Maternity and paternity leave in Rwanda 2026: 14 weeks, 7 days and who pays

How long is maternity leave in Rwanda?

14 consecutive weeks, which is 98 days, and that includes two weeks you may take before delivery. If a recognised doctor confirms a complication for you or your baby, your employer gives you up to one more month, paid. RSSB covers benefits for that added time too, for up to a month.

Who pays what

Law 049/2024 says your employer pays you a salary of 14 weeks, including the eight weeks covered by RSSB. RSSB pays your employer back for those eight weeks, and your employer bears the other six. RSSB's part is counted from the seventh week of leave.

Salary of the month before leave ends / 30 x days covered
400,000 / 30 x 56 days = 746,667
Paid to your employer, not to you. You keep getting your salary.

The benefit can't be more than the salary your employer declared during your leave. So it matters that your employer declares your real pay. Check your RSSB record before you go on leave.

What it costs each month

The scheme takes 0.6% of gross pay: 0.3% from you and 0.3% from your employer. On gross 400,000 that's 1,200 from each of you. RRA says all workers governed by the labour law and by the public service statutes must pay it, so it isn't only for women.

• See the maternity line in your take-home pay

Paternity leave

Article 58 gives a father seven calendar days when his wife delivers. If a recognised doctor confirms a complication for the mother or the baby, he gets five more working days. If his wife dies leaving a baby under three months old, Article 59 adds one month. Article 58 sets the days and doesn't mention pay, and the RSSB benefit is for women on maternity leave. So check your contract, and ask HR before the birth.

Premature birth

If your baby comes early, you first get leave for the days remaining to the normal nine months. During that time, your employer and RSSB each pay half of your salary. After that, you get the full 14 weeks of maternity leave.

Stillbirth, loss of a baby and miscarriage

We know these aren't easy rules to look up. If you give birth to a stillborn baby from the 20th week of pregnancy, you're entitled to eight weeks of leave. Your employer pays six weeks and RSSB pays the last two.

If your child dies after birth, you keep the rest of your maternity leave, and your salary carries on in the same way. After a miscarriage before 20 weeks, Article 56 grants leave under the relevant laws, without setting a number of days here, so speak to your doctor and your employer.

Back at work: breastfeeding and your job

• You get a paid breastfeeding break of one hour a day for 12 months after you return. That's Article 59 of Law 66/2018.
• Your employer can't end your contract because of your pregnancy. That's Article 24 bis, added in 2023.
• An employer also can't end a contract with notice while you're on leave. That's Article 24.

Other paid family leave

Article 59 of Order 02/MIFOTRA/23 gives paid circumstantial leave. It's 2 working days for a civil marriage, 7 for the death of a spouse, 5 for a child, 4 for a parent or a parent-in-law, 4 for a brother or sister and 3 for a grandparent. A transfer of over 30 km gets 3 days.

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