Maternity/Paternity

Between sifting through the legislation on maternity, paternity and adoption leave, avoiding cracks forming for your employees to fall through and maintaining productivity and engagement all around, navigating what to do when your employee tells you they or their partner are pregnant or adopting can be overwhelming. Inclusive Employers cuts through the confusion by outlining:

  • the legal rights of female and male employees in opposite-sex and same-sex relationships and the specific rights of pregnant employees;
  • the importance of dialogue and communications between employers and employees before, during, and after pregnancy;
  • best practice and useful links.

Here's a taste of what you'll read as a member on our website...

Maternity/Paternity | With 68% of mothers and 90% of fathers with dependent children in employment in the UK, odds are many of your employees are already parents. The national birth rate of 63.6 (live births per 1000 population) means, depending on the diversity of your employees, you may at some point have to work with them to arrange maternity and/or paternity leave. There are many legal aspects to maternity/paternity leave, and some new elements on the horizon, such as shared or transferrable leave, so it's important you and your employee are aware of the most up to date rights and regulations. Frequent and open communication is vital to ensure that employees continue to feel valued during this period. | Your first reaction when someone tells you they are expecting a child and will need a period of leave may be to panic about the implications for your organisation. Unfortunately this reaction can make future parents feel guilty or vulnerable about their job and in some cases can leave the employment relationship permanently damaged. Managers should be prepared to respond positively and supportively when someone announces their pregnancy - whatever organisational difficulties you might predict, the rights of your employees to have a family are paramount and protected by law. | What the law says | In general, an employee's employment terms are protected while on Statutory Maternity Leave. This includes holiday entitlement and pension contributions. Working parents in both opposite-sex and same-sex relationships have a number of legal rights, including: - paid and unpaid maternity leave - paid paternity leave...

As a member, you'd get access to the full contents and other benefits, including supplementary inclusive policy templates and how-to guides on a range of topics, which make rights, responsibilities and legislation easy to understand and accessible for both HR teams and employees. They're free for members to download and available for non-members to purchase.

Members also enjoy free and reduced rate tickets to our events, including an introduction to inclusion and interactive sessions exploring inclusion and diversity, which can be tailored for in-house delivery. We'll keep you updated on the top news on inclusion each week, monthly case law briefings and are always available to answer legal queries through our helpline. 

If you'd like to learn more about membership, we invite you to read more on our site or to contact us at info@inclusiveemployers.co.uk or 020 7803 0689 to have a chat. If you're ready to join, you can do so right on our site by invoice or company credit card.

If you're already a member, log in to access full site contents, including our digital and downloadable resources.

Tags: 
maternity/paternity
diversity
discrimination
Equality Act
flexible working
protected characteristic
retention
gender
women
leave
pay