Pregnancy protection at work ?

How does it work in your country ? I was born and I live in Switzerland.

Let me tell you how it works here when you're pregnant—because honestly, feminists have fought hard 💪🏻💪🏼💪🏽💪🏾 to protect us mamas-to-be!

The moment you’re pregnant, you’re protected. You can’t be fired—it’s illegal for your employer to let you go during your pregnancy or your maternity leave. And here’s the cherry on top 🍒: if they’ve already handed you a termination notice but you find out you’re pregnant, the termination is cancelled, poof—just like that!

Maternity leave kicks in the day your baby is born 🍼, even if you stopped working earlier. It lasts between 14 and 18 weeks depending on where you live and your employer, but most of the time, it’s 16 weeks. At my company, we get 18 weeks (an extra 2 weeks as a gift 🎁). And for the first 8 weeks after birth, working isn’t even an option—by law, you’re required to take that time off to recover and bond with your baby. Of course, you’re fully paid during all of this, so no financial stress. 💰✨

Now, here’s something cool: in Switzerland, it’s very common that when someone is fired, they don’t actually have to work during their notice period. You’re still paid for your full notice period (which is usually 3 months), but you don’t have to show up at the office. How great is that? 👏

Now, if you’re pregnant during your notice period, it gets even better. As soon as you tell your employer you’re expecting, the notice period freezes until the end of your maternity leave. Once your leave is over, the notice period resumes right where it stopped.

Here’s the kicker: if your employer fired you while you were already pregnant (even if you didn’t know yet!), the entire termination is cancelled. They’d have to start the process all over again after your maternity leave is done. And since your notice period would restart from scratch, you get a full three months paid notice once again. It’s like the first termination never happened! 🙌

This system wasn’t always in place. Back in the day, it was sadly very common for pregnant women to be fired 😔, but feminists fought tirelessly to make sure we have these rights today.

UPDATE : maternity protection doesn’t apply if a woman is fired with immediate effect for a serious wrongdoing. It’s meant to protect pregnant women from being unfairly fired just because they’re pregnant. That’s also why it’s called a "protection period" 🛡️—not a free pass for bad behavior.

This protection also exists because it’s incredibly difficult for a pregnant woman to find a new job. Imagine job-hunting while navigating a pregnancy—it’s nearly impossible! 🤰💼 So, this law ensures women can focus on their health and their baby during this time. 💖

Now, onto the bigger picture:

🔹 Switzerland 🇨🇭 only introduced national paid maternity leave in 2005, covering 14 weeks at 80% of the salary.

🔹 Before that, it was inconsistent—some women got unpaid leave, and protections varied by canton or employer.

🔹 Today, Switzerland is one of the wealthiest countries in the world 🌍 and consistently ranked in the top 3 most competitive economies globally (thanks, World Economic Forum 🌟).

Honestly, I feel so lucky to be living in Switzerland 🇨🇭, where these protections exist. How does it work in your country? I’d love to hear your experiences! 💕🌍