Business News
Changes to maternity and paternity rules
Legislative changes due to come into force in April 2011 are set to alter the requirements for employers to help employees cope with their parental responsibilities.
The biggest change in maternity and paternity legislation will allow mothers to transfer part of their maternity leave to their partner, enabling fathers to become more involved in their child’s upbringing. It also gives mothers more options to return to work.
Although the Government does not intend to increase the administrative burden for employers, managers do need to be aware of the new rules and how they should be implemented.
Below looks at current maternity and paternity rules and examines how the new approach to paternity leave will operate:
Current maternity and paternity legislation
Current paternity leave law has been in force for just over six years and will continue to remain the same: employees are able to take up to two weeks’ paternity leave as long as they are the biological father and/or the mother’s husband or partner and have responsibility for the baby’s upbringing.
In addition, they must have worked continuously for the same employer for at least 26 weeks before their partner’s 25th week of pregnancy (15 weeks before the baby is due is the qualifying week) or matched for adoption. They must also still be in employment when leave is taken.
Statutory Paternity Pay (SPP) is £124.88 (since 4 April 2010) or 90% of the employee’s average weekly earnings – whichever amount is lower. The employer must also have average weekly earnings at or above the lower earnings limit, which is currently £97.00.
Paternity leave is designed to give the father time to support their partner and/or care for the baby. It can be taken as one or two consecutive weeks’ leave, either on the day the baby is born or on a specified date after the birth, agreed by both the employer and employee.
However, leave must finish within 56 days of the birth date or, if the child is born early, between the actual birth and 56 days from the date of the expected week of birth.
What changes will April bring?
The new paternity legislation will extend the father’s rights, giving them a second period of leave, called Additional Paternity Leave (APL). However, this will only be applicable if the mother chooses to return to work.
Therefore, the father can take the statutory two weeks off after the baby has been born, and he will then be able to take another period of leave to take over childcare responsibilities from his partner from 20 weeks after the child is born.
Fathers can take APL for a minimum of two and a maximum of 26 weeks. In addition, any APL that falls within the mother’s maternity pay period will qualify for the remainder of the mother’s statutory maternity pay, which is paid to the father as additional paternity pay.
It is important to note that, as with maternity leave, apart from remuneration, contractual benefits will continue during the Additional Paternity Leave. Fathers will also be able to take Keeping in Touch days in the same way that other employees do during maternity and adoption leave.
How does it work in practice?
In order to take APL, both parents must provide signed declarations to the father’s employer; a standard form will be available covering details such as the mother’s national insurance number and expected week of childbirth.
This information will be used by the father’s employer to check his eligibility and to calculate any payment due. It will also be used by HM Revenue & Customs to check that the claim was paid correctly and to make sure that the mother was entitled to maternity or adoption pay.
Therefore, employers will have to manage a ‘stop/start’ system – two periods of absence for fathers who choose to take both the statutory two weeks’ paternity leave and Additional Paternity Leave.
Due to the possible length of the second period of leave, employers may choose to consider taking on temporary ‘paternity cover’ in the same way that they would find ‘maternity cover’ when a female employee goes on maternity leave.
The main consideration for employers to remember is that April’s new legislation is adding to paternity leave rights, but the information stated in the 2002 Employment Act remains unchanged.
Maternity leave regulations
Pregnant employees and women on maternity leave have special rights under the Employment Rights Act 1996 and the Maternity and Parental Leave etc Regulations 1990 for a number of reasons, including encouraging the greater involvement of women in the workplace.
These rights include:
• Leave – Mothers are entitled to 52 weeks of maternity leave, comprising 26 weeks’ Ordinary Maternity Leave (OML) and 26 weeks’ Additional Maternity Leave (AMP), irrespective of their length of service with their employer. The earliest an employee can begin her maternity leave is 11 weeks before the baby is due (unless the baby is born earlier than the specified 11 weeks or stillborn after 24 weeks of pregnancy). Notice of maternity leave must be given to the employer by the end of the 15th/start of the 14th week prior to the expected week of childbirth, unless this is not possible.
• Pay – Statutory Maternity Pay (SMP) lasts for 39 weeks. The first six weeks are paid at 90% of the mother’s average weekly wages; the following 33 weeks are paid at a flat rate of £124.88; the final 13 weeks can be taken as an unpaid period of leave.
• Keeping in Touch (KIT) days – KIT days can form an important part of the maternity leave procedure. They enable mothers to work for her employer for up to 10 days without bringing maternity leave to an end.
• Discrimination – Contained within the Employment Rights Act 1996 and the Equality Act 2010 are rules of the protection from less favourable treatment and dismissal for pregnant employees and mothers on maternity leave.
