Before the birth

Action required by employee

No later than the 15th week before the expected week of childbirth you should meet with your line manager to discuss and complete the Maternity Leave Plan which will provide the relevant information and notice to your department in respect of your pregnancy. You should advise your manager whether you intend to return to work after the birth of your child. If you do intend to take maternity leave you should notify your manager of the date on which you wish to begin your maternity leave.

If you do not intend to return to work after the birth of your baby, your manager can outline your entitlement to statutory maternity benefits to you.

Provide notification to your department in respect of your antenatal appointments.

If you change the date on which you wish to start your maternity leave after you have filled in your Maternity Leave Plan, you must give 28 days' notice of the proposed new start date.

Discuss with your manager whether you would like to undertake any Keeping in Touch days. Agree with your manager arrangements for staying in touch, if you wish to do so, during your maternity leave.

Action required by the department

As soon as you are informed of the employee's pregnancy you should arrange to carry out appropriate risk assessments.

Clarify with your employee what notice and information you expect from her in relation to her antenatal appointments.

No later than the 15th week before the expected week of childbirth meet with your employee to discuss and complete the Maternity Leave Plan.

Within 28 days of completing the Maternity Leave Plan, if the employee plans to return to work, confirm the return to work date (if appropriate) with her in writing.

University maternity scheme

All women employed by the University who meet the relevant qualifying provisions, and who have expressed the intention to return to work following the birth of their child regardless of their staff group, grade or hours worked, are eligible for the provisions of the University Maternity Scheme.

In order to qualify for the University Maternity Scheme:

At the qualifying week (15 weeks before the expected week of childbirth) the employee must:

1. hold a current contract of employment with the University; and
2. have at least 26 weeks' continuous service with the University; and
3. provide her department with the correct notification of her intention to take leave, and
4. intend to return to work following the birth of her baby.

If she meets all these requirements, and her contract of employment will continue throughout the entire period of the proposed maternity leave, the employee will be eligible to receive the benefits of the University maternity leave scheme as follows:

26 weeks' full pay (inclusive of any statutory maternity pay which is due); followed by

13 weeks' statutory maternity pay (if a woman does not meet all the statutory qualification rules for statutory maternity pay, she will only receive pay for the first 26 weeks of maternity leave); followed by

13 weeks' unpaid leave

Total maternity leave = 52 weeks

If the contract will expire during the proposed maternity leave period, then payments under the contractual scheme will end at the contract end date.  SMP payments (see below) may continue.

Payments under the University Maternity Scheme consist of two elements, contractual pay and Statutory Maternity Pay (SMP).

SMP is a weekly government benefit that is paid by the employer to women who meet the qualifying criteria.

Contractual pay is the pay that the University pays over and above the statutory minimum.

To qualify for SMP, the woman must have been continuously employed with the same employer for at least 26 weeks continuing into the qualifying week (the 15th week before the week her baby is due) and have average weekly earnings above the National Insurance lower earnings limit. There are other qualifying conditions relating to SMP that depend on individual circumstances, but payroll can confirm whether a woman is eligible for SMP at the appropriate time.

SMP is paid over the first 39 weeks of maternity leave at the rate of:

90% of average weekly earnings (this figure is worked out at the qualifying week) for each of the first six weeks of maternity leave, followed by

33 weeks of flat rate SMP (£135.45 a week from 6 April 2012) or 90% of average weekly earnings if that is less than £135.45 a week. The flat rate is subject to review every April.

As the University Maternity Scheme pays full pay for the first 26 weeks' maternity leave, any SMP which is due to the employee is automatically incorporated into the first 26 weeks' full pay. It is not paid in addition to full pay. For the next 13 weeks, the University pays SMP only.

For the final 13 weeks of maternity leave under the University Maternity Scheme no payments are made.

In the case of a multiple birth, the employee is entitled to the same benefits as though she were having one child.

If a woman does not qualify for the University maternity scheme

If an employee does not meet the qualifying criteria for the University Maternity Scheme, she still has certain rights, which are set out below.

All pregnant employees are entitled to 52 weeks' unpaid maternity leave, or as much of that period as they wish to take, no matter how long they have worked for the University. The purpose of maternity leave is to allow the mother to give birth and to recover from giving birth to her baby, as well as to bond with, and care for, her new child.

University maternity leave i.e. the leave that all women, regardless of their length of service with the University, and whether or not they qualify for the University Maternity Scheme, are entitled to is made up of:

• 26 weeks' Ordinary Maternity Leave (OML) followed immediately by
• 26 weeks' Additional Maternity Leave (AML)

While it is up to the individual employee to decide how much maternity leave she wishes to take, up to the 52 weeks' maximum, the law requires that a minimum of two weeks' leave must be taken. This is known as compulsory maternity leave.

A woman can choose when to start her maternity leave. This can usually be any date from the beginning of the 11th week before the week the baby is due. The woman must give the correct notice to her department.

Women who are not entitled to SMP may be entitled to claim up to 39 weeks' Maternity Allowance (MA), from their JobCentre Plus office, dependent upon meeting qualifying conditions based on their recent employment and earnings records. Payroll will issue an SMP1 form to any woman who is not entitled to SMP and this will give information to the woman on how to apply for MA.

A woman who does not qualify for SMP or contractual pay, but who wishes to take maternity leave, still needs to provide a MATB1 and fill in a Maternity Leave Plan.

Notification before going on maternity leave

Although the law only requires the woman to tell her department that she is pregnant and will take maternity leave by the end of the 15th week before the expected week of birth, she and her department will both benefit if she shares the news as early as possible before then. This will mean that her department knows that she is entitled to time off for antenatal appointments and that particular health and safety rules apply. It will also help the department to plan ahead and make arrangements for covering the period while the woman is on leave.

To claim maternity leave and pay under the University Maternity Scheme, an employee should notify her department no later than the fifteenth week before the expected week of childbirth of:

1. the fact she is pregnant
2. the expected week of childbirth
3. the date when she intends to start taking leave
4. her intention to return to work after the birth of her baby

A Maternity Leave Plan is provided for employees and departments to use to collect this information and other details relating to the proposed maternity leave period. If the Maternity Leave Plan is completed fully by the employee and the department this will ensure that the notification requirements are met.

The employee should also provide her department with a copy of her MATB1 form that she will have been given by her healthcare provider (usually the GP or midwife) sometime around the 25th week of pregnancy.

When leave can begin

A woman may choose to start her maternity leave any time after the beginning of the 11th week before the expected week of childbirth. Maternity leave will start automatically if she gives birth before her notified date, or if she is ill for a pregnancy-related reason during the last four weeks of her pregnancy.

If an employee does not give her department the required notification for the start of her maternity leave, she may lose her right to start maternity leave on her chosen date. Departments are only required to make exceptions to this where it was not reasonably practicable for the notice to have been given any earlier.

If the department and employee fill in the Maternity Leave Plan then this will satisfy the notification requirements in this respect.

Changing the start of maternity leave

Once a woman has notified her department of the date she wishes to start her maternity leave, she can change this date as long as she notifies her department of the new start date by whichever is the earlier of either 28 days before the date she originally intended to start her leave or 28 days before the new date she wants to start her leave.

If it is not reasonably practicable for her to give this much notice (for example if the baby is born early and she has to start her leave straight away) then she should tell her department as soon as she can. The notification does not have to be in writing unless the department requests it.

Confirmation by the department of the end date of leave

Once an employee has provided the necessary notice of the intended start date of her leave, her department should in turn notify the employee of the date on which the leave will end. This will normally be 52 weeks (one year) from the start of maternity leave, except where an employee has already stated her intention to take only a portion of the 52 week entitlement. There is a Maternity Leave Plan and letter which can be used for this purpose.

The department should normally confirm the end date of the employee's maternity leave with her within 28 days of the notification.

The start of maternity leave

The maternity leave period normally starts on the date the employee has notified to her department that she intends to start leave. There are some exceptions to this rule as follows:

(i) Absence due to childbirth before the intended start date

If the baby is born before the date the employee has notified that she wishes to start leave (or before she has had the opportunity to notify any date) the maternity leave period starts automatically on the day after the date of the birth. This happens even if the birth takes place before the 11th week before the birth was originally expected. In this circumstance the woman should give her department notice (in writing if the department asks for it) of the date of the birth if it has already taken place, and the date on which the baby was originally expected. The actual and expected dates of birth can be provided together on the maternity certificate (MATB1) if this is still to be issued by the time the baby is born.

In the unusual circumstance that the baby is born prematurely before the 15th week before the expected week of childbirth, the employee will be taken as satisfying the continuous employment rule for the University Maternity Scheme if she would have been continuously employed but for early childbirth. The maternity pay will be paid from the day following the birth of the baby.

In the very unfortunate circumstances that a baby is stillborn before the 25th week of pregnancy, the woman is not entitled to pay under the statutory or University pay provisions. Sick leave or compassionate leave should be considered in such circumstances. Departmental administrators should seek advice from Sector Personnel Officers should such a situation arise.

(ii) Absence for a pregnancy-related reason before the intended start date

An employee who is absent from work due to illness will normally be able to take sick leave until she starts maternity leave on the date notified to her department. However, if the illness is related wholly or partly to her pregnancy, the maternity leave period will start automatically on the day after the first day of absence following the beginning of the fourth week before the expected week of childbirth.

(iii) Dismissal or resignation before the intended start date

If an employee resigns or is dismissed or her contract ends before the date she has notified to begin her leave, or before she has notified a date, she loses the right to contractual maternity leave. However, if she will still be employed after the 15th week before the expected week of childbirth she may still be eligible for SMP if she meets the other qualifying criteria. Departmental administrators should seek advice from Sector Personnel Officers should such a situation arise.

Work during the maternity leave period - Keeping In Touch (KIT) days

An employee may, by agreement with her department, do up to ten days' work - known as Keeping in Touch (KIT) days - under her contract of employment during the maternity leave period. Such days are different to the reasonable contact that departments and employees may have with each other, as during KIT days employees can actually carry out work for the department, for which they will be paid.

Any work carried out during the maternity pay period (39 weeks) or maternity leave period (52 weeks) will count as a whole KIT day, up to the ten day maximum. In other words, if an employee comes in for a one hour training session and does no other work that day, she will have used one of her KIT days.

The type of work that the employee undertakes on KIT days is a matter for agreement between the two parties. They may be used for any activity which would ordinarily be classed as work under the woman's contract but would be particularly useful in enabling her to attend a conference, undertake a training activity or attend for a team meeting, for example.

This work during maternity leave may only take place by agreement between both the department and the employee. A department may not require a woman to work during her maternity leave if she does not want to, nor does a woman have the right to work KIT days if her department does not agree to them.

The KIT days can be undertaken at any stage during the maternity leave period, by agreement with the department with the exception that during the first two weeks after the baby is born (the compulsory maternity leave period) no work is permitted.

For payments during KIT days see During Maternity Leave

Health and safety at work

The University is required to protect the health and safety at work of all employees, including new and expectant mothers and mothers who are breastfeeding.

The Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999 require employers to assess risks to their employees, including new and expectant mothers, and to do what is reasonably practicable to control those risks.

The University is required to carry out a specific risk assessment paying particular attention to risks that could affect the health and safety of the new or expectant mother or her child. Once the department has been informed by the employee that she is pregnant, has recently given birth or is breastfeeding, the risk assessment should be carried out.

If the risk assessment identifies any specific risks that cannot be avoided, the University is required to follow a series of steps to ensure that the woman is not exposed to that risk. Ultimately, a risk assessment may result in suspension from work on full pay to protect an employee and her unborn child, but this is an extremely rare situation and advice should always be taken from the University Safety Office if such a situation is thought to exist.

There is no statutory right to time off work for breastfeeding mothers. However, on returning to work the employee should provide her employer with written notification that she is breastfeeding, so risk assessments can be carried out.

Time off for antenatal appointments

All pregnant employees are entitled to paid time off to attend antenatal appointments made on the advice of a registered medical practitioner, registered midwife or registered health visitor.

This entitlement applies regardless of the employee's hours of work or length of service and time off for antenatal care will be paid at the employee's normal rate of pay.

Antenatal care is not restricted to medical examinations related to the pregnancy. It could, for example, include relaxation classes and parentcraft classes as long as these are advised by a registered medical practitioner, registered midwife or registered health visitor.

With the exception of the very first antenatal appointments, departments are entitled to ask the employee for evidence of antenatal appointments and, on request, the employee must show her department an appointment card or some other document showing that an appointment has been made.

Fathers and partners of pregnant women do not have the right to time off to accompany their partners to antenatal appointments, as the legal provision applies only to pregnant employees. Time off that might be required to accompany pregnant women to appointments should be requested as annual leave in the normal way from the employing department.

Annual leave

Contractual annual leave (including bank holidays and fixed closure days) will accrue throughout the full 52 weeks of maternity leave.

Departments may wish to ask women to take any accrued annual leave prior to their maternity leave. You may also ask that a woman takes at least 28 days' annual leave (the annual statutory holiday requirement) before she goes on maternity leave if she will not return to work before the end of the current leave year. In the event that a maternity leave period crosses over two annual leave years, you may ask a woman returning to work to use up the balance of her annual leave from the leave year that has ended at the end of her maternity leave period.

However, departments retain the right to make annual leave arrangements with their employees to fit in with operational requirements. Women may wish to consider retaining some of their annual leave to allow them to take time off as required to look after their children should they be ill, or need some additional support whilst settling into a nursery or with new childcarers.

It should be clarified early on that whilst a small amount of paid leave is available to staff for dealing with domestic emergencies this is not intended to cover foreseeable domestic problems such those outlined above, and in most cases it would be anticipated that annual leave would be used to cover such circumstances. It may be necessary to clarify that the University sick leave scheme only covers the sickness of the employee and not sickness suffered by any of their dependents.

Other benefits

During the whole period of maternity leave the employee is entitled to receive all her contractual benefits with the exception of remuneration. This includes all non-cash benefits such as childcare vouchers.