Section 09: Maternity Leave & Pay

As maternity provisions are complex, if you become pregnant you should contact the HR Team to ensure you understand the procedures and how they apply to you.

The following definitions and abbreviations are used in this policy:

Maternity Leave

All pregnant employees (regardless of length of service) have the right in law to take up to 26 weeks' OML and up to a further 26 weeks' AML and to resume work afterwards. You are therefore entitled to a total period of 52 weeks' maternity leave. Additional maternity leave follows on immediately from the end of the period of ordinary maternity leave.

All employees who take maternity leave have the right to return to work at any time during either OML or AML (except during the first two weeks from the day of childbirth or four weeks in the case of factory workers), subject to following the correct notification procedures as set out in the returning to work section below.

Maternity Pay

If you meet all of the following criteria you will be entitled to our enhanced maternity pay (which includes SMP):

• You have been continuously employed by us for at least 26 weeks at the end of your QW
• You have provided a MAT B1 form showing your expected week of childbirth
• Your average weekly earnings are not less than the lower earnings limit for national insurance contributions.

If you meet these criteria, your maternity pay will be:

• your normal weekly earnings during the first 26 weeks of maternity leave (calculated as an average of your earnings over the eight weeks preceding your QW)
• SMP for the next 13 weeks of maternity leave (weeks 27 to 39)
• the next 13 weeks of maternity leave will be unpaid (weeks 40 to 52).

Maternity pay is treated as earnings and is therefore subject to PAYE and national insurance deductions.

Maternity pay cannot start until the 11th week before your EWC. It can start from any day of the week in accordance with the date you choose to start your maternity leave.

If you are not entitled to maternity pay, you may be entitled to receive Maternity Allowance payable directly to you by the Government. In this case we will provide you with an SMP1 form to allow you to pursue a claim for MA.

Pay Increases

If you become eligible for a pay rise between the start of the original calculation period and the end of your maternity leave (whether PML or AML), your maternity pay will be recalculated to take account of the pay rise, regardless of whether maternity pay has already been paid. This means that your maternity pay will be recalculated and increased retrospectively. You will be paid a lump sum to make up any difference between maternity pay already paid and the amount payable as a result of the pay rise.

Repayment if you decide not to return to work (or you return but don’t stay for at least six months)

SMP is payable whether or not you intend to return to work after maternity leave. However if you receive enhanced maternity pay and do not return to work and stay for at least six months we reserve the right to require you to repay the enhanced maternity pay (i.e. the amount you received over what you would have received had you just been on SMP) as follows:

• If you do not return to work or if you return to work but stay for less than three months following the date your maternity leave ended, you will be required to repay 100% of the enhanced pay
• If you return to work and stay for three months but less than six months following the date your maternity leave ended, you will be required to repay 50% of the enhanced pay
• If you return to work and stay for at least six months following the date your maternity leave ended, there will be no repayment required.

Timing of maternity leave

OML can start at any time after the beginning of the 11th week before your EWC (unless your baby is born prematurely before that date in which case it will start earlier). Maternity leave will start on whichever date is the earlier of:

• your chosen start date;
• the day after you give birth; or
• the day after any day on which you are absent for a pregnancy-related reason in the four weeks before the EWC.

If you give birth before your maternity leave was due to start, you must notify us in writing of the date of the birth as soon as reasonably practicable.

The law obliges all employees to take a minimum of two weeks of maternity leave immediately after the birth of the child (four weeks in the case of factory workers).

Notice requirements

When you know you are pregnant, you should notify you line manager as soon as is reasonably possible. This is important as there are health and safety considerations for the organisation.

By the end of the QW, or as soon as reasonably practicable afterwards, you are required to inform us in writing of:

• the fact that you are pregnant;
• your EWC; and
• the date on which you intend to start your maternity leave.

You must also provide a MAT B1 form, which is a certificate from a doctor or midwife confirming the EWC. The form must have either the doctor's name and address or the midwife's name and registration number on it.

You are allowed to change your maternity leave start date, provided that you let us know in writing at least 28 days before the new start date or, if that is not possible, as soon as reasonably practicable.

We will formally respond in writing to your notification of your leave plans within 28 days, confirming the date on which you are expected to return to work if you choose to take your full 52-week entitlement to maternity leave.

Time off for antenatal care

Once you have let us know that you are pregnant, you will be entitled not to be unreasonably refused paid time off work to attend antenatal appointments as advised by her doctor, registered midwife or registered health visitor.

To be entitled to take time off for antenatal care, you are required to produce a certificate from your doctor, registered midwife or registered health visitor, stating that you are pregnant. Except in the case of the first appointment, you should also produce evidence of the appointment, such as a medical certificate or appointment card, if requested to do so. You should endeavour to give your line manager as much notice as possible of antenatal appointments and, wherever possible, try to arrange them as near to the start or end of the working day as possible.

Antenatal care may include relaxation and parent craft classes that your doctor, midwife or health visitor has advised you to attend, in addition to medical examinations.

An individual who has a qualifying relationship with you (which includes your husband or civil partner or the father of the expected child) is eligible to take unpaid time off to accompany you at up to two antenatal appointments. The individual with the qualifying relationship should ask his/her employer for more details of the right.

Sickness absence

If during your pregnancy, before you begin your maternity leave, you are absent from work owing to sickness, you will receive normal statutory or contractual sick pay in the same manner as you would during any other sickness absence. However, if the sickness absence is due to a pregnancy-related illness and occurs after the beginning of the fourth week before your EWC, your maternity leave will start automatically.

Health and safety

Health and safety for expectant and returning mothers is an ongoing process. We take a flexible approach in order to help you feel as comfortable as possible at work. We will carry out risk assessments and reviews during your pregnancy but if you are concerned about anything in your working environment you should raise this with your line manager or the HR team.

Rights during maternity leave

During OML and AML all terms and conditions of your employment contract other than normal salary will continue. Salary will be replaced by maternity pay if you are eligible for it.

This means that, while your salary will cease, all other benefits will remain in place. For example, holiday entitlement will continue to accrue and employer’s pension contributions will continue to be paid.

You are encouraged to take any outstanding holiday due to them before the commencement of maternity leave. Normally holiday must be taken in the year that it is earned, however for maternity returners we will, at our discretion, allow carry over into the following holiday year. Requests to take this holiday must be made in the normal way and approved by your line manager.

Contact during maternity leave

We believe that staying in touch during your maternity leave is helpful for you and for us and so we reserve the right to maintain reasonable contact with you during that time. For example this may be to discuss your plans for returning to work, to discuss any special arrangements to be made or training to be given to help you back into work. We will also keep you updated on developments at work during your absence.

Keeping-in-touch days

You can agree to work (or to attend training) for up to 10 days during your maternity leave without that work bringing your maternity leave to an end and without loss of a week's statutory maternity pay. These are known as "keeping-in-touch" days. Any work carried out on a day shall constitute a full day's work for these purposes. We have no right to expect you to work and you have no right to insist on working - any work undertaken, and the amount you are paid for any work done on keeping-in-touch days, is entirely a matter for agreement between you and us.

Returning to work after maternity leave

You may return to work during OML or AML, provided you give the appropriate notification. Alternatively, you may take your full 52 weeks of maternity leave and return to work at the end of this period. If you wish to return before the full period of maternity leave has elapsed, you must give us at least eight weeks' notice in writing of the date on which you intend to return.

If you return to work at or before the end of OML, you have the right to return to the same job you were doing before maternity leave. If you return work after a period of AML, you are entitled to return either to the same job or, if this is not reasonably practicable, to another suitable job that is on terms and conditions not less favourable.

Failure to return to work by the end of maternity leave will be treated as an unauthorised absence unless you are sick and produce a current medical certificate before the end of the maternity leave period.

If you decide during maternity leave that you do not wish to return to work, you should give us written notice of resignation in accordance with the terms of your contract of employment.

Transfer of maternity leave

(Shared parental leave and pay)

Shared parental leave enables mothers to commit to ending their maternity leave and pay at a future date, and to share the untaken balance of leave and pay as shared parental leave and pay with their partner, or to return to work early from maternity leave and opt in to shared parental leave and pay at a later date.

Shared parental leave must be taken in blocks of at least one week. You can request to take shared parental leave in one continuous block (in which case we are required to accept the request as long as you meet the eligibility and notice requirements), or as a number of separate blocks of leave (in which case you need our agreement).

To be able to take shared parental leave, you and your partner must meet various eligibility requirements and have complied with the relevant curtailment, notice and evidence requirements. This includes the mother curtailing her maternity leave. You and your partner must ensure that you each liaise with your own employer when making requests for shared parental leave.

Please see our policy on shared parental leave for full details of the requirements for eligibility, curtailment, notice periods and evidence. The policy also contains details on shared parental pay.