CHAPTER 6: MATERNITY, PATERNITY, ADOPTION AND CARING
6.1. Any member of staff who is pregnant should inform the Human Resources Office as soon as possible. The Human Resources Office will be able to explain more fully the advice set out in the paragraphs below. 6.2. A pregnant woman will be given paid time off for antenatal care. 6.3. A woman who is pregnant will be visited as soon as possible by a trained risk assessor who will carry out a risk assessment of her workstation and of the tasks she performs so that all reasonable steps can be taken to remove or reduce such risks as may be found. Pregnant women are also advised to consult the Human Resources Office or the Occupational Health Adviser if concerned at any time about the impact of their work on their pregnancy.
6.4. Women can start maternity leave at any time from the beginning of the eleventh week before the expected week of the birth. They must notify the Human Resources Office by the 15th week before the expected week of the birth of: the fact that they are pregnant; the expected week of the birth; and the start date of maternity leave.
6.5 The Human Resources Office requires a certificate from a doctor or midwife confirming the expected week of childbirth (a DSS maternity certificate on Form MAT B1 is accepted for this purpose). Maternity leave will commence on the date which is notified as the date upon which it is intended to start. The notice for the start of maternity leave is exactly the same whether a woman qualifies only for paid ordinary maternity leave or both paid ordinary maternity leave and unpaid additional maternity leave. If the Human Resources Office considers it advisable for leave to begin shortly before the date notified, special leave with pay may be given if it does not qualify as paid sick leave. The Human Resources Office must respond to a notification of maternity leave within 28 days, setting out the day on which the employee is expected to return to work.
6.6. There are two types of maternity leave: paid ordinary maternity leave, to which all employees are entitled, and unpaid additional maternity leave, which is available to employees with 26 weeks continuous service by the 15th week before the expected week of birth.
Paid ordinary maternity leave
6.7. A woman who is pregnant will be allowed 26 weeks paid ordinary maternity leave for a birth provided that she is employed in the House of Lords at the time maternity leave begins. During this period she will be entitled to, and be bound by, all her contractual rights. Paid maternity leave is given on the undertaking that the woman will resume employment in the House of Lords after the birth (or repay any payments made during maternity leave, less the amount of any statutory maternity pay and DSS maternity allowance due (see paragraphs 6.16-17) if she does not return to work). Paid ordinary maternity leave may start any time after the 11th week before the expected date of the birth. The woman has the right to return from ordinary maternity leave to the job in which she was employed before her absence, on terms and conditions no less favourable than those which would have applied if she had not been absent.
Unpaid additional maternity leave
6.8. Provided she has 26 weeks continuous service by the 15th week before the expected week of birth, a woman who qualifies for paid maternity leave can also have unpaid additional maternity leave. This starts at the end of ordinary maternity leave and may continue for a further 26 weeks.
6.9. During additional maternity leave, the employment contract continues but only some contractual benefits and obligations principally redundancy rights, notice and disciplinary procedure remain in force. And the jobholder has a right to return to work at any time within that period to the job in which she was employed before her absence or, if that is not reasonably practicable, to another job which is suitable and appropriate in the circumstances and on terms and conditions as to remuneration no less favourable than those which would have applied had she not been absent.
Returning to work after maternity leave
6.10. No further notification is required for employees intending to return to work at the end of maternity leave, though it is welcome.
6.11. A woman who wishes to return to work before the end of either paid ordinary maternity leave or unpaid additional maternity leave must give the Human Resources Office 28 days' notice of her intention to do so.
Annual leave entitlements during paid maternity
leave
6.12. Annual leave entitlements continue to accrue whilst staff are on paid maternity leave. Such leave should normally be taken during periods of parliamentary recess following the return to work of the member of staff concerned.
6.13. "Birth" for the purposes of the maternity leave rules is defined as the birth of a living child or the birth of a child whether living or not after 24 weeks of pregnancy, so that in the event of a still-birth after this time, the normal maternity leave provisions will apply.
Preservation of continuous employment
6.14. Any period of time spent on maternity leave (both ordinary and additional) counts towards the jobholder's period of continuous employment for the purpose of calculating seniority, pension rights or statutory rights (for example to notice or redundancy pay).
Statutory maternity pay (SMP)
6.15. A woman who is absent from work because of pregnancy or birth and who does not qualify for paid ordinary maternity leave will be paid SMP. Details of the payment of SMP are available in the Human Resources Office. If a woman does not qualify for SMP, she may be eligible for maternity allowance which she should claim from the DSS.
6.16. The SMP scheme does not alter the entitlement to paid maternity leave under the arrangements outlined in paragraph 6.7. Indeed, for House of Lords' staff, SMP is unlikely to be paid as such. However, if any woman does not resume employment in the House of Lords after the birth, she will have to repay the difference between any payments made during ordinary maternity leave and the amount of any SMP or DSS maternity allowance that would have otherwise been due to her.
6.17. Staff will need to work for at least four weeks either immediately after paid maternity leave, unpaid maternity leave or after a career break has finished, otherwise they will have to refund the difference between their full and statutory maternity pay.
Paternity and adoption leave
6.18. Ten days paid paternity leave will be allowed within 56 days of the expected birth of a child.
Statutory paternity leave and pay
6.19. Employees with 26 weeks continuous service in the House at the beginning of the 15th week before the expected week of birth and whose children are, or are expected to be, born after 6 April 2003 are entitled to statutory paternity leave and statutory paternity pay. Statutory paternity leave may be taken up to 56 days after the expected birth of the child for a period of either one week or two consecutive weeks. Statutory paternity pay and leave is also available in cases of adoption (see paragraph 6.20). Details are available from the Human Resources Office. As for statutory maternity pay it is unlikely that statutory paternity pay will be paid as such to House of Lords employees in view of the entitlement to paid paternity leave set out in paragraph 6.18.
6.20. Eligible employees who are newly matched by an approved adoption agency with a child for adoption and with whom the child is placed after 6 April 2003 have a statutory right to adoption leave and pay. To qualify the employee must have 26 weeks of continuous service in the House at the start of the week in which they are notified of being matched and, if a member of a couple, be the only claimant (though the other partner may be eligible for paternity leave). The terms of adoption leave are similar to those for maternity leave. There is a period of up to 26 weeks paid leave and a further period of 26 weeks unpaid leave. The conditions of service and rights of those on adoption leave are also similar to those applicable to maternity leave. Details are available from the Human Resources Office.
Parental and caring responsibilities
Requests to work flexibly
6.21. Under the Employment Act 2002 an employee with 26 weeks continuous service in the House who has parental responsibilities for a child under 6 or of a disabled child under 18 has the right to apply to work flexibly in order to care for the child. Any such requests must be made in writing to the Human Resources Office, and must be considered seriously. Unless the request is granted immediately, a meeting to discuss the request must be held within 28 days and a decision given within 14 days of the meeting. While the request may be refused, this must be on grounds set out in the Act. There is a right of appeal to the Clerk of the Parliaments against any refusal of a request, within 14 days of the date on which the decision was made. Employees may be accompanied by a colleague or trade union representative at a meeting to discuss flexible working arrangements or an appeal against refusal of a request. If employees remain dissatisfied after the appeal they may complain to an Employment Tribunal. Details are available from the Human Resources Office.
6.22. Under the Maternity and Parental Leave etc. Regulations 1999 staff may, under certain conditions, be able to take up to 13 weeks unpaid parental leave in respect of their child (18 weeks if the child is disabled). The member of staff must have at least one year's service and be the parent of a child born to or adopted by them on or after 15 December 1994. He or she will be eligible to take such leave either after the birth or adoption of the child or after completion of one year's service, whichever is the later. The right applies to staff who have acquired formal parental responsibility for a child as it does to mothers and fathers. Unpaid parental leave is additional to any maternity, paternity or adoption leave.
6.23. The member of staff will remain employed while on parental leave and contractual notice and redundancy terms will still apply; and he or she has a right of return to the same job.
6.24. The following conditions apply: if the child was born or adopted between 15 December 1994 and 14 December 1999, and the parent has completed one year's continuous service with an employer between 15 December 1998 and 9 January 2002, the right to take leave lasts until 31 March 2005 or the child's 18th birthday, whichever is the sooner; if the child was born after 15 December 1999 and the parent has completed one year's continuous service in the House, the right to take leave lasts until the child's 5th birthday or until 5 years after the placement for adoption. In the case of a disabled child (i.e. a child entitled to disability living allowance), leave can be taken up to the child's eighteenth birthday; both parents are entitled to parental leave; and parental leave taken in previous employment will be taken into account in determining eligibility and if necessary a declaration sought from the staff member about how much leave has already been taken.
6.25. Following a work place agreement with the Trade Unions, no more than four weeks' leave may be taken in one year. Most staff are required to take leave only during periods when the House is not sitting (see paragraph 5.4). Members of staff who take unpaid parental leave during sitting periods may therefore be asked by their Head of Office to work during recesses in lieu, but not during the six week's minimum leave entitlement. Three weeks notice of parental leave will normally be required. All applications for parental leave should be discussed in advance with the Human Resources Office.
Unpaid leave for the care of dependants
6.26. The Employment Rights Act 1996 provides that an employee is entitled to take such reasonable amount of unpaid time off during working hours as may be necessary to: provide assistance to or arrange care when a dependant falls ill, gives birth, or is injured; deal with unexpected disruption in any care arrangements; make arrangements following a death; deal with an incident involving a dependant child.
6.27. A dependant is an employee's wife, husband, child, parent or someone living in the same household.
6.28. For House of Lords' staff, it is unlikely that this right will need to be exercised often in view of the special leave policy set out at paragraph 5.8(1) - (3) above.
6.29. Members of staff with pre-school-age children may be eligible for childcare vouchers to assist them in paying for childcare. Assistance for childcare for children of school age up to the age of eleven may also be available in certain circumstances during school holidays and after school hours. Further details are available from the Human Resources Office who will assist staff in making the claim.
Help with extra childcare costs incurred
during training
6.30. Staff may claim reimbursement of additional childcare costs incurred by attending a course recommended by their line manager, for example if they need to use the creche at the Civil Service College at Sunningdale in order to attend a residential course there, or receipted additional childminding fees.
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