Rights surrounding maternity leave are long, complex and ever changing.
If you are unsure of what you should do as an employer regarding a pregnant employee’s rights, or unsure of your rights as a pregnant employee, seek advice from a specialist. Again, ACAS can help in both cases.
The following is a brief roundup of the things to consider:
Entitlement
All pregnant employees are entitled to maternity leave regardless of their duration of employment.
Statutory or enhanced
Decide whether you will offer statutory or enhanced redundancy pay. If you decide to offer enhanced pay, think about the maternity pay scale offered and how it will be awarded.
Notification
Once you are aware that the employee is pregnant, you will need to issue them with a maternity acknowledgement letter. The letter must include details of their maternity leave, pay, return to work date, time off for antenatal treatment and risk assessment.
Risk assessment
As soon as you are aware that an employee is pregnant, you will need to conduct a specific risk assessment of the workplace and in particular, areas frequented by that employee.
Time off
Pregnant employees are entitled to time off to attend antenatal appointments; agency workers are not. Contract workers may or may not be depending on the terms of their employment status.
Redundancy
An employee on maternity leave is not automatically protected from being made redundant. Their role may still be considered (and selected) for redundancy, but they are entitled to the same redundancy process as normal.
Rights
Most contractual rights remain in place during maternity leave.
Keep in touch days
If the employee and the employer agree, employees may attend work during their maternity leave for a maximum of 10 days to catch up on any role changes or to attend training. These are known as Keep in touch (KIT) days.
Return to work
Those on maternity leave have the right to return to work after their maternity leave. They also have the right to request flexible working.