Maternity rights: leave

This page covers the Statutory Minimum Rights to leave under the Maternity and Paternity Leave Regulations 2002, which were updated by the Work and Families Act 2006.

Employers may offer more generous terms but must apply them equally to all staff to avoid potential discriminatory practices.

Compulsory Maternity Leave

An employee cannot work for her employer immediately after childbirth. This is known as Compulsory Maternity Leave (CML), which lasts for:

Two weeks from the date of childbirth OR
Four weeks from the date of childbirth, if the employee works in a factory OR
A longer period in some cases where there may be some other statutory requirement which means the compulsory maternity leave period will last longer.

If the CML period is later than 26 weeks after the start of Ordinary Maternity Leave (OML), then the OML must be extended to continue until the end of the CML period.

All terms and conditions applicable under OML will continue through the CML period.

Statutory Maternity Leave

There are two types of maternity leave:

Ordinary Maternity Leave (OML)

All pregnant employees, regardless of length of service, are entitled to 26 weeks Ordinary Maternity Leave OML.

In order to qualify for OML, the employee must notify the employer, no later than the end of the 15th week before the Expected Week of Childbirth (EWC).

Additional Maternity Leave (AML)

All pregnant employees are also entitled to Additional Maternity Leave (AML), which begins from the end of the OML and is for a further period of 26 weeks.

When to start maternity leave

The earliest date a woman can start her maternity leave is the beginning of the 11th week before the baby is expected. If reasonably practicable, a woman must inform her employer of her intention to take maternity leave by the end of her fifteenth week before her EWC.

What the employee needs to tell her employer

In order to qualify for OML, the employee must notify the employer, no later than the end of the 15th week before the EWC:

That she is pregnant
Details of the week the baby is expected
The date on which she intends to start OML or if they cannot, they should give notice as soon as possible

Any change of start date must be notified to the employer at least 28 days prior to the leave commencing. The employee must also give at least 28 days’ notice of when she wants her Statutory Maternity Pay to start.

What the employer needs to tell the employee

The employer must:

Respond to any notification of start date, in writing, within 28 days of the start of the maternity leave
State clearly the date the woman is expected to return to work after she finishes her OML (or AML if applicable)

Contact during maternity leave

During the maternity leave period an employer may make reasonable contact with an employee. Similarly, an employee may make contact with her employer.

“Keeping in Touch Days”

Employees may, by agreement with their employer, carry out up to ten day’s work, for which they will be paid. These are known as “Keeping in Touch Days”.

Keeping in Touch Days may not be held during the first 2 weeks after the baby is born or during the first 4 weeks, if the employee works in a factory.

Rights before, during and after maternity

Pregnant employees are entitled to paid time-off to receive ante-natal care. Except in the case of the first appointment, an employer is entitled to request a certificate from a registered medical practitioner/registered midwife/registered health visitor, in order to confirm that the employee is pregnant. In addition, an appointment card or similar can be presented to show that an appointment has been made.

Additional rights for pregnant employees:

Return to the job in which she was employed - with protected rights to pay, conditions and benefits
Time off to seek medical advice at the normal rate of pay, on producing proof of the appointment
Request a workplace risk assessment during pregnancy
Request alternative work where any risks to the health of the expectant mother and baby can be avoided
Remuneration during suspension on maternity grounds, if health and safety measures cannot be complied with
Right to request to work a different pattern or hours of work

Remember: Treating a pregnant employee less favourably than another employee e.g. changing an employee’s terms of employment is considered a form of sex discrimination and the employee may make a claim to an Employment Tribunal.

Also, dismissal during OML and AML periods is generally considered automatically unfair if the main reason for dismissal is: