The period of statutory maternity pay has been extended from six to nine months for employees with children born on or after 1 April 2007.
Further measures include:
- Removal of the need to have 26 weeks’ service to qualify for a full 52 weeks’ maternity leave;
- the extension of the notice period, from 28 days to 8 weeks, which an employee must give her employer if she intends to return to work earlier than the end of her additional maternity leave;
- the introduction of a new provision entitling employers to make reasonable contact with an employee who is on maternity leave; and
- where the employer and the employee find the arrangement acceptable, the introduction of up to 10 ‘keeping in touch’ days to enable mothers to go into work during their statutory pay period without losing statutory payments for that week or ending their leave.
In addition, the small employers’ exemption from the normal rule that refusing to allow a woman to return to work after maternity leave is automatically unfair dismissal was ended with regard to employees with children born on or after 1 April 2007. This confirms that an employee now has the right to return to the same or a similar job regardless of the size of the organisation.
The changes made to the maternity leave regulations are for the most part mirrored in the case of adoption leave for parents of children placed for adoption on or after 1 April 2007. However, the requirement for 26 weeks' continuous employment in order to qualify for adoption leave remains.
The Government plans to extend paid maternity leave to 52 weeks by 2010 and also to introduce a new right of up to 26 weeks Additional Paternity Leave, some of which could be paid, if the mother returns to work. Consultation on the administration of Additional Paternity Leave and Pay is ongoing and closes on 3 August 2007.
In addition, the existing provisions which give parents of young and disabled children the right to request flexible working arrangements have been amended by the Flexible Working (Eligibility, Complaints and Remedies) (Amendment) Regulations 2006 to extend this right to those with caring responsibilities for adult relatives. The definition of ‘carer’ is an employee who is or expects to be caring for an adult who:
- is married to, or the partner or civil partner of the employee; or
- is a near relative of the employee; or ·
- falls into neither category but lives at the same address as the employee.
The ‘near relative’ definition includes parents, parents-in-law, adult children, adopted adult children, siblings (including those who are in-laws), uncles, aunts, grandparents and step-relatives.
The right to request flexible working for carers was introduced on 6 April 2007.
The Department of Trade and Industry has published guidance on this topic for employers which can be found here.
