Employees are protected by statutory maternity leave provisions. Self-employed women currently do not have this protection. At the DIHK annual meeting of IHK contact persons for the "Family in the Workplace" initiative in mid-September in Berlin, Dr Rosemarie Kay first presented the challenges faced by self-employed women during pregnancy and motherhood, as shown by research from the IfM Bonn.
She then presented a practical proposal, developed jointly with the West German Chamber of Skilled Trades, for enshrining maternity protection for the self-employed in law, which addresses the diverse needs of the self-employed.
