Background
Supporting people’s ongoing need to balance work and childcare is one area that employers can be proactive, and mothers, fathers, partners including same-sex partners and adoptive parents have statutory rights to leave. Employees are entitled to paid time off in a number of circumstances relating to pregnancy and adoption, and below are some links showing the legal requirements in this respect. As a good employer, there are also things that you can do to make the experience positive for your employees, and this is discussed below.
It is essential that a risk assessment is carried out when you are informed that someone is a new or expectant mother. Click for more information regarding ‘Health and Safety Executive: Protecting new and expectant mothers at work‘.
It is very important to promote the view that adoption is simply another route to parenthood and should be supported in exactly the same way as having one’s own child.
Information on the legal position relating to statutory payments for maternity/paternity/adoption/shared parental leave; time off for antenatal and adoption visits; maternity policy; shared parental leave (birth and adoption) can be found via each hyperlink.
Please also see FAQ: ‘Can I let a pregnant employee still ride out?’.
What are the benefits of supporting my employees through pregnancy, maternity and adoption leave?
In addition to meeting the statutory requirements, an employer following good practice for their employees’ pregnancy, maternity and adoption leave can improve the experience of early parenthood for employees. This can encourage them to return to work following leave, and is good overall for retention and also employee morale and motivation. Some employers also offer enhanced maternity pay, which can make them more competitive in the labour market.
The Racing Home research found that for employers, a lack of open communication surrounding pregnancy can have a detrimental effect on their ability to plan. Open and honest conversations are therefore beneficial on both sides.
What can employers do?
Research from the Racing Home project showed that whether dealing with yard work or other, less physical roles in the industry, there is no universal experience in this respect. In particular, women’s needs during pregnancy and maternity, and the managing of a return to work can be very diverse. It’s important to remember that there’s no ‘one size fits all’ when it comes to women and pregnancy. Many who took part in the study felt that the retention rate of women returning from maternity leave would be higher if there was more sensitivity and flexibility around these differences.
Some ideas for action
- Once someone has revealed that she is pregnant, it is a good idea for her to meet with HR, her line manager or whoever is appropriate. They can discuss how she wants to manage her pregnancy in the workplace, discuss work patterns and how this might fit with the rest of the team, and also start to talk about issues such as maternity leave, access to keeping-in-touch days, etc. See FAQs ‘What is a Keeping in Touch (KiT) day’ for further information
- Recognise that some women will not wish to participate in any workplace activities such as training whilst on maternity leave, whilst others would like to. Give the latter the opportunity to do so, to remain in touch with the role they wish to return to. This may also have an impact on their career progression further down the line. A further issue for employers may be long Covid, with 1.5m people estimated to be suffering according to the Office for National Statistics, and surveys showing that this has contributed to the symptoms for over a quarter of those on long-term sickness absence. This can particularly impact those whose roles contain a highly physical aspect, for example yard staff. It may also impact those who have caring responsibilities for someone with the condition. Visit the Career Progression and Returning to Work sections for more information.
- Ensure there is communication of policies related to pregnancy and maternity, and where possible (primarily for larger employers) ensure that line managers and HR staff are trained in these area.
- There are a number of options available in terms of maternity cover whilst your employee is away. You can choose to employ someone else whilst your employee is off, usually on a temporary/fixed term basis. This can be a new or existing employee. There may be other options to share the work around, exploring other ways of working e.g., offering more flexible working patterns to redistribute workload.
- Employees being on maternity or paternity leave can offer career opportunities for other employees if they are given the chance to act-up in a higher position or take on some new responsibilities to cover parental leave periods for short secondments. This can contribute to staff development, succession planning and increase the skills of the talent pool in your organisation.
For some additional reading, plus the relevant research and resources for this page click here.
