With Mother’s Day on the way, what better time for a reminder of some of the key workplace maternity rights? Whether you are new to people management or would like a quick refresher, here are five maternity related matters to have on your radar.
- Pregnancy and maternity discrimination
- Managing pregnancy at work
- Maternity leave
- Statutory maternity pay (SMP)
- Flexible working
1. Pregnancy and maternity discrimination
As you are likely already aware employees have protection against pregnancy and maternity discrimination, sex discrimination and harassment and victimisation under the Equality Act. It’s important to keep this in mind to avoid making a misstep when managing pregnancy and maternity issues in your business. Mistakes employers sometimes make include:
- Denying an employee a promotion opportunity because they are pregnant or they are going on maternity leave
- Assuming that a woman’s work will become less important to her after childbirth and giving her less responsible or less interesting work as a result
- Not hiring a job applicant because they are pregnant and the business will need to cover the role whilst the woman is on maternity leave
Bear in mind that in addition to protection under the Equality Act, it is automatically unfair to dismiss an employee because they are pregnant or in connection with family leave.
2. Managing pregnancy at work
There can be a lot to think about if an employee tells you she is pregnant, from a HR perspective be aware that:
- Your employee has the right to a reasonable amount of paid time off to attend antenatal appointments which are made on the advice of a registered medical practitioner, registered midwife or registered health visitor. Antenatal care includes medical examinations and may also include other appointments, for example, relaxation classes and parent-craft classes. Need information on this area such as what evidence you can request and when you can ask for it, please get in touch.
- Your employee will usually need to notify you of her intention to take maternity leave by the end of the 15th week before her expected week of childbirth. She will need to tell you that she is pregnant, the week she expects her baby to be born and the date she intends to start maternity leave. Being aware of this can help your business to appropriately plan ahead, for example, to arrange to temporarily cover her role. Once you have received this notification from your employee don’t forget you have 28 days in which to respond – you will need to write to her, setting out the date on which you expect her to return to work if she takes her full entitlement to maternity leave. Need help with this? Reach out for a letter you can use in your business. One area businesses sometimes overlook when it comes to employees taking maternity leave is holiday entitlement – an employee on maternity leave still accrues holiday and as you would expect, they have rights and protections in this area. To find out more about this get in touch.
3. Maternity Leave
The maximum amount of statutory maternity leave a woman is entitled to take is 52 weeks. The two-week period after the date of birth of the baby is called the compulsory maternity leave period. You must not allow your employees to do any work for you during this period. The compulsory maternity leave period is increased to four weeks if your employee works in a factory.
The earliest your employee can start her maternity leave is the beginning of the 11th week before her expected week of childbirth (EWC). Bear in mind that if your employee gives birth before she is due to start her maternity leave, her maternity leave will start on the day after the baby is born. If your employee is absent for a pregnancy-related reason after the beginning of the 4th week before her EWC, and she has not yet started her maternity leave, you can start her maternity leave automatically on the day after her first day of pregnancy related absence. You should get in touch for advice if this situation occurs in your business.
4. Statutory maternity pay (SMP)
Where your employee meets the qualifying conditions for entitlement to SMP, from 6th April 2025:
• First 6 weeks paid at 90% of normal weekly earnings
• Then 33 weeks at £187.18 (or 90% of normal weekly earnings if this is lower)
5. Flexible Working
The right to make a statutory flexible working request is now available to all employees and a request can be made for any reason, it can sometimes be attractive to employees who are looking to balance work and caring commitments. It allows employees to request a change in the hours they work, when they work or where they work e.g remote working. Making sure you know how to recognise a statutory flexible working request, are aware of the rules around these, and the need to deal with any request promptly can help to protect your business. Received a flexible working request? Get in touch for advice on your situation.