Employment Act 1955 · Updated to 1 Aug 2023 · Part IX · Pregnancy and Maternity
41. Payment of allowance to nominee
Feedback & supportA female employee may nominate some other person to whom the maternity allowance may be paid on her behalf and any payment of the maternity allowance made to the person so nominated shall, for the purposes of this Act, be deemed to be a payment to the female employee herself.
employee
“employee” means any person or class of persons— (a) included in any category in the First Schedule to the extent specified therein; or (b) in respect of whom the Minister makes an order under subsection (3) or section 2a;
Restriction on termination of pregnant female employee 41a. (1) Where a female employee is pregnant or is suffering from an illness arising out of her pregnancy, it shall be an offence for her employer to terminate her services or give her notice of termination of service, except on the grounds of—
employer
“employer” means any person who has entered into a contract of service to employ any other person as an employee and includes the agent, manager or factor of such first mentioned person, and the word “employ”, with its grammatical variations and cognate expressions, shall be construed accordingly;
wilful breach of a condition of the contract of service under subsection 13(2);
contract of service
“contract of service” means any agreement, whether oral or in writing and whether express or implied, whereby one person agrees to employ another as an employee and that other agrees to serve his employer as an employee and includes an apprenticeship contract;
misconduct under subsection 14(1); or
closure of the employer’s business.
Where the service of a female employee under subsection (1)
is terminated, the burden of proving that such termination is not on the ground of her pregnancy or on the ground of illness arising out of her pregnancy, shall rest on the employer.