to comply with the law.

SSS members who cannot work due to childbirth, miscarriage, or emergency termination of pregnancy are entitled to daily cash allowances. These can be paid as a lump sum or through regular payroll payments.

The SSS provides these benefits to female members regardless of civil status, employment status, legitimacy of the child, or number of pregnancies.

To calculate the maternity benefit, use this formula: 

SSS maternity benefit = (Average monthly salary credit ÷ 180) × Number of paid leave days

Additionally, fathers or alternate caregivers (such as partners or relatives) may receive benefits under the Expanded Maternity Leave (Section Six of Republic Act 11210). A working mother can allocate part of her 105 days of paid maternity leave to her partner, giving them 14 days off (7 days of maternity leave and 7 days of paternity leave). This does not apply to miscarriages or emergency terminations of pregnancy.

Female national athletes in the Philippines receive additional allowances and benefits. Expecting mothers who are not regular SSS members are still entitled to healthcare services for prenatal, delivery, postpartum, and pregnancy-related conditions.

How to apply for maternity leave Philippines?

First, your expecting employee must confirm her eligibility for maternity leave Philippines benefits. To apply, she needs to inform you of her pregnancy and expected delivery date at least 60 days in advance. She must submit the maternity notification form to you and SSS.

After giving birth, she should submit the reimbursement form and supporting documents to the nearest SSS branch. If she wants an additional 30 days of unpaid leave, she must provide a written notice at least 45 days before her initial maternity leave Philippines ends.

What are the consequences of non-compliance for employers?

Generally, it is prohibited for employers to avoid hiring women in order to eliminate the need for providing mandatory maternity leave Philippines benefits, as this is considered discriminatory.

Based on Sec. One, Rule X, RA 11210 IRR, non-compliance could cost employers from: 

• PHP 20,000.00 to PHP 200,000.00 in penalties, or 
• six to 12 years in prison. 

Not to mention, employers will be barred from renewing their business permits. Hence, it is important to comply with maternity and paternity leave regulations in the Philippines to avoid such legal repercussions.

Support Your Employees During Leave with Omni

Paternity and maternity leave Philippines is a crucial benefit that supports employees in achieving a healthy work-life balance. Hence, it’s important to have the right HR tools to manage such benefits effectively. 

Read next: The HR Tools Growing Teams Need in 2025

Omni’s all-in-one HRIS makes it possible to manage the entire end-to-end employee life cycle in one platform. Our robust time off management capabilities allow HR teams to streamline the management process of paternity and maternity leave Philippines. 

With customizable leave allowances, employers can set parental leave criteria based on Philippines standards, company policies, or individual eligibility, simplifying compliance efforts and standardizing benefit allocation for their teams. These automated processes help HR professionals track eligibility, manage parental leave applications, and ensure proper reimbursement with ease, while ensuring employees get the time they need to recover and return to work productive and engaged. 

Omni also seamlessly integrates with your team’s most loved work tools such as Slack, enabling managers to receive and manage time off approvals directly within the messaging platform, removing time-consuming steps from leave management with a quick push of a button. With automated calculations, employees and managers can easily view parental leave balances in real-time without the intervention of HR. 

Our employee self-service portal empowers employees to swiftly submit their maternity leave requests, automatically routing to the appropriate managers with customizable approval workflows. And our user-friendly mobile application allows for on-the-go approvals and communication, so you can manage leave balances and employee benefits from anywhere. 

Our localized solutions and unified system merges your paternity and maternity leave Philippines management efforts with payroll processing, facilitating automatic, accurate calculations and compliance with local regulations.

Try out Omni for free today!

Book a demo with us today to learn more about how Omni can transform your leave management processes, saving you time, reducing administrative burdens, and enhancing overall efficiency.