If you are pregnant as a woman, you are protected by the maternity protection act<\\/a>. If you are pregnant and working, your employer must ensure that you and the child are not endangered by the work. You are then usually not allowed to work for six weeks before you have the child. There are also professions in which you are not allowed to work earlier because the work could be dangerous for the baby. Once you have your child, you may not work for eight weeks. While you are on maternity leave, you will receive your salary. The employer cannot dismiss you because you are pregnant. During this time you have special protection against dismissal. Then you can decide whether you want to work again or take parental leave. Parental leave is an unpaid break from work for parents who want to take care of their child themselves. The child’s father can also take parental leave. You can take parental leave for up to three years in total. During this time you do not have to work and do not receive a salary. Instead, you can apply for parental allowance, for example. During parental leave you cannot be dismissed by your employer. When parental leave is over, in most cases you can return to your old job. More information on maternity and parental leave is available, for example, from the labor law and social law advisory service of the Chamber of Employees<\\/a>. <\\/p>\