Maternity Protection Revolution: New protection also for the self-employed from June 2025!

Maternity Protection Revolution: New protection also for the self-employed from June 2025!

The new reformed regulation on maternity protection in Germany, which is based on the decisions of the Merz government, is to benefit millions of women and will come into force from June 1, 2025. The aim of this revision is to support women in particular who are in precarious employment relationships or even independence. Current maternity protection already protects pregnant and breastfeeding women in an employment relationship, but leaves many other women on the outside, including self -employed and housewives.

The planned Maternity Protection Act stipulates that the self -employed person can also assert similar claims as employed. This is done as part of the revision, which was recorded in the 2025 coalition agreement. There, the introduction of maternity leave for the self -employed is mentioned, but without giving specific details about the reasons and implementations. A central point is the introduction of allocated models and other financing options for supporting affected companies.

innovations in the Maternity Protection Act

One of the central innovations is the introduction of a protection period for women who had a miscarriage until the 13th week. This regulation should give women the time to relax and offer them the opportunity to decide self -determined whether they want to make use of this new regulation. The draft law, which was adopted in the Federal Council on February 14, 2025, speaks for itself: From the 13th week of pregnancy, women receive maternity protection from 14 weeks after a dead birth that occurred in the 24th week or later.

The Maternity Protection Act (MuSchG), which came into force on January 1, 2018, had already introduced special protection against dismissal after the miscarriage after the 12th week of pregnancy. The regulations that have now been decided expand this protection and ensure that not only the physical but also the mental health issues of women are taken into account. According to the law, employers are obliged to make working conditions for pregnant or breastfeeding women in accordance with a risk assessment to ensure a healthy work environment.

obligations of employers

As part of maternity leave, employers need everything necessary to ensure that pregnant or breastfeeding women are not overloaded in their work. This also means that you have to adapt your occupational safety and make sure that women can interrupt their work during pregnancy, after birth or breastfeeding without having to fear disadvantages. The measures must be checked for their effectiveness and meet the latest scientific and technical standards.

Current statistics show that in 2023 around 5.8 percent of working women were self -employed in Germany. This number illustrates the relevance of the new regulations, which housewives and adoptive mothers have not yet granted no entitlement to maternity leave. The upcoming changes to the Maternity Protection Act could lead to the fact that this group of women also benefits the legal protection and thus continues to promote equality in working life.

It remains to be seen whether the measures are actually implemented as planned. However, it is clear that with these innovations an important step towards supporting women in different life situations is undertaken. A comprehensive reconnaissance campaign should also ensure more awareness in society.