Maternity and sickness benefits are two of the reimbursements that the Social Security System in the Philippines covers. As one of the most gender-equal countries in the world, the Philippine government has taken it upon itself to close the gender gap by providing women additional benefits to aid them through the most difficult process that women undergo throughout their lifetimes – motherhood. With over 290,000 women disbursing this maternity benefit, the SSS has released a total of P10.49 billion just within the year of 2020 – effectively encouraging and empowering women from all walks of life.
These benefits give women incentives depending on their ability to contribute to the social security system three months preceding the pregnancy. If you’re looking for information about the SSS maternity benefit, we’ll be discussing the ins and outs of the benefits: what it is, how it’s collected, and how you can compute how much you’ll be getting as your maternity benefit.
What Are the Maternity Benefits?
Maternity benefits refer to an allowance that SSS gives to qualified women, whether for pregnancy, miscarriages, or emergency pregnancy termination. Basically, this benefit is granted to a female SSS member who is unable to work because of childbirth or a miscarriage. The allowance provides women with a daily allowance for their needs, but it is usually given in bulk sum by the woman’s employer. It is then SSS’ responsibility to reimburse the employer through checks or through direct bank transfers.
Who Can Receive SSS Maternity Benefits?
Qualified women are eligible to receive maternity benefits regardless of the frequency of their pregnancy or miscarriages. The requirements for the maternity benefits are easy and clear to understand. You just need to be a contributing female member of the Social Security System, with a minimum of three months’ worth of contributions. For employed qualified members, the daily allowance is usually released by their employers in advance, with the SSS reimbursing the company within a number of days. If you’re self-employed, separated or you’re a voluntary-paying member and you don’t have an employer to advance your maternity benefits, SSS will directly pay the benefits to you.
In addition, the recent updates in the SSS maternity benefits enacted by law removed the limit of covered pregnancies and miscarriages. In previous versions of the maternity benefits law, women can only be covered by the SSS for a total of four pregnancies or miscarriages, which has now been overthrown with the recent changes to the law, with all instances of pregnancies, miscarriages, and emergency termination being covered by the maternity leave benefit.
Are Single Women Entitled to the SSS Maternity Benefits?
A woman’s marital status is also irrelevant when it comes to SSS maternity benefits, with unmarried pregnant women having the same claim for benefits as married ones. According to Section 3 of the Republic Act No. 11210, “All covered female workers in government and the private sector, including those in the informal economy, regardless of civil status or the legitimacy of her child, shall be granted one hundred five (105) days maternity leave with full pay and an option to extend for an additional thirty (30) days without pay.”
This means that married and single women who become pregnant are entitled to the same maternity benefits from SSS regardless of their marital status. Single women who will stand as a solo parent will also be granted an additional 15 days of maternity leave with full pay.
How Do You Compute Your SSS Maternity Benefits?
If you’re curious how much SSS maternity benefit allowance you’ll be getting, there’s a simple and easy-to-use equation: (Average Monthly Salary Credit divided by 180) multiplied by (Number of Paid Leave Days). Compute your average monthly salary credit by following the steps below:
- Count backward starting from the month of delivery or miscarriage.
- Get the sum of your highest MSCs in the 12 months preceding your delivery or miscarriage.
- Divide the average MSC by 180 (days) to get your daily maternity allowance.
- Multiply your daily maternity allowance with your number of paid maternity leaves, which usually come at about 105 days if you’ve given birth or 60 days for miscarriages and stillbirths.
In the case of a young friend who just gave birth on September 10, her semester of contingency is from April to September 2021. The 12-month period within which she must have at least three months’ contribution is from April 2020 to March 2021.
Assuming that she contributed based on the maximum salary credit, the six highest salary credits within the period would be P16,000 for January to March 2021 and P15,000 for any three months from April to December 2020. Hence, following the formula explained earlier—P16,000 x 3 months = P48,000 plus P15,000 x 3 months = P45,000—one gets the sum of P93,000. Dividing this amount by 180 days will result in the average daily cash allowance of P516.67. If your young friend had a healthy pregnancy and had a successful delivery – regardless of whether she underwent normal or caesarian delivery – multiply P516.67 by 105 days, or 60 days if she suffered through a miscarriage or a stillbirth.
How Soon Can You Get Your Maternity Benefits from SSS?
Your SSS maternity benefits should be given to you by your employer after you notify them of your pregnancy or miscarriage. Release of the benefit should be within 30 days after you file for your maternity leave. These financial benefits are given to you by your employer in advance, with SSS reimbursing them at a later date. In the past, sickness and maternity benefits reimbursements were paid in the form of checks sent via registered mail to the employer. Today, all benefit reimbursements are paid through the employer’s bank account.
All employers, big or small, including household employers, are required to enroll their savings or current account in the new sickness and maternity benefit payment system. All claims for reimbursements are then paid through the employer account. Each time a payment is made, the employer will be notified through a payment advice. This new system is safer, faster, and more convenient for the employer.
Unfortunately, in some cases, employers are not able to process the maternity requests or are unable to notify SSS of an employee’s pregnancy or miscarriage. In this case, the benefits that the member would have been entitled to shall be paid by the employer.
Can You Apply for Maternity Benefits from SSS Online?
While online maternity benefit applications are not yet possible today, you can easily process your maternity benefit through your current company. To enroll in this payment system, your employer may download the enrollment form from the SSS website, visit the nearest SSS branch or get the form from an SSS-accredited bank. There are at least 29 commercial and rural banks participating in this program.
The employer should accomplish the enrollment form in two copies. The bank account signatory specified in the enrollment form should be the official designated by the employer or the company’s board of directors as its authorized signatory appearing in the bank’s record. The enrollment form should be signed by the authorized company official who is certified by the employer in the Specimen Signature Card (SSS Form-L501) as the designated signatory.
After accomplishing the enrollment form in two copies, the employer then submits the form to its designated SSS-accredited bank. The bank shall then certify to the correctness of the bank account information and then forward the enrollment form to the SSS for processing.
However, you can check the status of your enrollment online. As soon as the enrollment is completed, all employer requests for reimbursements of sickness and maternity benefits will then be paid through the employer’s bank account. If there are any changes in the bank-account information or closure of the bank account, the employer should notify the SSS as soon as possible to avoid delay in the processing of reimbursement claims.
What Other Maternity Benefits Can Women Get From SSS?
To recognize the role of women in society today, SSS has expanded the maternity benefits to be more beneficial for women in correspondence to Republic Act 11210. With the expanded maternity benefits, SSS aims to support women empowerment by granting additional compensable days and maternity leaves to give way to recovery and infant care.
With these additional benefits for women, new mothers or women who’ve suffered miscarriages or emergency pregnancy termination will be given longer paid maternity leaves regardless of the type of delivery they’ve undergone. Women are also given the prerogative to give a portion of their leaves to their partner or husband to better accustom themselves to parenthood.