Subject to Parliamentary approval, women
whose babies are due on or after 6 April
2003, and their employers, will benefit
from new simplified rights to maternity
leave.
Start dates
Women whose expected week of childbirth
(EWC) begins on or after 6 April 2003
will benefit from the new maternity
leave provisions.
Women whose EWC is on or after 6 April
2003 will benefit from the new leave
rights even if their babies are born
earlier than expected.
The changes to maternity leave
provisions will not apply to women whose
EWC is before 6 April 2003, even if
their babies are born later than
expected on or after 6 April 2003.
Length of maternity leave.
The length of ordinary maternity leave
will be increased and pregnant employees
will be entitled to 26 weeks’ ordinary
maternity leave, regardless of how long
they have worked for their employer.
Ordinary maternity leave is normally
paid leave.
Women who have completed 26 weeks’
continuous service with their employer
by the 15th week before their EWC will
be able to take additional maternity
leave. Additional maternity leave will
start immediately after ordinary
maternity leave and continue for a
further 26 weeks.
Additional maternity leave is usually
unpaid although a woman may have
contractual rights to pay during her
period of additional maternity leave.
Notice of intention to take maternity
leave.
-
A pregnant
employee will be required to notify
her employer of her intention to
take maternity leave by the 15th
week before her EWC, unless this is
not reasonably practicable. She will
need to tell her employer:
-
that she is
pregnant,
-
the week her baby
is expected to be
-
when she wants
her maternity leave to start.
A woman will be able to change her mind
about when she wants to start her leave
providing she tells her employer at
least 28 days in advance (unless this is
not reasonably practicable).
There will be a new requirement on
employers to respond to a woman’s
notification of her leave plans within
28 days. An employer will need to write
to his employee, setting out the date on
which he expects her to return to work
if she takes her full entitlement to
maternity leave. A model letter for
employers to use (if they wish to do so)
will be available as part of future
detailed guidance.
There will be no change to how early a
woman is able to start her maternity
leave – the earliest date will continue
to be the beginning of the 11th week
before her baby is due.
Returning to work after maternity leave.
There will no longer be provision for an
employer to write to a woman before the
end of her ordinary maternity leave
period to ask the date on which her
child was born and whether she intends
to return after her additional maternity
leave period. This means that a woman
who intends to return to work at the end
of her full maternity leave entitlement
will not be required to give any further
notification to her employer.
An employee who wants to return to work
before the end of her maternity leave
will need to give her employer 28 days'
notice of the date she wants to return
to work.
Sickness trigger.
A woman’s maternity leave will start
automatically if she is absent from work
for a pregnancy related illness during
the four weeks before the start of her
EWC, regardless of when she has said she
actually wants her maternity leave to
start.
Other changes.
Statutory Maternity Pay and Maternity
Allowance.
The Department for Work and Pensions
will be making changes to Statutory
Maternity Pay (SMP) and Maternity
Allowance (MA). The most important of
these increase the length of time
covered by SMP or MA and increase the
amount paid.
Women who are entitled to SMP or MA and
whose EWC begins on or after 6 April
2003 will receive SMP or MA for 26
weeks.
Women who are entitled to SMP or MA and
whose EWC begins on or after 6 April
2003 but who give birth prematurely,
will still be entitled to receive SMP or
MA for 26 weeks.
From 6 April 2003, the standard rates of
SMP and MA will be increasing from the
current £75 a week to £100 a week (or
90% of the woman's average weekly
earnings if this is less than £100 a
week). There will be no change to the
current earnings-related rate of SMP
(90% of average weekly earnings) which
applies for the first six weeks of the
pay period.
The new standard rates apply from 6
April 2003 to all women getting SMP or
MA at that point regardless of when they
expect their baby, or whether they
qualify for the new extended pay period.
The current standard rate of £75 applies
up to 5 April 2003.
When the changes are fully in place,
women will either get:
SMP from their
employer worth 90% of their earnings
for 6 weeks, followed by 20 weeks at
£100 (or 90% of earnings for the
full 26 weeks if this is less than
£100 a week).
MA from their
local Jobcentre Plus / Social
Security office worth £100 a week
for 26 weeks (or 90% of their
earnings for 26 weeks if this is
less than £100 a week).
Further information about the SMP scheme
for employers is additionally available
from your local Inland Revenue office.
Employers’ recovery of payments
Existing arrangements for employers to
recover Statutory Maternity Pay (SMP)
will continue – employers are able to
claim back 92% of the payments they
make, with those eligible for small
employers’ relief able to claim back
100% plus an additional amount in
compensation for the employer’s portion
of National Insurance contributions paid
on SMP.
In addition, under the new arrangements,
employers who need to, will be able to
receive funding in advance for payments
of SMP from the Inland Revenue.
The Interactive
Law Group