What Types of Leave are Available when Having a Child?

Guide

What Types of Leave are Available when Having a Child?

This guide provides the necessary information on leave types available for pregnancy and early childhood care, including pregnancy and maternity leave, paternity leave, and childcare leave.

Pregnancy and Maternity Leave

Maternity leave is a type of paid leave provided to working women, calculated and granted in full for the periods of pregnancy and childbirth.

In the event of premature birth, unused days of maternity leave are added to the total maternity leave period.

You must inform your employer about your pregnancy by the 30th week.

Immediately after the start of your maternity leave:

your polyclinic will issue a medical certificate of incapacity for work from that day on,
you will submit it to your employer,
based on that document, your maternity leave will be formalized,
after which you will receive your maternity allowance.

The leave is granted for the following periods:

140 calendar days in case of normal pregnancy (pregnancy: 70 calendar days, childbirth: 70 calendar days)
155 calendar days in case of complicated childbirth (pregnancy: 70 calendar days, childbirth: 85 calendar days)
180 calendar days in case of simultaneous childbirth of more than one child (pregnancy: 70 calendar days, childbirth: 110 calendar days)

Prior to your pregnancy and childbirth leave, you will receive a lump-sum maternity allowance covering 140 days of your leave, calculated based on your average daily salary.

The amount of the maternity leave is calculated based on the average salary determined by the established procedure.

However, if the average monthly income is less than 50% of the minimum monthly salary as of the date of the temporary incapacity, the maternity leave will be calculated based on 50% of the minimum monthly salary.

In 2025, the minimum monthly wage in Armenia is 75,000 AMD.

To calculate the maternity allowance, the average monthly salary must be determined.

To do this, you need to:

Add up all types of income received during the previous 12 months (bonuses are calculated separately and added to the average salary as 1/12 of their total amount),
Divide the total amount by 12.

Then, the resulting average monthly salary must be:

Divided by 30.4 (to get the average daily salary), and
Multiplied by the number of calendar days of the pregnancy and maternity leave, which is 140 days.

The maternity leave can also be calculated using online calculators.

In case of a complicated childbirth, 15 additional days are added to the standard 140-day maternity leave.

The same formula is used to calculate the maternity leave. However, instead of 140 days, the leave is calculated for 155 days.

Yes, the employer is prohibited from initiating a termination of an employment contract with a pregnant employee.

But, a specific deadline applies here: this protection applies specifically from the day the employee submits a medical certificate confirming the pregnancy until one month after the end of the pregnancy and maternity leave period.

However, there are exceptions.

While on childcare leave, the employer may terminate the employment contract in the following cases:

if the organization is dissolved,
if due to economic, technological, or organizational changes and/or production necessity, the number of employees or job positions is reduced.

Paternity Leave

Within 30 days after the birth of a child, the father of the newborn may be granted a paid leave of 5 working days, each day of which is paid at the average daily wage.

Within 1 year after the birth of a child, the father may also receive an unpaid leave of up to 2 months if his wife is:

On maternity leave
On leave to care for a child up to one year old

Childcare Leave

Childcare leave can be taken by the mother (stepmother), father (stepfather), or guardian of the family actually caring for the child.

You can apply for childcare leave at any time, but this type of leave is granted only until the child reaches the age of 3.

In other words, you can use this leave up until the day your child turns 3 years old.

Only one parent can take childcare leave until the child turns 3 years old.

You can take it in full or in parts in an extraordinary manner.
To apply for childcare leave, you must submit an appropriate application to the person responsible for these issues at your workplace, attaching a copy of your child's birth certificate.

You can take childcare leave until your child turns 3 years old, and until your child turns 2 years old, you will receive a monthly care allowance in a fixed amount.

Rights when Working During Pregnancy or Childcare

If you are pregnant or caring for a child under one-year-old and are employed, you may be granted a part-time work schedule (either per day or per week).

In such cases, compensation will be based on the actual hours worked or the work performed.

Before or after pregnancy and childbirth leave, you may also be granted annual leave until six months of continuous employment have been completed

With your consent, you may also go on a business trip or work remotely:

Overtime
On weekends
On duty at home or in the organization (in the case of pregnant women or employees caring for children under three years old)
On non-working holidays and memorial days

Attention
If you are breastfeeding, in addition to the prescribed break times, you must be given an additional break of at least 30 minutes every 3 hours to feed your baby. During these breaks, you will be paid at your average hourly wage.

Parenting Hours

When working during the childcare phase, you also have the opportunity to benefit from "parenting hours," which allows you to dedicate a certain amount of time to your children during the workday, while fully maintaining your salary for that period.

This right can be exercised by both mothers and fathers (including adoptive parents, guardians, or foster parents) who have:

Up to 2 children (under 12 years old): a maximum of 30 minutes per day.
3 or more children (under 12 years old): a maximum of 1 hour per day.
A child with deep or severe disability restrictions (under 18 years old): a maximum of 1 hour per day (regardless of the total number of children).

To use "parenting hours," you must submit a written application to your employer. The absent 30 minutes or 1 hour will be included in your working hours, and no deductions will be made from your salary at the end of the month.

The guide was compiled by the Armenian Information Systems Agency, the Ministry of Health of the Republic of Armenia, and the Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs of the Republic of Armenia.

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