Navigating Parental Leave: Rights and Implications for Employers
As a growing startup, hiring new employees is necessary; and when building your workforce, it is important to note your employees’ rights. These employment rights are to be included in employment agreements, and include the basic rights of workers concerning pay, hours and discrimination.
In particular, this article looks at the employment rights afforded to working parents. Namely, we outline employment rights associated with maternity leave, paternity leave and shared parental leave, and the significance of these rights for employers.
Maternity leave
Regardless of how long one has been employed, a pregnant employee is entitled to a leave of 52 weeks, or 1 year; 26 weeks of ordinary leave and 26 weeks of additional leave. An employee does not have to take the full 52 weeks, but must take a leave of at least 2 weeks immediately after her child’s birth.
Alternatively, employees on maternity leave might feel that they want to extend their leave by making use of their holiday allowance. Those on maternity leave can still accumulate holiday days, and their unused leave can roll over into the following year.
Commencement of leave
Maternity leave can start as early as 11 weeks before the employee's due date. In practice, most pregnant women prefer to take it as late as possible to spend more time with their new-born. As an employer, you are entitled to be informed in advance if your employee wishes to alter their leave dates.
Pay entitlements
Statutory maternity pay is paid for up to 39 weeks. For the first 6 weeks, the employee is paid 90% of their average weekly earnings.
For the next 33 weeks, they will be paid £156.66 per week, or 90% of their average weekly earnings, whichever is less. You may calculate maternity pay here.
Other rights attached
As long as an employee is entitled to maternity leave, they are equally entitled to other rights attached to, or included in their leave i.e. maternity leave can be used to attend parenting classes and medical appointments, including paid leave for antenatal appointments. As an employer, you are entitled to refuse leave for appointments on reasonable grounds. In cases where the employee’s presence is especially important, ask the employee to schedule appointments outside of working hours.
Moreover, health and safety concerns also constitute standard employment rights. Employers should where necessary, make accommodations for their employees' abilities, including changing the type of work performed by the employee or reducing heavy workload where possible.
Paternity Leave
Paternity leave is a right granted to the father of the child, the mother’s partner and/or someone responsible for the child’s upbringing. It is important to note that paternity leave is not limited to men; same-sex couples expecting a child are also eligible.
Paternity leave can last one to two weeks. They must have been employed with you for at least 26 weeks (by the end of the 15th week before the due date) to be eligible for leave.
Individuals may also be eligible for ordinary paternity leave for adoption and/or surrogacy. The following are the criteria:
Be the partner of the person wishing to adopt.
Be the second adoptive parent in a married couple.
Been continuously employed for at least 26 weeks, ending with the week of adoption confirmation.
Take on the responsibility of caring for the child.
Pay entitlements
Paternity leave is accompanied by pay. To qualify, the employee must continue to work for the employer until the date of the baby’s birth and earn at least £123 per week. Paternity pay is £156.66 per week or 90% of their average weekly earnings, whichever is lower.
Employees on paternity leave have the right to take time off work to attend one or two antenatal appointments with their partners.
Shared parental leave
Employees may choose to share their leave among themselves. The maximum that can be shared is 50 weeks with 37 weeks of pay split between them.
Individuals wishing to share parental leave and pay must have been employed continuously by their employers for at least 26 weeks (by the end of the 15th week before the due date) and must continue to be employed until they begin their leave.
Pay entitlements
Should they wish, partners may share 37 weeks of pay between them. To be eligible for parental leave, they must collectively earn at least £123 per week on average. Parental pay is paid in a similar way to paternity leave: at the rate of £156.66 per week or 90% of the employee's average weekly earnings, whichever is less.
Shared Parental Leave
Employers can retain talent and boost productivity by encouraging both parents to take shared parental leave during the first few months after the child’s birth. Taking shared parental leave tends to create healthier family dynamics and result in a motivated and productive start back up at work.
However, shared parental leave can be disruptive to the running of the business; although notice is given, finding maternity or paternity coverage quickly can slow business.
Rights as an employee
As an employer, you are responsible for ensuring that employees’ rights are upheld. Where they are not, employees have the right to take action against their employer. What follows is an overview of the steps an employee can take against their employer if their maternity/paternity rights, as well as other employment rights, are denied:
Expect to speak with the employee. They may wish to inquire as to why you have decided not to grant their rights. If the employee is a trade union member, they may approach them for assistance and support. If not, they may look for one that they can join.
If the employee does not believe the situation has been resolved, they should write to their employer. They will likely mention whether they believe they have been discriminated against. Failure to respond appropriately or at all may result in a grievance letter, containing similar information to the first letter but most likely be reviewed by someone more senior, i.e. a HR consultant.
If the employee is dissatisfied with the outcome of the grievance, they may wish to initiate early conciliation. This is essentially the employee's opportunity to resolve the issue without filing a tribunal claim. It is advantageous for both an employer and an employee to resolve the issue before it reaches this stage, especially for an employer whose reputation is at stake.
If the issue is not resolved at this point, the employee may take the employer to an employment tribunal.
Author: Rita Almazuri -
Author: Rita Almazuri -
In partnership with:
DISCLAIMER
This article has been written by law students for the sole purpose of providing informative insight. The information in this article is intended for educational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice, nor should the information be used for the purpose of advising clients. You should seek independent legal advice before relying on any of the information provided in this article.
Sources
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Accounting and Business, ‘Taking Advantage of Shared Parental Leave’ (abmagazine.accaglobal.comOctober 2021) <https://abmagazine.accaglobal.com/global/articles/2021/oct/careers/taking-advantage-of-shared-parental-leave.html>
Citizens Advice, ‘Rights While You’re Pregnant at Work’ (Citizensadvice.org.uk2019) <https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/work/rights-at-work/parental-rights/rights-while-youre-pregnant-at-work/>
——, ‘Maternity Pay - What You’re Entitled To’ (www.citizensadvice.org.uk) <https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/work/rights-at-work/parental-rights/maternity-pay-what-youre-entitled-to/>
DADInfo, ‘Paternity Leave in the UK | DAD.info’ (www.dad.info) <https://www.dad.info/article/family/work/paternity-leave/paternity-leave-in-the-uk/>
Money Helper, ‘Paternity Leave and Pay’ (MaPS) <https://www.moneyhelper.org.uk/en/family-and-care/becoming-a-parent/paternity-leave-and-pay>
NHS, ‘Maternity and Paternity Benefits and Leave’ (nhs.uk1 December 2020) <https://www.nhs.uk/pregnancy/finding-out/maternity-and-paternity-benefits-and-leave/>
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