{"id":54724,"date":"2025-06-18T10:16:07","date_gmt":"2025-06-18T10:16:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/helpers.hu\/%d8%ba%db%8c%d8%b1%d9%87\/maternity-leave-and-benefits-in-hungary\/"},"modified":"2025-06-30T11:33:58","modified_gmt":"2025-06-30T11:33:58","slug":"maternity-leave-and-benefits-in-hungary","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/helpers.hu\/fa\/%d8%b1%d8%a7%d9%87%da%a9%d8%a7%d8%b1%d9%87%d8%a7%db%8c-%d8%aa%d8%a3%d9%85%db%8c%d9%86-%da%a9%d8%a7%d8%b1%da%a9%d9%86%d8%a7%d9%86\/maternity-leave-and-benefits-in-hungary\/","title":{"rendered":"Maternity leave and benefits in Hungary"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Maternity leave: the official and the colloquial definition<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Officially, maternity leave is the 24 weeks a woman can take off work<\/strong> right before and after childbirth<\/strong>. Colloquially, however, maternity leave can include the unpaid leave for childcare, which is allowed until the child turns 3 years old<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

During this time, the employment relationship of the mother cannot be terminated. If the mother is a third-country national<\/strong> whose residency is dependent on their employment, they can stay in Hungary and even apply for an extension<\/strong> of her permit, since legally her employment relationship is maintained.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When to go on maternity leave<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The 24-week maternity<\/strong> leave<\/strong> may start 4 weeks before the child is supposed to be born. Usually, mothers take the last 2-3 weeks off work, depending on how they feel. The leave must be at least 6 weeks long<\/strong>, so mothers can return to work 2 weeks after giving birth the earliest if they took the last 4 weeks of the pregnancy off. Also, the maternity leave must be taken in one bulk<\/strong>. The mother cannot go back to work for just a week and then return to maternity leave; when the mother first returns to work, the leave is over.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When the maternity leave ends, an unpaid leave becomes available to mothers until the child turns 3 years old.<\/strong> Many women take this opportunity and decide to spend at least some of these formative years at home with their children.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Paternity leave<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

When their child is born, fathers also become eligible for 5 days of fully paid paternity leave<\/strong>, and an extra 5 days at 40% of their absence pay (absence pay is the name of the salary during PTO<\/a>). The paternity leave must be taken in the first 4 months after the child is born.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Parental leave<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Beside the above, parents are eligible for an additional 44 days of parental leave<\/strong> until their child turns 3. Parents receive only 10% of their absence pay<\/strong> on these days, which are not considered together with the annual leave. However, the annual leave is increased<\/strong> too<\/strong> in line with the number of children (by 2 days for 1 child, 4 days for 2 children, and 7 days for 3 or more children).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Maternity benefits<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

During and after maternity leave, the mother is eligible for the following allowances paid by the state. They are available not only to the mother, but also to the primary caregiver of the child<\/strong> if the mother is not available; this can be the father, a grandparent, a foster parent or an adoptive parent. The availability period of each benefit may be longer due to additional factors of fairness. To read about them in more detail, read our next article<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n