Maternity & Extended Leave
A long, paid absence touches leave, payroll, and statutory contributions at once. Set the leave type up correctly and the system carries it; here's what to decide.
It starts with the leave type
Maternity (and any extended paid leave) is a time-off type, and how you configure that type decides everything downstream. The settings that matter for long leave:
| Setting | The decision |
|---|---|
| Pay code | Which line maternity pay appears under on the payslip — usually its own, so it's distinct from regular salary in reports. |
| Statutory treatment (e.g. NIB) | Whether the leave pay counts toward social-security contributions. Caribbean rules vary by jurisdiction — confirm with your accountant and set the type's tax switches to match. |
| Lump-sum payment | Whether the employee can be paid the leave in advance as one sum rather than period by period — common for maternity. Enable it on the type to make it available. |
| Balance | Maternity is usually a fixed statutory entitlement rather than an accruing balance — set the policy thresholds to the legal entitlement for your country. |
Putting someone on leave
- The employee (or you, on their behalf) submits a time-off request of the maternity type covering the full leave period.
- If you're paying it as a lump sum up front, choose the payment-advance option on the request — the system distributes the days across the upcoming pay periods within your account's lookahead window, so a single approval can pay weeks of leave at once. See time off → payroll for how advances flow.
- Approve it. The leave lands in payroll under its pay code, with statutory contributions handled per the type's settings.
While they're away
An employee on extended leave stays active — they keep their record, their profile, and their place in payroll for the leave pay. Don't terminate and rehire; that breaks their continuity of service and their leave balances. If pay during leave steps down after a period (full pay then half pay, say), that's either a scheduled change on their employment record or a switch in how the leave is paid — plan the dates before the leave starts.
Coming back
Return is usually nothing more than the leave period ending — regular pay resumes automatically once the maternity time off no longer covers the pay period. If their role, hours, or pay changed for the return, record that as an employment update (see raises and changes) effective on their return date.