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Court approves extra leave for ill mother

2014-02-25 10:23 Global Times Web Editor: Li Yan
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Jing'an district court has ruled that a local software company had no right to fire a woman who took an extra two months off after her maternity leave to deal with postpartum depression, the court said.

The court awarded the 34-year-old employee, whom it called Zhao Ming, 117,000 yuan ($19,185) in back salary and ordered her employer, which was not named, to rehire her, according to a press release from Jing'an District People's Court.

Zhao joined the company in September 2011, earning a salary of 18,540 yuan a month, the court said.

She gave birth to her baby on March 21, 2012, which under Chinese law granted her maternity leave until June 20, according to the press release. On that day, she sent an e-mail to her company requesting an additional leave of absence because she was suffering from postpartum depression.

According to municipal regulations, women who suffer from postpartum depression are entitled to up to six and a half months of paid leave at 70 percent of their salary after their maternity leave ends.

The company rejected Zhao's request in July because she hadn't provided a doctor's certificate to prove she was ill. In August, she submitted the certificate, which was issued by the Shanghai Mental Health Center.

Three days later, the company dismissed Zhao on the grounds that she turned in the certificate too late and still needed to submit several other required documents, the court said.

In October 2012, Zhao took the matter to a labor arbitration board, which ruled in her favor and ordered the company to rehire her.

In August 2013, the company filed a lawsuit to have the labor arbitration board's ruling overturned on the grounds that Zhao submitted the certificate too late. It also questioned the document's authenticity.

The court ruled that although Zhao submitted the certificate late, she did get it to the company before she was fired. The court also confirmed that the certificate was authentic.

In line with its decision, the court ordered the company to compensate Zhao for the salary she would've made from June 20, 2012 to last week, when it issued its ruling, said Li Hongguang, the court's press officer.

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