Maternity rights

[kitten_uk2]

Hi, i was wondering about a friend at work, our company is going through a tight spot at the moment, cut backs and redundancies, my friend is 30 weeks pregnant and hasnt yet recieved her maternity pack yet, which states her rights and safety through the work place, our manager said she had rung head office and they know nothing about a maternity pack, i can say in 2003 i recieved a maternity pack and the manager knows this as she was the one who gave it me, also my friend is not getting paid for her antenatal appointments, which i told her is wrong because i was paid for mine,my manager says its only for people who do a 9-5 job. she works about 30 hrs shift work over 5 days, who's in the wrong here, and what can she do about it????

[redcrx]

30 hours is still classed as a full time job surely? If so then she is entitled to her antenatal appointments as paid time.

Has she tried calling the head office herself. She may get correct information from them. It could be that the manager is trying to keep staff costs down.

[atolhurst]

The company is in the wrong - All employees are entitled for time off for pregnancy related appointments whether part or full time. All employees are also entitled to maternity pay, providing they have been employed for 6 months or more and have notifed the employer in the correct time scales (although the amount of mat pay they get may vary from that of full time staff).

To qualify for maternity leave, a woman must tell her employer by the end of the 15th week before the expected week of childbirth:

that she is pregnant

the expected week of childbirth, by means of a medical certificate if requested

the date she intends to start maternity leave. This can normally be any date which is no earlier than the beginning of the 11th week before the expected week of childbirth up to the birth.

An employer must then write to the employee, within 28 days of her notification, setting out her return date. The employee can change this date if she gives her employer 28 days' notice.

If it is company practice for your employer to issue a maternity pack of sorts and yet this hasn't been done, it's probably best to raise the issue with the HR department (if there is one) or manager and ask when to expect it. If they claim not to be familiar with the practice, then it should be mentioned that previous employees (such as you) had one but even if company policy has changed, the company still has to write out to the employee within 28 days setting a return date.

For clarifcation, see acas.co.uk. If the employer disputes it, then get them in on a conference call to acas who will set them straight.