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All Things Parental Leave and Pay
All Things Parental Leave and Pay
Are confusing!
Here is a summary to help try and demystify some of the terms and explain how it works.
Your HR department should be able to help you too and advise based on your individual situations
The NHS employers website and BMA guidance on maternity leave are extremely useful resources that cover a number of different situations
Definitions
Definitions
Expected date of childbirth (EDC) or expected date or delivery (EDD)
The date your baby is due
Expected week of confinement / childbirth (EWC)
The Sunday of or before the expected date of delivery
The week that your baby is due: from the Sunday before your predicted due date to the Saturday after
When referring to a specific ‘week’, this always begins on a Sunday and ends on a Saturday
11th week before EWC – starts on Sunday 11 weeks before the Sunday of or before your EDD
Qualifying week - what is it?
The "qualifying week" refers to a specific week, which:
Determines your eligibility for certain parental leave and pay
Determines you parental pay. Pay is based on your average weekly earnings, averaged over a period of at least eight weeks up to and including the last payday before the end of the qualifying week
Qualifying week - when is it?
If you or your partner are pregnant
You qualifying week is the 15th week before your EWC
To work out when the 15th week before the EWC is:
Find the Sunday before the baby is due (or the due date if it is a Sunday)
Count back 15 Sundays from there
That Sunday is the start of the 15th week before the expected week of childbirth ie your qualifying week
The week runs Sunday - Saturday
Or click here to use this calculator to generate your important dates
The BMA also has a maternity leave date calculator here however you have to be a member to use it
Surrogacy
You qualifying week is the 15th week before the baby is due
To work out when the 15th week before the EWC is:
Find the Sunday before the baby is due (or the due date if it is a Sunday)
Count back 15 Sundays from there
That Sunday is the start of the 15th week before the expected week of childbirth ie your qualifying week
The week runs Sunday - Saturday
Or click here to use this calculator to generate your important dates
The BMA also has a maternity leave date calculator here however you have to be a member to use it
Adoption
If you adopting from the UK, your qualifying week is:
The week you're matched with the child
If you are adopting from overseas, your qualifying week is:
The week the child enters the UK or
The week you want your pay or leave to start
Compulsory maternity leave
Statutory period of compulsory maternity leave of two weeks starting on the date the baby is born
Maternity leave
Every pregnant employee has a right to take 52 weeks’ maternity leave
The first 26 weeks’ of maternity leave is called “Ordinary Maternity Leave” (OML)
The second 26 weeks’ is called “Additional Maternity Leave” (AML)
Occupational pay – maternity / shared parental / adoption
Payment made by the Trust to employees who are eligible under the NHS scheme
8 weeks of full pay and 16 weeks of half pay
Statutory pay – maternity / shared parental / adoption
Payment made by the Trust to elligbile employees who are on maternity, shared parental or adoption leave
You are entitled to statutory pay whether or not you intend to return to work for that employer
Statutory pay is paid at £184.03 or 90% of your earnings (whichever is lower) for a maximum of 39 weeks
Maternity allowance (MA)
This is the alternative to SMP that is paid by the department for work and pensions if you are new to your trust
If an employee is not entitled to SMP, they may be entitled to Maternity Allowance which is payable by Jobcentre Plus
Maternity allowance is paid at the same rate and duration as SMP
New Parent Support Leave and Pay (Partner / Paternity Leave and Pay)
Available to the father of the child (including adoptive fathers), the mother’s spouse or partner (whether opposite or same sex) or nominated carer
Pay depends on length of service within the NHS and the Trust
x / 40
Gestation in weeks, where 40 weeks is your due date
Continuous Service
Continuous Service
To be eligible for occupational maternity / shared parental or adoption pay, employees must have 12 months of continuous service with one or more NHS employer
The following breaks in service will be disregarded (but will not be counted as service)
Absence on maternity leave, adoption leave, or shared parental leave (paid or unpaid)
A break in service of three months or less
Time spent outside of NHS employment in an agreed Out of Programme (OOP) placement
Employment under the terms of an honorary contract
A period of up to 12 months spent abroad as part of a definite programme of postgraduate training on the advice of the postgraduate dean or college or faculty advisor in the speciality concerned
A period of voluntary service overseas with a recognised international relief organisation for a period of 12 months, which may exceptionally be extended for 12 months at the discretion of the employer which recruits the employee on their return
Employment as a locum in a general practice setting for a period not exceeding 12 months
Absence on an employment break scheme in accordance with the provisions of Section 34 of the NHS Employers T&C Handbook
References:
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