Women - health and safety at work

Pregnant and breastfeeding women

To qualify for the protection provided for by law, a pregnant woman must notify her employer of her pregnancy, either by sending her medical certificate by registered post, or by handing it over in person against a signed copy.

The law does not specify when the employee must provide her medical certificate. This can therefore be done either at the beginning of her pregnancy or at a later stage.

Pregnant or breastfeeding women who work as an employee or apprentice are entitled to, as appropriate:

• Protection against dismissal (except for serious misconduct) as of the beginning of pregnancy;
• Special health and safety protective measure, if they occupy a position involving specific risks;
• Protection against risks associated with night work;
• Leave to allow them to attend prenatal check-ups;
• Several weeks of leave before and after the birth (maternity leave);
• Adjustments to their working hours if they are breastfeeding;
• The pregnant or breastfeeding woman is under no obligation to do overtime if she chooses not to.

Given that certain jobs are likely to involve specific risks for pregnant or breastfeeding women, the employer is, in all cases, bound by an obligation to contact the competent occupational physician, who will issue an opinion as to whether the job is compatible with the pregnancy. If a genuine risk is found to exist, employers are required, on the advice of the competent occupational physician, to:

• Make a temporary adjustment to the woman's job (in terms of her working conditions or her working time) in order to eliminate the risk;
• If an adjustment is technically or objectively impossible, reassign her to a different job on the same salary;
• Or, if such a reassignment is technically or objectively impossible, grant the employee leave for the entire duration for which her health and safety are at an elevated risk, according to the occupational physician's opinion.

The Health Directorate's Physician in Chief must respond within 15 days.

The woman may lodge an appeal against the Physician in Chief's decision with the Social Security Arbitration Tribunal within 15 days of receiving notification of that decision.

Labour Code Art. L. 331-1. - Art. L. 338-4. And Appendices 1 & 2