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What is a Maternity Policy?
A Maternity Policy sets out an employer’s maternity leave entitlements and explains the statutory entitlements to maternity leave (also known as ‘mat leave’) and pay. Maternity Policies are used to inform employees and managers about the statutory maternity leave regime.
This document is GDPR compliant.
When should I use a Maternity Policy?
Use this Maternity Policy to inform employees and managers about:
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the statutory maternity leave regime
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who is entitled to UK maternity leave
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who is entitled to UK maternity pay
Sample Maternity Policy
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Maternity Policy
Statement of Policy and Purpose of Policy
- (the Employer) recognises and respects the rights of expectant and recent mothers to take time away from work in connection with their maternity and childbirth. No one will be subjected to a detriment for exercising their right to take maternity leave in accordance with this Policy or for seeking to do so.
- The purpose of this Policy is to ensure that staff and managers are clear about entitlements to maternity leave, the process that should be followed for arranging leave and the terms that apply during and after maternity leave.
- This Policy is intended to summarise your statutory rights. If there is a contradiction between this Policy and the statutory maternity leave entitlements that apply at any time, this Policy shall be deemed to be amended, as necessary, to comply with legislative requirements.
- This is a statement of policy only and does not form part of your contract of employment. We may amend this Policy at any time, in our absolute discretion.
Definitions
- In this Policy we will use the following definitions:
- Expected Week of Childbirth: the week, starting on a Sunday, in which your doctor or midwife expects you to give birth.
- Qualifying Week: the fifteenth week before the Expected Week of Childbirth.
What is Maternity Leave and Who is Eligible to Take It?
- Maternity leave is the right for qualifying employees to take up to 52 weeks of leave in connection with their pregnancy and/or birth of their child. Pregnant employees also have the right to time off work for antenatal appointments.
- To be eligible for maternity leave you must:
- be an employee (not a contractor or consultant);
- be pregnant at the Qualifying Week;
- in general, comply with the notification requirements set out in this Policy.
- The right to take maternity leave is not dependent on your length of service, although to qualify for statutory maternity pay, you must have at least 26 weeks of service at the Qualifying Week.
- If your child is born after 4 April 2015, you can take shared parental leave instead of your full entitlement of maternity leave. For details about shared parental leave, you should contact the .
Giving Notice of Your Pregnancy
- In all cases, we request that you tell us as soon as possible that you are pregnant so that we can ensure we comply with any health and safety requirements.
- You must tell us before the end of the Qualifying Week, or as soon as reasonably practical afterwards, that you are pregnant, the dates of your Expected Week of Childbirth and when you would like your maternity leave to start.
- You must also confirm your Expected Week of Childbirth by providing us with a certificate from a doctor or midwife (this will usually be on a MAT B1 form).
Antenatal Appointments
- During pregnancy, you may take time off from work to attend antenatal classes. You will be paid as normal. Please give us as much notice as you can of your intention to take time off. If you haven't already given us a certificate of your pregnancy from your midwife, doctor or health visitor then we will ask you to provide this and an appointment card for the class, except for the first appointment.
Health and Safety During Your Pregnancy
- As well as our normal health and safety duties to all our staff, we will assess workplace risks specific to pregnant women and those who have recently become mothers and/or are breastfeeding. When you tell us that you are pregnant, we will inform you of any relevant risks that we have identified along with the measures that you and we must take to help protect against those risks. In some cases, we may need to take steps to protect you and/or your child against health hazards that may include having to:
- change your working arrangements;
- offer you suitable alternative work, on terms and conditions that are the same or not substantially less favourable; or
- suspend you from duties on full pay (or if you have unreasonably refused suitable alternative work, without pay).
Sickness
- If you are absent from work because of pregnancy-related sickness then your entitlement to payment will be as for any other period of sickness absence and subject to the same limits and conditions, as set out in Payment in excess of the normal rules is at our discretion.
- Pregnancy-related sickness absence will not be taken into account for the purpose of any employment decisions to which sickness absence is relevant.
- During the four weeks immediately before your Expected Week of Childbirth, any sickness absence will normally automatically trigger the start of your maternity leave.
Starting Maternity Leave
- As noted above, you must formally notify us of the date on which you want to start maternity leave before the end of the Qualifying Week.
- Your maternity leave cannot start earlier than 11 weeks before the Expected Week of Childbirth (unless you give birth prematurely before then). Within 28 days of receiving your notice, we will confirm to you in writing the last date by which you must return from maternity leave.
- You can change the start date for your maternity leave by giving us written notice. You must give the notice at least 28 days before the earlier of (i) the new start date or (ii) the original start date. If it is not possible to give that much notice then you must notify us as soon as reasonably practicable.
- Your maternity leave will start on the date notified to us in accordance with this Policy unless:
- you give birth before then, in which case your leave will start on the day after the birth and you must give us written notice of the date of birth as soon as possible; or
- you are absent from work for a pregnancy-related reason during the four weeks immediately before the Expected Week of Childbirth, in which case you must tell us as soon as possible in writing and leave will start on the day following the first day of that absence unless we agree otherwise.
- You may not work during the two weeks immediately after giving birth, by law, so your maternity leave period must include these two weeks.
- Near the time when your leave is due to start, we will discuss the arrangements for your maternity cover and the arrangements for keeping in touch with us during your leave, if you wish to do so. During your leave, you will continue to receive certain internal communications like job vacancies, social events, training and similar news unless you tell us that you would prefer not to receive these.
Maternity Pay
- During your maternity leave, qualifying employees will be entitled to receive statutory maternity pay (SMP) for up to 39 weeks. To qualify, you must:
- still be employed and have at least 26 weeks of continuous employment at the end of the Qualifying Week;
- provide us with a doctor's or midwife's certificate (MAT B1 form) confirming the date of your Expected Week of Childbirth;
- have average earnings during the eight weeks ending with the Qualifying Week (the Relevant Period) of at least the lower earnings limit set by the Government; and
- notify us of your intention to take maternity leave at least 28 days in advance or, if that is not possible, give us as much notice as you can.
- During the first six weeks of your maternity leave, SMP is paid at 90% of your average weekly earnings calculated over the Relevant Period. After that, for up to a further 33 weeks, it is paid at a statutory rate set annually by the Government.
- If you are due a pay rise during your maternity leave then this will be deemed to have applied during the Relevant Period, which will have the effect of retrospectively increasing your entitlement to SMP for the first six weeks of your maternity leave. If you have already received your SMP for that six weeks then we will pay you the difference in a lump sum. Otherwise, we will pay your SMP through normal payroll, less tax, National Insurance and any other lawful deductions.
- SMP will stop being payable if you return to work (except where you are simply keeping in touch in as described in the "During maternity leave" section below).
- If you leave employment after the start of the Qualifying Week you will still be eligible for SMP from the later of (i) the week following your final week of employment or (ii) the 11th week before the Expected Week of Childbirth.
During Maternity Leave
- While you are on maternity leave, your normal terms of employment will continue to apply except for your entitlement to pay. In particular, benefits in kind shall continue and you will continue to accrue holiday. The effect of your maternity leave on your pension arrangements depends on the type of scheme in which you are participating and the terms of your participation. For further information on this, speak to the .
- Although we will respect your absence during your maternity leave, we may need to make contact with you from time to time. In particular, we will make contact shortly before your maternity leave ends to arrange a discussion with you about your return to work including any training needs, proposed changes to your working arrangements or just to update you on developments in your absence. If you have any concerns regarding this, you should speak with the .
- In addition, if you would like to attend work for training or other reasons during your maternity leave then you can do so for up to ten days by prior agreement with us. You are under no obligation to do this. Attending work on this basis will not end your maternity leave or your entitlement to maternity pay. If you would like to discuss this option further, you should speak with the .
Expected Return Date
- As noted above, we will confirm to you the date on which you are expected to return to work after maternity leave within 28 days of your notifying your pregnancy and leave start date to us. If your maternity leave start date changes for any reason then we will confirm the revised return to work date to you within 28 days of the start of your maternity leave.
- If you plan to come back to work on the return date that we have notified to you then you are not obliged to do anything further, although we would be grateful if you would help us plan ahead by confirming during your leave that you will return as expected.
- If you wish to return to work earlier than the date that we have notified to you then you will need to give us at least eight weeks' prior notice of the new date and we request that you do this in writing. If you don't give us eight weeks' notice then we may postpone your return until the sooner of eight weeks from the date of your notice or the date that you were originally expected to return.
- If you wish to return later than the date we have notified to you then you should either:
- request parental leave in accordance with our , by giving us at least days' notice; or
- request to take holiday in accordance with your contract.
- If sickness absence prevents you from returning on the planned date then the normal rules relating to sickness absence will apply.
- In any other case, late return will be treated as unauthorised absence.
- If you decide not to return to work at all then you must give notice of resignation in accordance with your contract of employment. If your maternity leave is due to end during the currency of your notice period then you may be required to return to work until your notice period expires.
When You Return to Work
- In general, you will return to work in the same job and on the same terms as if you had not been absent. However, in some cases where you have taken more than six months' leave or any period of parental leave in conjunction with your maternity leave then we may offer you another suitable role, on terms and conditions that are not less favourable than those that applied before your leave.
- If you wish to change your working patterns when you return to work then you should make a request for flexible working in line with set procedures that Flexible working requests take time to deal with so it's important that you make your request as soon as possible, otherwise you may have to return to work on the basis of your prior working patterns until the process of dealing with the request has finished.
Rights to Leave on Adoption
- Certain employees can take adoption leave, paternity leave or shared parental leave in relation to the adoption of a child. Further details are set out in our which is available from the .
Data Protection
- The Employer processes personal data when managing employees' right to maternity leave in accordance with its Data Protection Policy.
- In particular, data collected as part of this procedure is held securely and accessed by, and disclosed to, individuals only for the purposes of responding to maternity leave requests and managing maternity leave.
- Inappropriate access or disclosure of Employee data constitutes a data breach and should be reported in accordance with the Employer's Data Protection Policy immediately. It may also constitute a disciplinary offence, which will be dealt with under the Employer's Disciplinary Procedure.
Attribution
- This Maternity Policy was created using a document from Rocket Lawyer (https://www.rocketlawyer.com/gb/en).
About Maternity Policies
Learn more about making your Maternity Policy
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How to make a Maternity Policy
Making a Maternity Policy online is simple. Just answer a few questions and Rocket Lawyer will build your document for you. When you have all of the details prepared in advance, making your document is a quick and easy process.
To make your Maternity Policy you will need the following information:
Employer
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What is the employer's name?
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What is the job title of the person to whom the employees should address queries and notifications?
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Will the employer provide enhanced pay during maternity leave (or part of it) and/or pay a bonus to employees returning to work after maternity leave?
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If so, does an employee need to have a minimum period of service before they are entitled to enhanced maternity pay and/or a bonus? How many months of service must the employee have to be entitled to this?
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Enhanced maternity pay
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Will an employee receive enhanced maternity pay during their entire maternity leave?
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If not, what is the period of enhanced maternity pay?
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What percentage of an employee's base salary is the enhanced maternity pay entitlement?
Bonus
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Will the employer calculate the bonus to be paid to an employee returning to work after maternity leave:
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As a percentage of the employee's base salary? If so, what percentage of the employee's base salary is the bonus entitlement?
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As a fixed amount? If so, how much is the employee bonus?
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Does the employee need to remain employed for a minimum period of time after returning from maternity leave to be entitled to a bonus?
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If so, how long after returning from maternity leave does the employee need to remain employed to be entitled to a bonus?
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Other policies
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Are the employer’s provisions for sickness leave set out in the:
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Employee's Contract of employment?
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Employer's Sickness policy? If so, what is the name of the document containing the sickness policy?
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What is the name of the document containing the employer's Parental leave policy?
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What is the notice period for requesting parental leave if an employee does not wish to return after the end of their maternity leave?
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Does the employer have a Shared parental leave policy?
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Does the employer have a Paternity policy?
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Can employees find out about adoption leave:
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In the employer's Adoption leave policy? If so, what is the name of the employer's adoption leave policy?
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From an employee's contact person?
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Can employees find out about the procedures for flexible working requests:
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In the employer's Flexible working policy? If so, what is the name of the employer's flexible working policy?
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From an employee's contact person?
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Common terms in a Maternity Policy
Maternity Policies are used to clearly outline employees’ maternity leave and pay entitlements. As a result, this Maternity Policy template covers:
Statement of policy and purpose of Policy
This section sets out why the employer has adopted the Maternity Policy and explains that it exists to ensure that employees and managers are clear about entitlements to maternity leave, the process that should be followed for arranging leave, and the terms that apply during and after maternity leave. It also highlights that the Maternity Policy does not form part of anyone’s employment contract and can, therefore, be changed at the employer’s discretion.
Definitions
This section explains what certain defined terms, which are used throughout the Policy, mean. Specifically, it clarifies that ‘Expected Week of Childbirth’ means the week, starting on a Sunday, in which the employee’s doctor or midwife expects them to give birth. ‘Qualifying Week’ means the fifteenth week before the Expected Week of Childbirth.
What is maternity leave and who is eligible to take it?
This section provides information on what maternity leave is (including its duration). It also sets out who is entitled to take maternity leave and highlights the right to take shared parental leave.
Giving notice of your pregnancy
This section sets out how employees should give notice of their pregnancy. It also encourages pregnant employees to inform their employer as soon as possible, so that the employer can make all necessary arrangements.
Antenatal appointments
This section covers the right to attend antenatal appointments and sets out that time taken off for antenatal appointments will be paid at an employee’s normal rate.
Health and safety during your pregnancy
This section covers the employer’s duty to ensure the health and safety of pregnant employees in the workplace. Specifically, it addresses the employer’s assessment of workplace risks specific to pregnant women and to those who have recently become mothers and/or who are breastfeeding. It also sets out that employees will be informed of any specific risks and how the employee will be protected from them.
Sickness
This section addresses any sickness absences the employee may experience. It clarifies that any pregnancy-related sickness absences will be handled in the same way as any other sickness absences. Further, it sets out when sickness absences will automatically trigger the start of maternity leave.
Starting maternity leave
This section sets out how maternity leave is started. This includes details on when and how an employee should notify their employer of their pregnancy and their intended maternity leave start date. It also explains when maternity leave can start and when it must be taken.
Maternity pay
This section details the right to maternity pay, covering statutory maternity pay and, if relevant, enhanced maternity pay. It sets out at what rates maternity pay will be paid and when it will stop being paid.
During maternity leave
This section sets out how an employee will be treated during maternity leave. This includes employment contracts continuing as normal (apart from payment provisions), keeping in touch days, and when the employer may contact employees. It also sets out a contact person to whom any questions about maternity leave and/or pay should be addressed.
Expected return date
This section sets out details relating to an employee’s expected return date after maternity leave. This includes when the expected return date will be confirmed, how the expected return date can be changed and how parental leave can be requested.
When you return to work
This section sets out details relating to an employee’s returning to work after maternity leave. It clarifies that employees are generally entitled to return to work in the same job and on the same terms as if they had not been absent. It also highlights when this is not the case - namely when an employee has taken more than 6 months of leave or any period of parental leave in conjunction with their maternity leave. If this is the case, this section clarifies that the employer may offer the employee another suitable role on terms and conditions that are not less favourable than those that applied before their leave.
This section also addresses how employees can request changes to their working patterns when they return to work. It clarifies that any such Flexible working requests should be made as soon as possible.
Rights to leave on adoption
This section highlights the rights of certain employees to take adoption leave, paternity leave or shared parental leave in relation to the adoption of a child.
Data protection
This section explains that the employer will process employee personal data when managing employees' rights to maternity leave. It clarifies that this will be done in accordance with the employer’s Data protection policy and that any inappropriate access or disclosure of such data constitutes a data breach, which should be reported immediately and which may result in disciplinary action under the employer’s Disciplinary procedure.
If you want your Maternity Policy to include further or more detailed provisions, you can edit your document. However, if you do this, you may want a lawyer to review or change the Maternity Policy for you, to make sure it complies with all relevant laws and meets your specific needs. Ask a lawyer for assistance.
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Legal tips for making a Maternity Policy
Decide whether you want to offer enhanced maternity pay
While you don’t have to offer enhanced maternity pay, it is a good way to show your workforce that they are valued and it helps to retain talent. Not only does offering enhanced maternity pay make a business seem more appealing to prospective employees, it also improves staff retention (reducing employee turnover and recruitment costs) and increases employee satisfaction. For more information, see the FAQ ‘What is enhanced maternity pay?’.
Understand when maternity leave is compulsory
While statutory maternity leave can be up to 12 months, there are certain circumstances in which maternity leave must be taken. Maternity leave is compulsory in the first 2 weeks after a baby is born. This means that employees are not allowed to work during the 2 weeks immediately after they’ve given birth. If an employee works in a factory, this compulsory maternity leave is extended to 4 weeks. For more information, read Maternity leave.
Consider what other policies you should adopt
This Maternity Policy makes reference to several other policies which you should consider making and implementing. These include:
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a Sickness policy - setting out how any sickness absences are handled and staff members’ entitlement to sick pay
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a Parental leave policy - detailing the right to take up to 18 weeks of unpaid parental leave before a child’s 18th birthday
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a Shared parental leave policy - setting out the right that employees have to share time off work when a child is born
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a Paternity policy - setting out the right that certain employees have to take paid paternity leave
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an Adoption leave policy - setting out the leave and pay rights that employees have when adopting a child
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a Flexible working policy - detailing the right to request flexible working
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a Data protection policy - setting out how the employer processes (eg handles and stores) personal data (eg employees’ names, addresses and medical information). This document is essential for employers to demonstrate their compliance with data protection obligations
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a Disciplinary procedure - outlining how any workplace disciplinary issues will be handled
For more information on these policies (and any other policies you may wish to adopt), read HR policies and procedures. For more information on family-friendly rights and policies, read Family leave and rights.
Understand what situations may affect maternity pay
Typically, employees are entitled to receive statutory maternity pay (SMP) for up to 39 weeks. However, certain situations may affect SMP entitlements. Examples include:
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if an employee becomes sick while on maternity leave
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if an employee has a stillbirth
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if an employee has a miscarriage
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if a child is born prematurely or earlier than expected
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pregnancy-related absences close to a child’s due date
For more information on the effects of these situations, read Circumstances that can affect maternity pay.
Be aware of the special rules
Generally, after maternity leave, employees are entitled to return to their roles on the same terms as before maternity leave. However, there may be circumstances in which an employee needs to be made redundant while on maternity leave. It is crucial that any such redundancies are treated fairly and that the employee is not treated less favourably because of their pregnancy or being on maternity leave. For more information, read Redundancy and pregnancy or maternity leave and Ask a lawyer if you’re considering making an employee who is pregnant or on maternity leave redundant.
Understand when to seek advice from a lawyer
Ask a lawyer if:
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this document doesn’t meet your specific needs
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you want to change an existing policy that is contractually binding
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allegations of discrimination are made in connection with maternity leave
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Maternity Policy FAQs
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What is included in a Maternity Policy?
This Maternity Policy template covers:
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the entitlement to leave for antenatal appointments
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what maternity leave is
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who is eligible for maternity leave
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when maternity leave can be taken
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notification requirements
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statutory maternity pay
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employer's enhanced maternity pay
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rights during maternity leave
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returning to work after leave
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Why do I need a Maternity Policy?
Introducing a Maternity Policy helps managers and employees understand the rights and obligations attached to maternity leave. It ensures employees are aware of their rights when they get pregnant and it provides assistance on their return to work. Having a Maternity Policy encourages equality and fairness within the workplace. It also helps retain employees, demonstrates the employer's commitment to diversity and inclusion, and fosters a supportive and inclusive workplace culture.
For more information about different types of family leave, read Family leave and rights.
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What are antenatal appointments?
Pregnant employees have certain rights relating to antenatal care (ie care received before a child is born). An antenatal appointment is any appointment an employee has which relates to their pregnancy and their child. Throughout a pregnancy, employees will have regular antenatal appointments which may include health checks, ultrasounds, and screening tests. However, antenatal appointments don’t just mean medical appointments but can also include antenatal or parenting classes that have been recommended by a doctor or midwife.
Pregnant employees are entitled to paid time off work to attend such antenatal appointments. Employers must pay this at the employee’s normal rate of pay.
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What are the eligibility criteria for maternity leave?
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When can maternity leave be taken?
The earliest date maternity leave can start is 11 weeks before the expected week of childbirth. In some situations, maternity leave can start earlier than planned. In particular, it can start:
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the day after the child's birth if the child is born prematurely
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immediately, if the employee is sick for a pregnancy-related reason during the 4 weeks before the expected week of childbirth
For more information, read Maternity leave.
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What are an employee's rights and obligations during maternity leave?
During maternity leave, an employee's employment contract continues except for pay entitlement. All other benefits must continue as normal. This means employees on maternity leave are entitled to pay rises, benefits of any kind, and accrued holiday as they usually would be.
If an employee who is on maternity leave receives a pay raise, their statutory maternity pay (SMP) must be retrospectively adjusted. This means that their SMP must be calculated as if the pay raise had been in place when their SMP was first calculated.
Employers must also take care to adjust any relevant performance and bonus targets to avoid discriminating against and penalising employees on maternity leave. A good approach is to pro-rate these targets. Any bonuses that are not performance-based (eg loyalty bonuses) should not be reduced. For more information, read Bonuses at work.
Pension contributions also need to be made during paid maternity leave.
For more information, read Maternity leave.
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What is statutory maternity pay?
When maternity leave starts, employees are entitled to statutory maternity pay (SMP) for up to 39 weeks. SMP amounts to:
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90% of an employee’s normal pay during the first 6 weeks, and
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90% of their average weekly salary or £184.03 a week (from 7 April 2024) whichever is lower, for a further 33 weeks
To qualify for SMP, employees must:
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earn (on average) at least £123 a week (as of April 2023)
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give their employer at least 28 days’ notice for SMP to start
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prove that they are pregnant, and
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have at least 26 weeks of continuous employment on the 15th week before the expected week of childbirth
For more information, read Maternity leave.
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What is enhanced maternity pay?
Enhanced maternity pay (also known as ‘contractual maternity pay’) is the employer’s own maternity pay scheme which goes above and beyond the statutory requirements. For example, employers may pay enhanced maternity pay at 100% of employees’ usual wages for the first 26 weeks of maternity pay, followed by 13 weeks of SMP.
Enhanced maternity pay does not need to be paid for the whole of an employee’s maternity leave.
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When should employees return to work?
Employees should return to work after the maternity leave period ends. Employers must indicate the date of return in writing within 28 days from the date the employee notified the employer of their maternity leave.
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What are Keeping In Touch (KIT) days?
While on maternity leave, employees can agree on up to 10 keeping in touch (KIT) days with their employer. KIT days allow the employee to work or attend training while on maternity leave. This is designed to help employees stay in touch with work while they’re on maternity leave.
During any KIT days, employees must be paid their normal pay (ie what they’re normally paid when working). An employee’s right to mat leave and pay is not affected by taking any KIT days.
KIT days are optional. This means that both the employer and employee have to agree to them.
Generally, when an employee wants to work KIT days, they should speak to their employer and discuss:
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how many KIT days they want to work
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what type of work they'll do on the days
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how much they’ll be paid (this should be their usual salary and cannot be below the national minimum wage)
For more information, see the Government’s website.
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Should the Maternity Policy include provisions regarding parental leave?
An employee may not wish to return to work after the end of their maternity leave. Your Maternity Policy should mention that, in such cases, employees should notify the employer that they wish to request parental leave. It is a good idea for employers to adopt a Parental leave policy so that employees are aware of, and understand, their rights with regard to parental leave.
For more information, read Parental leave.
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