Maternity Leave in the UK: What You Need to Know
Contributed by Nick Branch, Contact Law
It is a well known fact that women working in the UK are legally entitled to maternity leave according to UK employment law. However, the exact details of maternity leave rights and obligations are perhaps less well known, and this can make enforcing your maternity leave rights that much more difficult.
Maternity leave: The basics
All female employees are entitled to statutory maternity leave regardless of the hours they work, the job they do or the length of time that they have been with their employer. To exercise this important legal right, it is vital that you notify your employer of your pregnancy at least 15 weeks before your baby is due (around the 24th week of pregnancy). Use an MATB1 form to do this, available from your midwife or GP.
You can start your maternity leave any time from 11 weeks before the baby is due (around the 29th week of pregnancy), although it is worth noting that if you have time off related to your pregnancy within four weeks of your due date then your employer is entitled to commence your maternity leave at that point.
You do not have to take the full statutory maternity leave of 52 weeks (26 ordinary weeks and 26 additional weeks) if you do not wish to, however you are obliged by law to take at least two weeks off work (four if you work in a factory). If your child is stillborn anytime after 24 weeks, you are still entitled to take full statutory maternity leave.
Pay, terms, and conditions
You are entitled to all the same employment rights and terms and conditions of employment throughout the 52 weeks of your statutory maternity leave. This means that you can accrue holiday and you are entitled to any pay rise you were contractually due to receive during that time.
The pay you are entitled to will depend on the terms of your contract, but in any event will be no less than statutory maternity pay or the maternity allowance. The law on how much you can earn varies depending on the length of time you have been with your employer, your salary and your contract of employment.
It is also worth noting that the terms and conditions of your employment must legally remain the same throughout your time off on maternity leave.
You are legally entitled to be kept informed of developments at work whilst you are off, and the law allows you to work up to ten days during your maternity leave to ‘keep in touch’ with your employer without your maternity pay being affected. These are discretional though and so should be worked out between you and your employer – you are not obliged to arrange any keeping in touch days if you don’t wish to have them, and similarly your employer is not obliged to offer any.
Returning to work
Many of the legal issues relating to maternity leave concern the return to work period. Unless you agree otherwise your employer will notify you of the date that your maternity leave ends. If you wish to return prior to this date you must give your employer at least eight weeks’ notice in writing of your intention to return to work.
If you do not wish to take the full 52-week maternity period then you are legally entitled to return to work after the 26-week ‘ordinary maternity leave’ period. If your employer refuses to allow you to return to work after this time then you may have a claim in employment law for unfair dismissal, or may even be able to claim discrimination on the grounds that you were pregnant. In either event you should take expert legal advice from an employment law solicitor at the earliest opportunity; they can advise you on how to get back to work or can help you to commence suitable legal action.
If you do decide to incorporate the full ‘additional maternity leave’ 52-week period then you have a right to be offered your old job back or if that is not possible another job that is suitable for you in the circumstances. It is worth noting that if you are offered a comparable position then it must be on the same terms and conditions and for the same pay as your old position. Again if your employer refuses to offer you your old job back then you may have a claim in employment law, and should seek appropriate legal advice.
For those who do not wish to return to work full time they may ask their employer to consider a part-time arrangement. It is worth noting that your employer is not obliged to offer this, but is legally bound to consider any request for flexible working hours and should therefore give this proper consideration.
Nick Branch received his LLB from the University of the West of England in 2004 before going on to work as a director of two property-related businesses. He is currently studying to become a doctor on the fast-track graduate entry medicine course at King’s College London and is regular writer for Contact Law on law-related topics.