Court of Justice finds that self-employed women have maternity rights

The Court of Justice has handed down judgment on 19 September 2019 in the case of  HMRC v Dakneviciute C-544/18 holding that “a woman who ceases self-employed activity in circumstances where there are physical constraints in the late stages of pregnancy and the aftermath of childbirth retains the status of being self-employed, provided that she returns to the same or another self-employed activity or employment within a reasonable period after the birth of her child”.

The UK position has been that women who have even short periods of maternity leave lose their EU law right of residence and therefore lose their right to welfare benefits and stop accruing continuous residence to count towards permanent residence.