Maternity rights
The law entitles women to time off for antenatal care, maternity leave,
maternity benefit, and protection against unfair treatment at work because
of their pregnancy or childbirth.
If you are pregnant or have had a baby, your maternity rights fall into
four main categories:
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time off for antenatal care;
-
maternity leave;
-
maternity benefit (statutory maternity pay or Maternity Allowance);
-
protection against unfair treatment or dismissal.
In addition, your employer is required by law to protect your health and
safety when you are pregnant, have recently given birth or are breastfeeding.
Health and safety protection on these grounds starts as soon as your employer
knows you are pregnant.
You are also protected under sex discrimination legislation against
unfair treatment, including dismissal, on grounds of sex or marriage.
Time off for antenatal care
When you are pregnant, you are entitled to time off for antenatal care,
and all time off for antenatal care must be paid at your normal rate of
pay. Antenatal care may include relaxation and parentcraft classes, as
well as medical examinations. These rights apply regardless of your length
of service at your organisation.
Detrimental treatment
Your right not to suffer detrimental or unfair treatment at work starts
as soon as you have told your employer that you are pregnant and lasts
until to the end of your maternity leave. Your employer must not subject
you to unfair treatment at work because you are pregnant; have given birth
to a child; have taken, or sought to take, maternity leave; have taken,
or sought to take, any of the benefits of ordinary maternity leave; or
have been suspended from work for health and safety reasons connected to
your maternity. This protection applies regardless of your length of service
at your organisation.
If you believe you have been unfairly treated at work for any of these
reasons, you may seek redress through an employment tribunal.
Dismissal or redundancy during pregnancy or maternity leave
It is unlawful for your employer to dismiss you or to select you for
redundancy in preference to other comparable employees, solely or mainly
because you are pregnant or have given birth, or for any other reason connected
with your pregnancy or childbirth. These rights apply regardless of your
length of service at your organisation.
If you are dismissed or made redundant at any time during pregnancy
or statutory maternity leave, you are entitled to receive from your employer
a written statement of the reasons for this, regardless of whether or not
you have asked for one and regardless of your length of service. If your
employer unreasonably fails to provide a statement, or provides one that
you consider to be inadequate or untrue, you may make a complaint to an
employment tribunal.
If a redundancy situation arises during your maternity leave which makes
it impracticable for your employer to continue to employ you under your
original contract of employment, you are entitled to be offered, before
that contract ends, a suitable alternative vacancy, where one is available.
This includes a vacancy with an associated employer or with a successor
to your original employer. If your employer has a suitable alternative
vacancy available but fails to offer it to you, your redundancy dismissal
will be regarded as an unfair dismissal. If your employer offers you a
suitable alternative vacancy and you unreasonably refuse it, you may forfeit
your right to a redundancy payment.
Ordinary maternity leave
All pregnant employees are entitled to at least 18 weeks ordinary maternity
leave. This applies regardless of length of service.
Your contract of employment continues during ordinary maternity leave,
and during your ordinary maternity leave period you must continue to receive
all your contractual benefits except wages or salary.
Additional maternity leave
If you have completed one year’s continuous employment by the 11th week
before the expected week of childbirth, you are entitled to additional
maternity leave. Additional maternity leave runs immediately from the end
of your ordinary maternity leave up to the end of the 29th week after childbirth,
counting from the start of the week in which your baby was born. Your contract
of employment continues during additional maternity leave. Some terms of
your employment contract continue during additional maternity leave. If
you are taking additional maternity leave, the continuance of any other
terms and conditions of your contract are a matter for agreement between
you and your employer.
Maternity benefit
If you meet qualifying conditions based on your length of service and
average earnings, you are entitled to receive from your employer up to
18 weeks’ statutory maternity pay.
To take advantage of this right, you must give your employer proper
notification.
The rate of statutory maternity pay will usually be 90 percent of your
salary for the first six weeks and 60 pounds 20 pence for the remaining
12 weeks.
Employers are reimbursed 92 percent of the statutory maternity pay they
have paid out or 105 percent if their total National Insurance liability
in the previous tax year was no more than 20,000 pounds.
If you are not entitled to statutory maternity pay but meet a qualifying
condition based on your recent National Insurance record, you are entitled
to claim up to 18 weeks’ maternity allowance from the Benefits Agency.
The rate of maternity allowance is 60 pounds 20 pence per week for qualifying
employees and 52 pounds 25 pence for those who are self-employed or recently
employed.
Statutory maternity pay and maternity allowance are payable only for
weeks in which the recipient does no work for her employer.
Notifying your employer before you start maternity leave
To take advantage of your maternity leave and/or statutory maternity
pay, you must notify your employer at least 21 days, or as soon as reasonably
practicable, before you intend to start your leave. Your notification must
state:
- that you are pregnant;
- when the expected week of childbirth will be, by means of a medical certificate
if your employer so requests;
- when you intend your maternity leave and/ or statutory maternity pay to
start, in writing if your employer so requests.
The start of your maternity leave must be no earlier than 11 weeks before
your baby is expected.
You do not have a statutory right to maternity leave unless you have
given your employer 21 days’ notice, except in the following circumstances:
-
If you give birth before the date you have notified, or before you have
notified a date, your maternity leave period starts automatically on the
date of the birth. You must notify your employer as soon as is reasonably
practicable of the date of birth.
-
If you are absent from work for a pregnancy-related reason after the beginning
of the sixth week before the expected week of childbirth but before the
date you have notified, or before you have notified a date, you maternity
leave period begins automatically on the first day of your absence. You
must notify your employer that you are absent from work wholly or partly
because of pregnancy as soon as is reasonably practicable.
Notice for return to work after maternity leave
If you intend to return to work before the end of your ordinary or additional
maternity leave period, you must give your employer at least 21 days notice
of your date of return.
You do not have to give your employer advance notice if you intend to
return to work immediately after the end of your ordinary maternity leave
period.
Your employer may write to you no earlier than 21 days before the end
of your ordinary maternity leave period to:
-
confirm your child’s date of birth;
-
ask whether you are still intending to return to work after your additional
maternity leave.
The letter must:
-
explain how you work out when your additional maternity leave period will
end;
-
warn you that if you fail to respond to the letter, you will not have protection
against detriment or dismissal on grounds of taking additional maternity
leave.
You must reply to this letter within 21 days of receiving it.
Your rights on and after return to work from maternity leave
When you resume work after maternity leave, you are entitled to return
to the same job on the same terms and conditions as if you had not been
absent, unless a redundancy situation has arisen. If you are returning
from additional maternity leave, if there is some reason other than redundancy
why it is not reasonably practicable for your employer to take you back
in your original job, you are entitled to be offered suitable alternative
work.
Dismissal on or after resumption of work
If you are dismissed during ordinary or additional maternity leave,
at the end of maternity leave or after you resume work, on the grounds
that you have taken maternity leave (or in the case of ordinary maternity
leave have accessed the benefits of maternity leave), you may make a claim
for unfair dismissal through an employment tribunal.
Dismissal or other detrimental treatment due to these circumstances
may also amount to unlawful sex discrimination.
Health and safety
Employers are required to protect the health and safety at work of all
employees and others, including new and expectant mothers. When assessing
risks in their workplace they should pay particular attention to risks
that could affect the health or safety of new or expectant mothers or their
babies and all reasonably practicable measures should be taken to prevent
exposure to risks through removal of hazards or implementation of controls.
If a risk remains which could damage the health or safety of a new or
expectant mother or her baby, employers must follow a series of steps to
make sure she is not exposed to that risk.
New and expectant mothers must not be required to work at night if they
have a medical certificate stating that the night work could damage their
health or safety.
The ultimate action to avoid a risk to a new or expectant mother is
to suspend her from work on maternity grounds, but before being suspended,
she must be offered suitable alternative work, if any is available. A woman
on maternity suspension must be paid her normal wages or salary by her
employer for as long as the suspension lasts.
It is unlawful for an employer to dismiss an employee because of a health
and safety regulation which could give rise to maternity suspension.
These rights apply regardless of the employee’s length of service or
hours of work.
Sex discrimination
Women must not be discriminated against directly or indirectly on grounds
of sex or marriage. This applies regardless of length of service.
If you are pregnant, have recently given birth or are breastfeeding,
you may have certain additional protections under the Sex Discrimination
Act 1975. The purpose of the Act is to confer protection against discrimination
on grounds of sex (that is, between men and women) and on grounds of being
married.
In any particular case the issue will be whether or not the treatment
of the pregnant woman or mother can be regarded as sex discrimination within
the meaning of the Act. Sex discrimination is unlawful in a comprehensive
range of employment situations, including recruitment, treatment while
at work and dismissal.
It is not unlawful under the Act for an employer to discriminate by
affording special treatment to women in connection with pregnancy or childbirth.
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