Paternity leave

For details, see the paternity leave policy

Adoption

If you are adopting a child, you are entitled to the same benefits as if you were giving birth to that child (see below for details).

However, given the special circumstances of adoption cases, you are strongly advised to contact your Departmental HR Manager for further advice, giving as much notice as possible.

 

Maternity

Contents

  1. Maternity Leave and Pay
  2. Other Contractual Benefits
  3. What to do as soon as you know you are pregnant
  4. What to do by the 15th week before your baby is due
  5. What to do before you begin your maternity leave and during your leave
  6. What to do before your return to work
  7. Other useful information

Maternity Leave and Pay

You are entitled to up to 52 weeks' maternity leave regardless of your length of service. However, the type of maternity pay that you will get depends on how long you have been working for the University:

    1. If you will have worked for the University continuously for 52 weeks or more at the beginning of the week your baby is due (Expected Week of Childbirth - EWC), you will be entitled to Occupational Maternity Pay.
    2. If you will have worked for the University continuously for 26 weeks or more up to and including the 15th week before your EWC, you will be entitled to Statutory Maternity Pay.
    3. If you will have worked for the University less than 26 weeks up to and including the 15th week before your EWC, you will not be entitled to Statutory Maternity Pay, but may be entitled to Maternity Allowance.
    4. If you wish to share childcare with your partner during your child’s first year, you should refer to the paternity leave policy.

What does this mean?

If you qualify for the University's Occupational Maternity Scheme you are entitled to 39 weeks paid maternity leave, plus up to 13 weeks unpaid maternity leave. The paid leave consists of:

    • 18 weeks on full pay, including Statutory Maternity Pay (SMP)
    • 21 weeks pay at the SMP rate (currently £123.06 per week or 90% of your average weekly earning, whichever is less)

If you qualify for Statutory Maternity Pay, you are entitled to 39 weeks paid maternity leave, plus up to 13 weeks unpaid leave. The paid leave consists of:

    • 6 weeks at 90% of your average weekly earnings
    • 33 weeks Statutory Maternity Pay (currently £123.06 per week or 90% of your average weekly earning, whichever is less)

If you do not qualify for Statutory Maternity Pay, the Payroll and Pensions Office will send you form SMP1 which you can take to Job Centre Plus to claim Maternity Allowance (MA) instead. This consists of:

    • 39 weeks at the SMP rate (currently £123.06 per week or 90% of your average weekly earning, whichever is less). You will still be entitled to a total of 52 weeks' maternity leave.

What about other contractual benefits?

Continuity of service

If you return to work following maternity leave (paid or unpaid), the period of absence due to maternity leave will be treated as continuous service for employment rights purposes and service-related benefits (e.g. redundancy payments, sickness absence payments etc) and you will be entitled to receive your annual increment on your normal increment date (so long as a decision has not been made to withhold any incremental increases in accordance with the University's performance management or disciplinary procedures).

Pension

If you are a member of the USS or University of York Pension scheme, the University will continue to make its usual contributions for the whole time you are receiving Occupational or Statutory Maternity Pay. During any unpaid maternity leave your active pension scheme membership will be "suspended". This means that the period will not count as pensionable service, but that benefits will be paid in the event of your death or ill-health retirement during maternity leave, on the basis of the service and salary which counted at the end of your paid maternity leave. If you want further information about your pension arrangements whilst on maternity leave you should contact the Payroll and Pensions Office.

Annual leave

You will continue to accrue annual leave throughout your maternity leave, but the normal provisions with respect to carry over of leave from one year to the next will apply i.e. you will only be allowed to carry over up to 10 days leave with the agreement of your manager. You are therefore advised to discuss the timing of your leave with your manager. This must be taken either before your maternity leave starts or after your maternity leave period has ended.

Please note that annual leave cannot be taken during a period of maternity leave. Any period of annual leave taken following the birth of your baby will be deemed to be a return to work for the purposes of maternity regulations and occupational maternity provisions. You will therefore be expected to resume your normal working arrangements following the period of annual leave.

Other benefits

Aside from pay, you will continue to receive any contractual benefits, which you would normally receive if you were at work, throughout your maternity leave period.

Important information about childcare vouchers

Statutory Maternity Pay (SMP) is calculated on the amount of average earnings during an 8 week period, usually weeks 17 – 25 of pregnancy.  If you are in receipt of childcare vouchers, your salary is reduced by the amount of the vouchers you receive and this will affect your earnings for the purposes of calculating SMP (i.e. SMP will be calculated on your post salary exchange pay).

Although the amount of SMP you receive may be reduced, current legislation means that you are entitled to receive all non-cash benefits (including Childcare Vouchers) throughout the full period of Statutory Maternity Leave. As you are only able to exchange salary to the extent that it does not take you below the rate of SMP, you will continue to receive childcare vouchers, at no additional cost to yourself, throughout any period when you are in receipt of SMP only or on unpaid maternity leave. You will therefore need to weigh up the option which suits your circumstances e.g.

  • leave the Childcare Extra scheme by week 17 of the pregnancy to avoid the reduction of SMP, or
  • stay in the Childcare Extra scheme and benefit from ongoing Childcare Vouchers at no cost to yourself.

You should also be aware that in order to qualify for SMP your average weekly earnings must be at least the lower earnings limit for National Insurance contributions.  As childcare vouchers reduce the amount of salary that is subject to national insurance contributions, your eligibility for SMP might also be affected.

You are therefore advised to contact HR Services should you fall pregnant whilst in receipt of Childcare Vouchers. 

For more information, see the Department of Work and Pensions' page on SMP eligibility (under 'Salary Sacrifice').  

What to do as soon as you know you are pregnant

Deciding when to tell your Head of Department / line manager that you are pregnant is a personal decision. However, you should bear in mind that the laws which protect you at work whilst pregnant only apply once your employer knows that you are pregnant.

Once your Head of Department / line manager knows that you are pregnant:

    • You are entitled to paid time off to attend appointments for ante-natal care (you may be asked for evidence of these appointments)
    • You are protected from unfair treatment connected with your pregnancy.

If you have a partner, they may be able to take up to two weeks' paid paternity leave once the baby is born. They will need to give their employer notice so should find out about this as soon as possible. If your partner works for the University, they should refer to the University guidance on Paternity leave.

You and your Head of Department / line manager will need to talk about:

    • How you and your baby's safety will be protected whilst you are pregnant and when you return to work i.e. how any risks can be removed or what alternative arrangements can be made?
    • When you are going to start your maternity leave. This can be any time from 11 weeks before your baby is due (but may start automatically if you are off work because of your pregnancy in the four weeks before your baby is due). If you are off work with a pregnancy-related illness prior to this, you will be paid in the same way as for any other type of illness.
    • When you will take any annual leave e.g. you may wish to take it immediately before or after maternity leave and may carry forward up to 10 days' annual leave to the next leave year. Payroll must be informed where annual leave is to be taken after a period of paid maternity leave. You may also decide to take Parental Leave immediately after your child is born or immediately following your maternity leave.

What to do by the 15th week before your baby is due

You must:

    • Tell your Head of Department / line manager that you are pregnant (if you haven't already)
    • Complete and send Form ML1 (Application for Maternity Leave) and Form ML2 (Risk Assessment for Pregnant and Breast-Feeding Employees) to your Head of Department / line manager.
    • Send your maternity certificate (form MATB1), which confirms when your baby is due, to HR Services. Your GP / midwife will give you this form after the 21st week of your pregnancy.

Your Head of Department / line manager will check your ML1 and ML2 forms, complete the relevant section of the ML2 form and send both forms to HR Services.

Within 28 days of receiving the forms, your departmental HR Manager will write to you to confirm the details of your maternity leave, including the date when your maternity leave will end.

If you change your mind about the start date of your maternity leave, you must give 28 days' notice, in writing, to your Head of Department / line manager and send a copy of this to HR Services.

Your partner must tell their employer by the 15th week before the baby is due if they want to take paternity leave, or they may not be able to take it.

What to do before you begin your maternity leave and during your leave

You and your line manager may make reasonable contact during your maternity leave. You should talk to your line manager to agree what kind of contact you will have e.g.

    • How will you be told about changes happening at work, including job vacancies?
    • Would you like the opportunity to attend work during your maternity leave to keep in touch, go to a particular event or take up a training opportunity?

Your line manager cannot demand that you go into work at any time during your maternity leave. However, if you and your line manager both agree, you can do up to 10 days' work during your maternity leave to ease your return to work. These are known as 'Keeping in Touch Days' and aren't limited to your usual work - they can be used for training or other events.

You line manager does not have to offer 'Keeping in Touch Days' to you, but equally you can't be forced to take them up and will not be penalised for refusing to do so.

You and your line manager may find it helpful to start talking about these plans early on to agree what you will be doing on any 'Keeping in Touch Days' and how you will be paid. For health and safety reasons you must not work during the first two weeks after the baby is born and should not normally return to work earlier than six weeks following the birth.

What to do before your return to work

Planning your return to work in advance will make things easier for you and your line manager:

    • If you take Occupational Maternity Leave you should tell your Head of Department / line manager when you intend to return to work by completing Form ML3 (Notification of Return to Work). This should be done as early as possible and at least 8 weeks before you plan to return.
    • If you take Statutory Maternity Leave, you do not need to provide any formal notice of your return to work date if it is the same as the date confirmed in the letter from your Departmental HR Manager. However, it is good practice to confirm the date with your manager. If you wish to return to work earlier than this date, you must complete and return Form ML3 to your Head of Department / line manager at least 8 weeks before you plan to return.
    • Regardless of what type of maternity leave you take, you must complete and return a second Form ML2 (Risk Assessment for Pregnant and Breast Feeding Employees) to your Head of Department / line manager.

If you don't give enough notice of your new return date, your return to work may be postponed until there has been eight week's notice.

If you work full-time and want to return to work on a part-time basis after your maternity leave, or to request other flexible working arrangements, you should do so in line with the University's flexible working policy and discuss and agree any new working arrangements with your Head of Department/manager before your return to work. You should submit details of the agreed new working arrangements to your Head of Department with Form ML3 (Notification of Return to Work) at least 8 weeks before the date you plan to return.

You will normally return to the same job that you did before your maternity leave on the same terms and conditions (e.g. salary, hours, grade). However, in the rare occasions when this is not possible, you will be offered a similar job on terms and conditions comparable to your previous job.

If you decide not to return to work you must give at least the amount of notice that you are required to give under your contract of employment. It will help your line manager if you let them know as soon as you are sure.

You are entitled to receive Statutory Maternity Pay and Maternity Allowance for up to 39 weeks even if your employment ends, so long as you don't start work again during this period. If you receive Occupational Maternity Pay, the University may reclaim all or part of the non-statutory element of this maternity pay if you fail to return to work for at least 3 months following your maternity leave.

Other useful information

For more detailed information, please visit the University's maternity guidelines. You may also be interested in:

 

Last Updated: March 30, 2012 | Alex McFarlane

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