Directive on maternity allowance for self-employed women comes into force

Implementation date: 5 August 2012

The Directive on self-employed workers and assisting spouses gives self-employed women, and those who assist their self-employed spouse or partner, the right to maternity leave and allowance for 14 weeks. Member states have until 5 August 2012 to implement the provisions. The Directive is unlikely to have much effect in the UK because self-employed women are entitled to claim 39 weeks' maternity allowance. The Directive (PDF format, 738K) can be viewed on the Europa website.