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Q: What are an employee's maternity rights with regards to leave?

Feb 12 2008

Answered by: Peter Done Ask a question

Assuming that the baby was due on or after 1st April 2007 Employees are entitled to 52 weeks maternity leave, regardless of length of service or the number of hours they work, providing they give the correct notice.

Maternity leave is divided into 26 weeks’ Ordinary Maternity Leave and 26 weeks Additional Maternity Leave. During Ordinary Maternity Leave employees are entitled to all of the contractual rights (such as pension or holidays) that the employee would have received if they had not been on leave. The only element of contractual rights that does not continue is wages or salary.

The second 26 weeks of maternity leave starts on the day after the Ordinary Maternity Leave period finishes. During Additional Maternity Leave the only contractual rights which continue are notice periods, the right to redundancy pay if an employee is made redundant, any procedures the employer has for grievances or disciplinary hearings and the terms which prohibit employees from working for competing organisations or disclosing confidential information about an employer’s business.

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