Maternity leave in Sri Lanka is generous by regional standards — but it’s governed by two different laws, and which one covers you decides how your days are counted, how your pay works, and even how your nursing breaks are calculated. This guide covers both, as the rules stand in 2026.
First: which law covers you?
- Shop and Office Employees Act — if you work in a shop or office: banks, retail, IT companies, agencies, professional firms, most private-sector desk jobs.
- Maternity Benefits Ordinance — if you’re a “workwoman” in a factory, estate or similar workplace: garment factories, plantations, manufacturing.
The entitlements are similar — 84 days — but the details differ, so find your regime below.
Shop & office employees: 84 working days, full pay
You’re entitled to 84 working days of paid maternity leave for every live birth, whichever child it is — the old rule that cut leave to 28 days from the third child was abolished by the 2018 amendment. Up to 14 days can be taken before your expected delivery date, with the balance (normally 70 working days) taken after.
Because the count is in working days, weekly holidays, Poya days and statutory holidays don’t use up your entitlement — in calendar terms your leave stretches well beyond three months. Leave is on full remuneration, paid by your employer as normal.
Factory and estate workers: 12 weeks under the Ordinance
Under the Maternity Benefits Ordinance the entitlement is 84 days (12 weeks) of paid leave for a live birth — again for any child, after the matching 2018 amendment — taken as up to two weeks before the confinement and the balance after. Where the pregnancy doesn’t result in a live birth, the entitlement is 42 days. Maternity benefits during the leave are paid by the employer at rates set under the Ordinance.
After you return: nursing intervals
Both regimes give a nursing mother paid feeding breaks on top of normal rest intervals, until your child is one year old: two nursing intervals per working day. Under the Ordinance these are at least 30 minutes each where a crèche is provided, and one hour each where it isn’t — and they count as worked time. If your workplace has no crèche and no practical way to nurse, raise it: the breaks are a statutory right, not a favour.
Can you be dismissed while pregnant?
No — not because of it. The Shop and Office Employees Act says your employment cannot be terminated by reason of pregnancy, confinement or any illness resulting from them — and if it’s disputed, the burden of proving the dismissal wasn’t pregnancy-related falls on the employer. On top of that, an employer cannot serve notice of dismissal while you’re on maternity leave, or notice timed to expire during it. The Maternity Benefits Ordinance carries an equivalent protection for factory and estate workers.
If you believe you’ve been dismissed or demoted over a pregnancy, document the timeline and complain to the Department of Labour — and a labour tribunal can hear an unjust-dismissal claim.
Confirm your expected date in writing to HR early; agree how the pre-birth days (up to 14) will be used; check whether your employer needs a medical certificate; and confirm your EPF contributions continue on your maternity pay — the months you’re on paid leave still count.
While you’re planning the finances of the next few months, our free salary & APIT calculator shows exactly what your monthly pay nets after tax and EPF — and your annual and casual leave keeps accruing alongside your maternity entitlement.
What expecting employees ask most.
84 days, for any child. If you're a shop or office employee it's 84 working days (weekends, Poya and holidays don't count against it), with up to 14 days usable before the birth. If you're covered by the Maternity Benefits Ordinance — factories and estates — it's 84 days taken as up to two weeks before the confinement and the balance after, with 42 days where the birth is not a live birth.
Yes for shop and office employees — the leave is with full remuneration, paid by your employer like normal salary. Under the Maternity Benefits Ordinance the employer pays maternity benefits at rates fixed under the Ordinance for the leave period. In both cases the cost falls on the employer; there is no state maternity pay scheme to apply to.
Your employer cannot terminate you because of pregnancy, childbirth or a related illness — and in a dispute, the law puts the burden on the employer to prove the dismissal had nothing to do with your pregnancy. Notice of dismissal also can't be served during maternity leave or timed to expire during it. If it happens anyway, complain to the Department of Labour or take the case to a labour tribunal.