If you are employed and pregnant or on maternity leave, you are entitled to greater employment rights and protection. One of these rights is the entitlement to maternity leave, which we covered in depth here in the first part of our articles on family-related rights.
In this article, we outline other rights afforded to pregnant workers once they have informed their employer of their pregnancy. We also discuss other family-friendly leave options for new parents such as paternity, parental leave, and shared parental leave.
Working Whilst Pregnant
You have legal rights while you are pregnant at work, which prevent you from being treated unfairly, ensure your workplace is free of risks and give you time off for antenatal appointments. However, you will need to first tell your employer that you are pregnant before these rights kick in.
Right to Time Off for Pregnancy-Related Appointments
If you are an employee entitled to take maternity leave, you are also entitled to reasonable paid time off work for antenatal appointments. This also includes parenting classes and relaxation classes as well as scans and medical appointments, so long as they have been advised by a registered medical practitioner, midwife or health visitor.
Your partner can also take unpaid time off to attend up to two antenatal appointments (at a maximum of 6.5 hours for each appointment).
Health and Safety
Once you have informed your employer in writing of your pregnancy, they are obliged to carry out a risk assessment to make sure that there are no health and safety risks to you or your baby. Risks could be caused by long working hours, exposure to toxic substances or standing or sitting for long periods.
When assessing for risks, your employer should speak to you about your pregnancy and what you require. If there are any risks, your employer should take reasonable steps to remove them by making adjustments to your working conditions, giving you different work or letting you stay at home on full pay if they cannot remove the risks.
Protection Against Detriment
As per the law, your employer is not allowed to treat you unfairly because of your pregnancy. Examples of pregnancy discrimination could include:
- pressure to resign
- being overlooked for promotion or training opportunities
- a reduction in pay or hours
- a refusal to extend your contract during or after a probation period
If you believe you have been treated badly because of your pregnancy, you can raise a grievance with your employer and failing a satisfactory outcome, make a pregnancy discrimination claim in an employment tribunal.
Family-Friendly Leave
We have discussed maternity leave in some detail here. However, since it is now more common than ever for both parents in the family to work full or part-time, new parents may also wish to consider other paid leave options, such as Shared Parental Leave, Paternity Leave and Parental Leave.
Shared Parental Leave
Shared Parental Leave (SPL), which was introduced in 2015, aims to give eligible parents more flexibility in how they arrange care for their child in its first year. It allows birth mothers to end their maternity leave and pay early and instead transfer leave to their partners during the period from the child’s birth until their first birthday.
The first two weeks after the baby’s birth must be taken by the birth mother; however, after this period leave and pay can be shared, meaning that up to fifty weeks of leave and thirty-seven weeks of pay can be split.
There is a lot of flexibility over how SPL can be taken. A partner can take time off at the same time as the mother to allow them to spend time at home together with their baby. Alternatively, it can be used to allow the birth mother to return to work early and allow her partner to take shared parental leave at that time. It also gives parents the option of both returning to work and then taking shared parental leave at a later time, either together or at different staggered times.
SPL can also be taken by adopting parents or those having a baby through surrogacy.
Shared parental leave is paid according to the employer’s policy on SPL. Alternatively, Shared Parental Pay (ShPP) is paid at £172.48 (April 2023 to April 2024) or 90 % of a worker’s average weekly earnings, whichever is less.
The benefits of SPL are that it provides flexibility in childcare and gives fathers crucial bonding time with their children. Unlike maternity leave, SPL doesn’t have to be taken in one block so it works well if the mother needs to take leave in-between periods of work.
However, the main disadvantage of shared parental leave pay is that it is not a financially attractive option for many households, especially if the father is the higher earner. Furthermore, mothers are more likely to get enhanced maternity benefits so it often doesn’t make sense for them to give that benefit up for a lower-paid ShPP. The rules on SPL are also quite complicated and have quite stringent eligibility criteria.
For more information on SPL, visit https://www.gov.uk/shared-parental-leave-and-pay.
Paternity Leave
Paternity leave may be taken by a baby’s father, the mother’s partner, a child’s adopted parent or the intended parent if they are having a baby through surrogacy.
If a new parent has worked for their employer for twenty-six continuous weeks before the 15th week before the birth of the baby, they may take up to two weeks paid leave in addition to normal holiday allowance to look after the child (and its mother).
As of 2023/2024, the statutory weekly rate of paternity pay is £172.48 (April 2023 to April 2024) or 90% of average weekly earnings, whichever is lower. However, employers may have a company paternity scheme under which employees receive additional pay.
Paternity leave cannot be taken before the birth or adoption and must be taken within 56 days of the birth. It can only be taken as one or two (consecutive) weeks rather than individual days.
Parental Leave
This is (unpaid) time off for parents to spend with their children and can be used if a child is ill, if childcare arrangements fall through or if anything unexpected occurs relating to the child. Parents qualify if they have worked for their employer for more than one year and have children under the age of eighteen.
Requests for Flexible Working
When a new parent returns to work after having a baby, their employer will expect them to return to their role on the same basis as before, unless they specifically ask for changes.
If you are thinking about changing your hours or duties when you return to work from maternity or any other parental leave to balance your job with childcare needs, you might consider flexible working. Examples of flexible working include working part-time, term-times only, working from home or in a job share.
In a workplace that has a strong culture of supporting working parents, or where you have a good working relationship with your line manager, you may want to handle this informally first by having a chat during your leave to see what is possible.
Alternatively, you can put in a formal request for flexible working, which all employees are now entitled to do from day one of employment. The request must be made in writing and while an employer may lawfully refuse it in certain circumstances, it must consider the request in a reasonable manner and arrange a meeting to discuss the request. If your employer rejects your request, they will have to discuss alternative options for working flexibly with you.
Redundancy During Pregnancy, Maternity and Other Parental Leave
There are special rules that apply if a woman is selected for redundancy at any point during her maternity leave. Put simply, she must be offered any suitable alternative vacancies as a priority over other colleagues without the need for an interview. There are similar obligations in relation to those on shared parental and adoption leave.
Better pregnancy and paternity protection were proposed after a report revealed that 77% of women reported having a negative experience or facing discrimination during pregnancy or subsequent maternity leave. As a result, the Protection from Redundancy (Pregnancy and Family Leave) Act 2023 was passed, which will extend the existing obligation to offer any suitable alternative employment during a redundancy consultation period to include pregnant employees from the moment they inform the employer of their pregnancy until 18 months after the birth.
The provisions will also apply to employees who have recently returned to work after adoption or shared parental leave.
The new legislation will not prevent employers from making pregnant women or new parents redundant. However, if they are chosen for redundancy during this protective period, pregnant women and new parents in the above circumstances will also have the right to be offered any available suitable vacancy in priority to other employees.
If an employer fails to offer suitable alternative employment in a redundancy situation, this may lead to the employee’s dismissal being automatically unfair.
Note, however, the new entitlements will not apply until the Secretary of State makes new regulations providing for the changes and this timing is currently unknown.If you feel you have been treated unfairly as a result of your pregnancy or need advice about any aspect of maternity, paternity and shared parental leave and your rights, contact our expert employment team today or email us at info@witansolicitors.co.uk.
