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Protecting your health and safety Employers have a duty to safeguard the health and safety of their employees and are required to assess the risks to health and safety their employees are exposed to in their work.Where women of childbearing age are employed the employer must assess the particular risks to the health and safety of new or expectant mothers and their babies. This includes women who are breastfeeding after their return to work. If risks are identified by the assessment, information about them should be given to you and all women of childbearing age in the workplace. Your employer should also explain what they will do to make sure you are not exposed to risks that could harm you or your baby. |
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Time Off for Antenatal Care You’re entitled to paid time off to keep appointments for antenatal care made on the advice of a doctor, midwife or health visitor.Antenatal care is not restricted to medical examinations. For example, it could also include relaxation classes and parent craft classes. Except for your first appointment you must be prepared to show your employer if requested: · A certificate from a doctor, midwife or health visitor confirming that you are pregnant and · An appointment card or some other document showing that an appointment has been made. Ordinary Maternity Leave All employees are entitled to 26 weeks ordinary maternity leave. In order to take advantage of this right you must ensure you give your employer the correct notification before you begin your leave. The earliest you can start your maternity leave is 11 weeks before your expected week of childbirth. Additional Maternity Leave If you have worked continuously for the same employer for 26 weeks or more you are entitled to take a period of additional maternity leave (AML). Your qualifying 26 weeks must be completed by the beginning of the 15th week before the expected week of childbirth Additional Maternity Leave runs from the end of your 26 weeks Ordinary Maternity Leave period for up to a further 26 weeks. |
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Returning to work after additional Maternity Leave After additional maternity leave a woman is entitled to return to the same job on the same terms and conditions in relation to pay as if she had not been absent. She is entitled to benefit from any general improvements to the rate of pay or other terms and conditions which may have been introduced for her grade or class of work while she has been away.However, if there is some reason why it is not reasonably practicable for her to return to the same job she should be offered a similar job on terms and conditions which are no less favourable than her original job. There are special provisions if the employee works for a firm employing 5 employees or less. Unlike the period of ordinary maternity leave, the additional maternity leave period is not required to be counted for the purpose of assessing seniority, pension rights and other personal length of service payments (unless the contract of employment provides for service to accrue during additional maternity leave for the purpose of contractual benefits). In these circumstances the period of employment before the start of additional maternity leave will be treated as 'joined up' with the period of employment on her return to work as if they were continuous. |
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Right not to suffer unfair treatment Your employer must not treat you unfairly or subject you to detriment at work because:· you are pregnant · have given birth to a child · have taken or sought to take maternity leave or any of the benefits of maternity leave · have been suspended from work for health and safety reasons connected with your maternity. This right starts as soon as you tell your employer you are pregnant and lasts up to the end of your ordinary or additional maternity leave. It applies regardless of how long you have worked for your employer. If you believe you have suffered detriment you can seek advice from ACAS. You may be able to complain to an employment tribunal. The right not to suffer detriment is separate to the right not to be unfairly dismissed or selected for redundancy. |
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What is Statutory Maternity Pay (SMP)? SMP is a weekly benefit paid to women who are on maternity leave. If you don’t qualify for SMP you may qualify for Maternity Allowance.You may also qualify for other benefits in addition to SMP, see booklet BC1 Babies and Children available from your local social security or job centre plus office |
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How much is SMP? You can be paid SMP for up to 26 weeks.For the first 6 weeks you receive 90% of your average earnings. For the remaining weeks you will receive the standard rate or 90% of your average weekly earnings which ever is less. From 6th April 2006 the standard rate is £108.85 per week. You cannot be paid SMP for any week in which you do any work for the employer paying you SMP. Your SMP will also be stopped if, after your baby is born, you start working for a new employer who did not employ you in your qualifying week. Following a judgement in the European Court of Justice in 2005 if your colleagues are awarded a pay rise and you would have awarded the same rise then the company should recalculate your earnings to reflect that rise. This would include any backdating of an award. You should be warned that if during the relevant period your average earnings fall below the lower earnings limit yuu could find that your maternity pay is reduced. |
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How is it paid? SMP is paid by your employer in the same way as your wages or salary are usually paid. So if you receive your wages weekly you will receive your SMP weekly. If you are usually paid monthly you will receive your SMP monthly. |
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Compulsory Maternity Leave What is compulsory maternity leave?All women must take a period of compulsory maternity leave following childbirth. This is for her health and safety. It is unlawful for an employer to allow a woman to work during her compulsory maternity leave period. How long does compulsory maternity leave last for? The compulsory maternity leave period is: · 2 weeks from the date of childbirth, or · 4 weeks from the date of childbirth if the woman works in a factory, or · there may some other statutory requirement which means compulsory maternity leave will last longer (this does not include any requirement for an employer to suspend a woman from work on maternity grounds under health and safety regulations). What happens if the compulsory maternity leave period is later than 26 weeks after the start of ordinary maternity leave? Ordinary maternity leave will be extended to continue until the end of compulsory maternity leave. All the entitlements and conditions which apply during ordinary maternity leave will continue throughout compulsory maternity leave. |
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Parental Leave New parents qualify for parental leave when they have completed 1 year's continuous service with their employer. Once you qualify for parental leave you are entitled to take a total of 13 weeks' parental leave. The leave can be taken up to the child's fifth birthday. You may not be able to take the leave in one block, unless your employer agrees. The fallback scheme provides for leave to be taken in blocks of 1 week, up to a total of 4 weeks per year. The child's father will also qualify for parental leave if he has completed 1 year's service. If he wants to he can take some parental leave from the day the baby is born. There is no statutory right to pay for parental leave, so any parental leave you or your partner take may be unpaid.Parents of children with disabilities can take parental leave up to the child's 18th birthday. |
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More Infomation? If you want more infomation about your rights on Maternity and Parental Leave then check out the tiger website which has easy to read infomation about these and other employment issues. The Health and Saftey Executive also publish a range of books and leaflets many of which are free or can be downloaded from their publications website www.hse.gov.uk and click on the HSE Books section. |
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Disclaimer, Target Audience, Jurisdiction Last updated & checked: 15/05/2006