Maternity and paternity rights

Right to time off to attend ante-natal appointments

Employers may only refuse time off during working hours to attend ante-natal appointments where they have reasonable grounds to refuse. In practice, there will only be rare occasions where such a refusal would be reasonable.
Employees claiming time off for this reason are entitled to be paid for this time, including time taken travelling to and from the appointments.

Right to ordinary maternity leave

Employees have this right regardless of their length of service for the employer. I.e., the employee has a right to ordinary maternity leave even if she has only been working at the job for one month. 

The employee must first give certain details to their employer no later than the end of the 15th week before the expected week of the birth.

These details include:
– The fact that she is pregnant;
– The date of her expected week of birth;
– The date she intends to start her maternity leave period (which cannot be before the start of the 11th week before the expected week of birth, unless she gives birth before that time).

If these details are given to the employer on time, then the employee can claim an ordinary maternity leave period of 26 weeks.

During the ordinary maternity leave period, the employee retains all the contractual benefits (e.g., private use of a company car, private medical cover, life insurance, pension contributions, etc.) that she would have had otherwise, except for those relating to pay.

To be entitled to Statutory Maternity Pay (SMP), the employee must:
– have completed 26 weeks continuous service for the employer by the end of the 15th week before the expected week of birth, and
– her average weekly earnings in the 8 weeks before the end of that 15th week must be equal to at least the lower earnings limit for the payment of Class 1 NI contributions, and also
– she must have reached (or been confined before reaching) the start of the 11th week before the expected week of birth.

The rate of SMP is 90% of the employee’s normal weekly pay for the first 6 weeks of ordinary maternity leave. For the other 20 weeks, it is the lower statutory rate, which is presently £106 per week (or 90% of weekly earnings, whichever is less).

Right to additional maternity leave

Employees who have been continuously employed by the employer for at least 26 weeks at the beginning of the 14th week before the expected date of birth are entitled to a period of additional maternity leave, at the end of the ordinary maternity leave period.

During the additional maternity leave period, the employee is no longer entitled to SMP or the other contractual benefits enjoyed during the ordinary maternity leave period. However, there remains the right to the minimum holiday entitlement set down by the law, and her continuity of employment is also protected.

Right to return to work after maternity leave

Employees have the right to return after their maternity leave to the same job that they left, on the same terms that would have applied if they had not been away. So, for example, they will have the benefit of any pay increases that were awarded while they were absent.

Failure by an employer to respect any of these rights could lead to very serious financial consequences, and a case of sex (pregnancy) discrimination against them in Tribunal.

Right to statutory paternity leave and statutory paternity pay

Employees who are to father a baby will be entitled to paid paternity leave for up to 2 weeks to care for the baby or support the mother, provided that the employee has been continuously employed by the employer for at least 26 weeks ending with the 15th week before the expected week of the baby’s birth.

The 2 weeks must be taken consecutively. The rate of pay is £106 per week or 90% of the employee’s weekly earnings, whichever is less. The leave cannot start before the day of the baby’s birth, and it must be completed within 56 days after the birth.

The same right to paid paternity leave applies to men (or women) who will bear the main responsibility (apart from the mother) for bringing up the baby, even if they were not the biological father.