The employment contract may not be terminated during the period between delivery to the employer of the sickness certificate attesting to the pregnancy and the expiry of a period of 12 months after birth takes place, including during the probationary period.
In the context of an open-ended employment contract, once this protection period has ended, the portion of the probationary period, that was suspended as from the submission of the medical certificate confirming the pregnancy, resumes, and each party regains the right to terminate the contract, including during the probationary period.
In the context of a fixed-term employment contract, once this protection period has ended, since there is no suspension of the probationary period for a pregnant employee, two scenarios must be distinguished:
- if the probationary period expired during the protection period, the employment contract resumes and will end on the initially agreed date (except in cases of early termination);
- if the probationary period has not expired at the end of the protection period, it will continue to run and the contract may be terminated during the probationary period.