As an employer, you must grant your employees certain rights relating to their employment with you. You are also obliged to follow specific rules regarding their employment. However, where your employees fall pregnant, the rights you owe them and your obligations towards them change. Therefore, you must be aware of your responsibilities towards your pregnant employees so that you can ensure you grant what you legally owe. If you fail this, they could bring a claim against you at an employment tribunal. This article will explain your responsibilities towards your pregnant employees. In addition, it will outline the four main legal entitlements you must provide to pregnant employees.
When your workers are pregnant, they have four main legal entitlements. Therefore, it is your responsibility to ensure that you allow them these. These are as follows:
Your pregnant employee has a right to paid time off work at their standard pay rate for antenatal care. Notably, this does not only concern antenatal appointments. For example, if a doctor or nurse suggests that they attend antenatal or parenting classes, you must also allow them paid time off to attend these.
However, the right to paid time off for antenatal care does not start until the pregnant worker has informed you that they are pregnant. They must let you know this at least 15 weeks before the start of the week the baby is due to be born. If your worker does not know they are pregnant 15 weeks before the baby is due to be born, they must tell you as soon as they can.
In addition to the requirement to allow your pregnant employees paid time off for antenatal care, you must allow the pregnant woman’s partner, husband, or civil partner two days off work to attend any antenatal care with her. However, this time off is on an unpaid basis.
Your pregnant employees are entitled to 52 weeks of maternity leave regardless of how:
This right exists from the first day of their employment with you. However, your pregnant staff who are not employees are not entitled to maternity leave.
Additionally, your pregnant employee must let you know when they wish their statutory maternity leave to begin. They can take their leave 11 weeks before their baby’s due date. Likewise, they can do this once they notify you of the baby’s due date. Where they wish to make changes to this date, they must:
When your employee’s baby arrives earlier than expected, their maternity leave can start the day after the arrival.
Your pregnant employee can decide not to take maternity leave or not to take all of the maternity leave at once. However, they are legally required to be away from work for two weeks immediately after the birth or where they work in a factory for four weeks.This is compulsory maternity leave.
Further, where your pregnant employee falls ill with a pregnancy-related illness and is off work within four weeks before her baby is due, her maternity leave will automatically start. This is not affected by any previously agreed arrangements.
Importantly, while on maternity leave, your pregnant employee continues to accrue holiday leave. They are also entitled to take holiday leave before or after their maternity leave to make their break from work last longer.
There are legal requirements to pay pregnant employees a minimum amount of maternity pay. This is known as statutory maternity pay. It applies where your employee has (after the 15th week before the baby’s due date):
Statutory maternity pay amounts to 90% of your employee’s average earnings for the first six weeks of maternity leave. The following 33 weeks of their maternity leave is either £151.97 per week or 90% of their average weekly earnings before tax. It depends on which is lower.
However, you may wish to provide more than the statutory maternity pay. This is enhanced or contractual maternity pay. If you do this, you must detail the amount and duration of this within your employee’s employment contract. Where your pregnant employee is not entitled to maternity pay they may be eligible to receive maternity allowance from the government.
Further, your pregnant employee must let you know when they wish their statutory maternity pay to begin. It should start as soon as their maternity leave starts. Where your pregnant worker falls ill with a pregnancy-related illness and is off work within four weeks before her baby is due, her statutory maternity pay will automatically start. Importantly, you cannot change this through any previously agreed arrangements. Where your pregnant employee’s baby arrives earlier than expected, their maternity pay can start the day after the arrival.
It is illegal for you to discriminate against your pregnant employees on the basis of being pregnant. Discrimination is illegal on the basis that they:
It does not matter how long the pregnant person has worked for you. In all cases, the rules on discrimination apply. It also does not matter if the pregnant woman is an employee, worker, or self-employed where the latter requires them to do the work personally. However, where the pregnant person is self-employed, you should be mindful that the law in this area is complicated.
The following actions can amount to discrimination against your pregnant worker:
If you wish to make changes to your pregnant employee’s employment contract terms and conditions, you must get their consent to do so. Otherwise, you will be in breach of the contract. When you dismiss a pregnant worker, you must give them a reason for doing so in writing.
Further, if a pregnant worker believes you have discriminated against them, they can make a claim at an employment tribunal.
As an employer, you must assess risks at work to your pregnant employee and her baby. You are also required to do this for an employee who has become a new mother in the past six months and when your employee is breastfeeding.
This assessment can be a single assessment for the whole workplace. However, it is good practice to assess each employee individually, including agency workers and the self-employed. Indeed, a pregnant worker is entitled to know the result of their risk assessment. You should also engage in regular discussions about health and safety with your pregnant employee.
Additionally, you must take reasonable action to remove any risks identified, including amending your pregnant employee’s work hours or giving her a different type of work. The types of risks identified could be those related to:
If you cannot reduce or remove the risk identified, you must temporarily change your employee’s working conditions and hours. You must also let your pregnant employee know that you could not remove the risk. If a temporary change to working conditions and hours is not possible, you should offer your pregnant employee another role but with the same rate of pay and no less favourable terms.
If, however, you are unable to offer your pregnant employee another role or unable to remove any identified risks, you should suspend your employee on full pay. This will last until you can make the workplace safe again for them or when they start their maternity leave.
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When your employee falls pregnant, the rules surrounding her employment change. There are four main legal requirements to note. You must provide time off work on full pay for antenatal care, maternity leave, maternity pay or maternity allowance. Likewise, you must ensure protection against discrimination, dismissal and unfair treatment. Some rules apply to their health and safety, requiring you to offer them another role or even suspend them on full pay.
If you need help understanding your responsibilities towards pregnant workers, our experienced employment lawyers can assist as part of our LegalVision membership. For a low monthly fee, you will have unlimited access to lawyers to answer your questions and draft and review your documents for a low monthly fee. So call us today on 0808 196 8584 or visit our membership page.
The primary responsibilities towards your pregnant employees are related to antenatal care, maternity leave, maternity pay or maternity allowance and protection against discrimination, dismissal and unfair treatment.
What are the rules about allowing my pregnant employee time off for antenatal care?You must allow your pregnant employees time off for antenatal care at their standard pay rate. This is not limited to antenatal appointments. It also includes other activities such as parenting classes which have been recommended by a healthcare professional.
