Saturday, October 4th, 2008
Employers need to be aware that women who give birth on or after 5th October now qualify for improved maternity entitlement.
A woman is allowed to take 52 weeks maternity leave regardless of her length of service with her employer.
The entitlement is made up of two sections. The first section is the 26 weeks of Ordinary Maternity Leave. At the end of this period the woman has the right to return to the same post and is entitled to the same terms and conditions that she enjoyed before her leave began.
The second section is the 26 weeks of Additional Maternity Leave. The woman then has the right to return to the same job, but if it is not reasonably practicable for the employer to hold the job open, she can be offered another position on similar terms and conditions which are no less favourable.
During Ordinary Maternity Leave the woman must continue to benefit from the same terms and conditions that would have applied had she still been at work, apart from the terms relating to salary. Until now, these benefits did not continue in full into the 26 weeks Additional Maternity Leave. However, they will do so now for women who give birth after 5th October.
For example, they will continue to qualify for contractual benefits such as participation in share schemes, reimbursement of professional subscriptions or gym membership. They will also be able to continue using company cars and mobile phones, unless they are provided for business use only.
A woman will retain her contractual rights to compensation and statutory redundancy pay if she is made redundant. If her employment is to be terminated then she will be entitled to her contractual notice period and she cannot be dismissed for reasons relating to her pregnancy or maternity leave.
The time on Additional Maternity Leave will count towards the woman’s period of continuous employment for the purposes of such entitlements as redundancy payments, assessing seniority and length of service payments.
Women will also continue to accrue annual leave while on Additional Maternity Leave unless they have agreed otherwise with their employer.
For advice on all employment matters contact Kevin Smyth.
© Copyright 2008 Burt Brill and Cardens Solicitors