The key rights for pregnant employees are:
- Time off for antenatal appointments.
- Health and safety protection while pregnant and breastfeeding.
- Up to 52 weeks' maternity leave.
- Statutory maternity pay (SMP) for up to 39 weeks.
- The right to return to the same job.
- Priority for alternative employment in redundancy cases.
- The right to request flexible working conditions on return to work.
- Protection from dismissal, detriment or discrimination by reason of pregnancy or maternity.
The Work and Families Act 2006 and further regulations made under it, including the Maternity and Parental Leave etc. and the Paternity and Adoption Leave (Amendment) Regulations 2006 (MPL Amendment Regulations), came into force in October 2006. As a result:
- Employees are entitled to one year's statutory maternity leave (made up of ordinary maternity leave (OML) and additional maternity leave (AML), regardless of length of service.
- The Notice required of an employee who wishes to return early from maternity leave has been extended from 28 days to eight weeks.
- Employees can work for up to ten "keeping in touch" (KIT) days during their maternity leave without bringing that leave to an end.
- Statutory maternity pay has also been extended to 39 weeks for those who qualify for it.
Since 6 April 2003, employees subject to qualifying conditions have been entitled to:
- Either one whole week or two consecutive weeks' paternity leave.
- Statutory paternity pay (SPP) for up to two weeks.
Both must be taken within the period of 56 days beginning with the date of childbirth or the date of placement of an adopted child.
Additional statutory paternity leave
The Work and Families Act 2006 made provision for the introduction of new rights to additional paternity leave (APL) and additional paternity pay (APP). The eligibility requirements for APL to a large extent mirror those for existing SPL, which will be referred to as "ordinary" paternity leave, or OPL, once APL is in force.
In addition, for a father or partner to take APL, the mother or adopter (as applicable) must return to work having not exhausted their entitlement to statutory maternity or adoption leave. So, for example, a mother and father will not be able to take maternity leave and APL at the same time. Only if the mother declines to take a proportion of OML and/or AML will the father's right to take APL crystallise.
Further, to take APL, employees will need to have qualified for "ordinary" paternity leave and have continued in employment with the same employer up to the date on which they intend to take the APL.
Taking additional paternity leave
The earliest a father or partner will be able to take APL will be:
- 20 weeks from the date of birth of the child; or
- 20 weeks from the date of placement for adoption.
The minimum period of APL that may be taken will be two weeks and the maximum period will be 26 weeks. APL must be taken in multiples of complete weeks and as one period.
Adoption leave
Employees who have completed 26 weeks continuous service and who are newly matched with a child for adoption by an adoption agency are entitled to a period of 26 weeks' statutory leave (Ordinary Adoption Leave - OAL). Only one member of a couple adopting jointly can take statutory adoption pay depending on their salary and length of service. Such employees are also entitled to a further period of 26 weeks' unpaid statutory leave which follows directly on from ordinary adoption leave.
Parental leave
Parental leave is a form of statutory unpaid leave available to some working parents in addition to statutory maternity, paternity and adoption leave. It can last up to 13 weeks and can be flexible in terms of the time at which it is taken and the way in which the total leave entitlement may be split up into a number of shorter periods (unlike maternity, paternity or adoption leave).