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here - Health Promotion Agency

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Rights and benefits<br />

● Ask your employer if you can take annual leave<br />

immediately after your maternity leave. Note<br />

that paid holiday continues to accrue during<br />

maternity leave so you may have some holiday<br />

owing to you.<br />

● Ask your employer if they will agree to a further<br />

period off work. You should ask your employer<br />

to confirm this agreement in writing and to<br />

confirm that you will have the right to return to<br />

the same job.<br />

● Take some parental leave at the end of your<br />

maternity leave (see below). Note that you must<br />

give 21 days notice to take parental leave, and it<br />

is usually unpaid unless your employer offers<br />

paid parental leave.<br />

● If you cannot return because you are ill, you can<br />

take sick leave as long as you follow your<br />

employer’s sickness procedures.<br />

What should I do if I don’t want to go back<br />

to work?<br />

You should resign in the normal way, giving the<br />

notice required by your contract or the notice<br />

period that is normally given in your workplace.<br />

If you do not have a contract or nothing has been<br />

said, you should give a week’s notice.<br />

142<br />

Note: You do not have to repay any of the<br />

Statutory Maternity Pay you received (6<br />

weeks at 90% and 20 weeks at £102.80 or<br />

90% of you average weekly earings if this is<br />

less than £102.80).<br />

What happens if I say I want to return to<br />

work and I change my mind?<br />

Many women find it impossible to know before the<br />

birth how they will feel afterwards, so it is always a<br />

good idea to say you are coming back in order to<br />

keep your options open. If you decide later not to<br />

return, you can resign from your job in the normal<br />

way. Your notice period can run at the same time as<br />

your maternity leave.<br />

Can I change my working hours?<br />

You have the right to ask for flexible hours and<br />

your employer has a duty seriously to consider your<br />

request. Your employer must have a good business<br />

reason for refusing. (See Return to Work on Child-<br />

Friendly Working Hours below.)<br />

My maternity leave ends soon and I’m<br />

pregnant again. What rights will I have?<br />

Maternity leave does not break your continuity of<br />

employment, so your right to maternity leave for<br />

this baby will be based on your total service with<br />

your employer. You may also qualify for Statutory<br />

Maternity Pay as long as you meet the normal<br />

conditions. However, this will mean you will have<br />

to be receiving over £79 per week from your<br />

employer in approximately weeks 18–26 of your<br />

pregnancy when Statutory Maternity Pay<br />

entitlement is calculated.<br />

If you have already taken Ordinary Maternity<br />

Leave and Additional Maternity Leave (a year off)<br />

you will be entitled to a second period of Ordinary<br />

Maternity Leave and Additional Maternity Leave.<br />

However, if you go straight onto another period of<br />

Ordinary Maternity Leave without physically<br />

returning to work and decide to return to work<br />

after the second period of Ordinary Maternity<br />

Leave, you will not have the right to return to<br />

exactly the same job as you normally would at the<br />

end of Ordinary Maternity Leave. However, you<br />

will have the same rights as you would have had at<br />

the end of Additional Maternity Leave, which is the<br />

right to return to the same job or, if that is not<br />

reasonably practicable, a suitable alternative job on<br />

similar terms and conditions.<br />

If you return to work after the end of your first<br />

period of Additional Maternity Leave and before the<br />

start of your second period of Ordinary Maternity<br />

Leave – even if you only return for one day – your<br />

rights are not affected and you would have the right<br />

to return to exactly the same job after Ordinary<br />

Maternity Leave (see Return to Work section).<br />

OTHER EMPLOYMENT<br />

RIGHTS<br />

These rights apply no matter how long you have been<br />

employed or how many hours you work per week.<br />

PAID TIME OFF FOR ANTENATAL CARE<br />

If you are an employee, you have the right to take<br />

reasonable time off for your antenatal appointments,<br />

including time needed to travel to your clinic or<br />

GP, without loss of pay.<br />

You should let your employer know when you<br />

need time off. For appointments after the first one,<br />

your employer can ask to see your appointment<br />

card and a certificate stating that you are pregnant.<br />

Antenatal care can include parentcraft and<br />

relaxation classes. You may need a letter from your<br />

GP or midwife to show your employer, saying that<br />

these classes are part of your antenatal care.<br />

HEALTH AND SAFETY RIGHTS<br />

If you are pregnant, have recently given birth or are<br />

breastfeeding, your employer must make sure that<br />

the kind of work you do and your working

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