We ensure all women are given support and encouragement before, during, and on their return to work from maternity leave. We believe that all female colleagues should be provided with sufficient assistance so that they feel able to take as much time off to bond and care for their children.
We aim to ensure that the colleague's duties are adequately covered during maternity leave and that an effective dialogue is implemented at all stages so that colleagues feel fully informed about their entitlements and the process to follow.
All colleagues taking maternity leave are covered by this policy, including those on part-time contracts.
Definitions
The following terms are used within this policy:
EWC: The expected week of childbirth is the week beginning on the Sunday, during which the baby's birth is expected.
MATB1: The maternity certificate, or form, which is provided to confirm a pregnancy and confirm the expected week of childbirth
Qualifying week: The 15th week before the expected week of childbirth
Notification requirements
Please notify us as soon as possible of your pregnancy to enable us to ensure that, where appropriate, any reasonable steps are taken to safeguard the safety of yourself and your unborn child and that you are not subject to any unnecessary risks at work.
To qualify for maternity leave, we require that you provide us with written notification by the qualifying week, or as soon as reasonably practicable after this, of the following information:
With regards to your MATB1, you will normally receive this at around the 20-week stage, and this should be forwarded to your line manager.
Once you have notified your line manager of your intended start date of ordinary maternity leave, we will confirm, in writing, the date that we expect you to return to work after additional maternity leave has ended. This confirmation will be sent to you within 28 days of your notification.
An informal meeting will then be arranged with your line manager **to discuss your entitlements and the organisational processes involved. The meeting will include discussions on the following points: