This policy outlines the statutory rights and responsibilities of employees who are pregnant or have recently given birth and sets out the arrangements for ante-natal care, pregnancy-related sickness, health and safety, and Maternity Leave. It does not apply to agency workers or the self-employed.
This policy does not form part of any employee's contract of employment and we may amend it at any time.
The definitions in this paragraph apply in this policy.
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.
Our Chief Executive has overall responsibility for the effective operation of this policy and for ensuring compliance with the relevant statutory framework. The Chief Executive has delegated day-to-day responsibility for operating the policy and ensuring its maintenance and review to the Chief Operating Officer (COO).
Managers have a specific responsibility to ensure the fair application of this policy and all members of staff are responsible for supporting colleagues and ensuring its success.
You must inform us as soon as possible that you are pregnant. This is important as there may be health and safety considerations.
Before the end of the qualifying week, or as soon as reasonably practical afterwards, you must tell us:
You must provide a certificate from a doctor or midwife (usually on a MAT B1 Form) confirming your expected week of childbirth.
If you are pregnant, you may take reasonable paid time off during working hours for ante-natal care. You should try to give us as much notice as possible of the appointment.
We may ask you to provide the following, unless it is the first appointment:
Periods of pregnancy-related sickness absence shall be paid in accordance with our Sickness Absence Policy in the same manner as any other sickness absence. Any payment of sick pay in excess of this as a result of pregnancy-related sickness shall be entirely at our discretion.
Periods of pregnancy-related sickness absence from the start of your pregnancy until the end of your Maternity Leave will be recorded separately from other sickness records and will be disregarded in any future employment-related decisions.
If you are absent for a pregnancy-related reason during the four weeks before your expected week of childbirth, your Maternity Leave will usually start automatically.
We have a general duty to take care of the health and safety of all employees. We are also required to carry out a risk assessment to assess the workplace risks to women who are pregnant, have given birth within the last six months or are still breastfeeding.
We will provide you with information as to any risks identified in the risk assessment, and any preventive and protective measures that have been or will be taken. If we consider that, as a new or expectant mother, you would be exposed to health hazards in carrying out your normal work we will take such steps as are necessary (for as long as they are necessary) to avoid those risks. This may involve:
All employees are entitled to up to 52 weeks' Maternity Leave, which is divided into:
The earliest date you can start Maternity Leave is 11 weeks before the expected week of childbirth (unless your child is born prematurely before that date).
You must notify us of your intended start date in accordance with the notification paragraph at the start of this policy. We will then write to you within 28 days to inform you of the date we will expect you to return to work if you take your full entitlement to Maternity Leave (expected return date).
You can postpone your intended start date by informing us in writing at least 28 days before the original intended start date, or if that is not possible, as soon as reasonably practicable.
You can bring forward the intended start date by informing us at least 28 days before the new start date, or if that is not possible, as soon as reasonably practicable.
Maternity Leave shall start on the earlier of:
If you are absent for a pregnancy-related reason during the four weeks before the expected week of childbirth, you must let us know as soon as possible in writing. Maternity Leave will be triggered unless we agree to delay it.
If you give birth before your Maternity Leave was due to start, you must let us know the date of the birth in writing as soon as possible.
The law prohibits you from working during the two weeks following childbirth.
Shortly before your Maternity Leave starts we will discuss with you the arrangements for covering your work and the opportunities for you to remain in contact, should you wish to do so, during your leave. Unless you request otherwise, you will remain on circulation lists for internal news, job vacancies, training and work-related social events.
We offer an enhanced system of maternity pay, well above the statutory level. Providing that you meet the eligibility criteria set out in previous sections, are eligible for Statutory Maternity Pay (SMP) (see below) and you adhere to the requirements of the policy, the rate of pay will be as follows:
CMP is inclusive of any entitlement to SMP.
SMP is payable up to 39 weeks. SMP will stop being payable if you return to work (except where you are simply keeping in touch in accordance with the terms of the keeping in touch paragraph of this policy).
You are entitled to SMP if:
SMP is calculated as follows:
SMP accrues from the day on which you commence your OML and thereafter at the end of each complete week of absence. SMP payments shall be made on the next normal payroll date and income tax, National Insurance and pension contributions shall be deducted as appropriate.
You shall still be eligible for SMP if you leave employment for any reason after the start of the qualifying week (for example, if you resign or are made redundant). In such cases, if your Maternity Leave has not already begun, SMP shall start to accrue in whichever is the later of:
If you become eligible for a pay rise before the end of your Maternity Leave, you will be treated, for SMP purposes, as if the pay rise had applied throughout the relevant period. This means that your SMP will be recalculated and increased retrospectively, or that you may qualify for SMP if you did not previously qualify.
We shall pay you a lump sum to make up the difference between any SMP already paid and the amount payable by virtue of the pay rise. Any future SMP payments at the Earnings-Related Rate (if any) will also be increased as necessary.
You are entitled to request income smoothing during your OML and AML. This would involve your total entitlement to maternity pay (including both CMP and SMP) being paid over up to 12 equal instalments, depending on the planned duration of your Maternity Leave. For example, if you took 11 months of Maternity Leave, your Maternity Pay would be spread over 11 instalments. The detail of any smoothing arrangement would be confirmed to you in writing.
Should you take more or less Maternity Leave than originally requested, your pay on return to work would be adjusted, which may include us making a deduction from your pay, to ensure that any overpayment or underpayment was corrected.
All the terms and conditions of your employment remain in force during OML and AML, except for the terms relating to pay. In particular:
During OML and AML, annual leave will accrue at the rate provided under your contract.
You should where possible ensure that you have taken the full year's entitlement before starting your Maternity Leave. If leave is carried forward, it should be taken before you return to work.
Our holiday year runs from 1 April to 31 March.
During any paid OML or AML, we shall continue to make any employer contributions that we usually make into a defined benefit pension scheme, based on what your earnings would have been if you had not been on Maternity Leave provided that you continue to make contributions based on the Maternity Pay you are receiving.
If you wish to increase your contributions to make up any shortfall from those based on your normal salary, then please contact the Manager or the Pensions Administrator directly.
During any unpaid AML we shall not make any payments into a money purchase scheme and the time shall not count as pensionable service under the final salary scheme. You do not have to make any contributions, but you may do so if you wish, or you may make up for missed contributions at a later date.
Employees on Maternity Leave shall be given first refusal on any suitable alternative vacancies that are appropriate to their skills.
We may make reasonable contact with you from time to time during your Maternity Leave.
You may work (including attending training) for up to ten days during Maternity Leave without bringing your Maternity Leave or SMP to an end. The arrangements, including pay, would be set by agreement with the Chief Operating Officer. You are not obliged to undertake any such work during Maternity Leave. In any case, you must not work in the two weeks following birth.
Shortly before you are due to return to work, we may invite you to have a discussion (whether in person or by telephone) about the arrangements for your return. This may cover:
Once you have notified us in writing of your intended start date, we shall send you a letter within 28 days to inform you of your expected return date. If your start date has been changed (either because you gave us notice to change it, or because Maternity Leave started early due to illness or premature childbirth) we shall write to you within 28 days of the start of Maternity Leave with a revised expected return date.
We will expect you back at work on your expected return date unless you tell us otherwise. It will help us if, during your Maternity Leave, you are able to confirm that you will be returning to work as expected.
If you wish to return to work earlier than the expected return date, you must give us eight weeks' prior notice. It is helpful if you give this notice in writing.
If not enough notice is given, we may postpone your return date until eight weeks after you gave notice, or to the expected return date if sooner.
If you wish to return later than the expected return date (following any Phased Return request), you should either:
If you are unable to return to work due to sickness or injury, this will be treated as sickness absence and our Sickness Absence Policy will apply.
In any other case, late return will be treated as unauthorised absence.
If you do not intend to return to work, or are unsure, it is helpful if you discuss this with us as early as possible. If you decide not to return you should give notice of resignation in accordance with your contract. The amount of Maternity Leave left to run when you give notice must be at least equal to your contractual notice period, otherwise we may require you to return to work for the remainder of the notice period.
Once you have given notice that you will not be returning to work, you cannot change your mind without our agreement.
This does not affect your right to receive SMP. However, should you decide not to return to work, you will not be required to re-pay any amount in excess of SMP which has been paid to you.
You are normally entitled to return to work in the same position as you held before commencing leave. Your terms of employment shall be the same as they would have been had you not been absent.
However, if you have taken any period of AML or more than four weeks' parental leave, and it is not reasonably practicable for us to allow you to return into the same position, we may give you another suitable and appropriate job on terms and conditions that are not less favourable.
We will deal with any requests by employees to change their working patterns (such as working part-time) after Maternity Leave on a case-by-case basis. There is no absolute right to insist on working part-time, but you do have a statutory right to request flexible working and we will try to accommodate your wishes unless there is a justifiable reason for refusal, bearing in mind the needs of our business. It is helpful if requests are made as early as possible.
The procedure for dealing with such requests is set out in our Flexible Working Policy.
You will be entitled to request a phased return following your expected return date, which may be phased over up to six weeks, as agreed with your line manager. You will be entitled to full pay during this phased return. An example phased return is outlined below, but a different arrangement may be agreed with you.
Week 1 – 0.2 of your working hours
Week 2 – 0.3 of your working hours
Week 3 – 0.5 of your working hours
Week 4 – 0.7 of your working hours
Week 5 – 0.8 of your working hours
Week 6 – return to your normal hours
There is no obligation to take a phased return. If you wish to request one, you must do so in writing at least eight weeks before your expected return date, to allow us time to plan accordingly. In your request, you should state whether you have a preference for a particular duration and / or pattern of phased return, such as the pattern outlined above.
In certain circumstances it may not be possible to grant your specific request, but in those circumstances, we will agree an alternative with you.
Should your baby be born early, at any time before 37 weeks gestational age, you may request a period of unpaid leave to be taken immediately on the expiry of your SPL. The maximum period of such leave will be the equivalent of the period from the date of birth to the end of the expected week of childbirth.
We will process your data in relation to this policy for legitimate business purposes. We will also retain records of any correspondence, reports, meetings and associated documentation in relation to this policy. Such records will be retained in accordance with our Data Retention Schedule. Any information related to your health will be treated with utmost confidence, in accordance with our obligations under applicable data protection legislation and our Data Protection Policy. We may have to share your data with third parties, such as medical professionals, where necessary.
