Maternity leave

Introduction

PCI Pal is committed to supporting employees to understand the choices available to them when planning for the birth of a child, as families now have additional options open to them with regards to managing time off during the first year following their child’s birth.

PCI Pal provides an Enhanced Maternity Leave Scheme, which exceeds the statutory provision, to eligible employees. Employees who are not eligible for the enhanced scheme may qualify for the Statutory Maternity Leave Scheme or Maternity Allowance. Additionally, we provide a Childcare Voucher Scheme to assist employees with childcare costs.

This policy sets out all entitlements and associated processes that apply to the available maternity leave and pay schemes.

The following definitions are used within this policy:

Term	Explanation
Expected week of childbirth (EWOC)	The week, beginning with midnight between Saturday and Sunday, in which it is expected that childbirth will occur
Qualifying Week (QW)	The 15th week before the EWOC.
Ordinary Maternity Leave (OML)	The first 26 week period of maternity leave entitlement during which the employee will continue to receive all relevant terms and conditions of employment except salary and pension. If entitled to SMP, this will be paid for the full 26 week period.
Additional Maternity Leave (AML)	The remaining 26 week period of maternity leave entitlement during which the contract continues and, as per OML, the employee will continue to receive all relevant terms and conditions of employment except salary and pension. If entitled to SMP, this will be paid for the initial 13 week period. The remaining 13 weeks will be unpaid.
Statutory Maternity Pay (SMP)	This is paid (up to 39 weeks) by PCI Pal to employees who meet the statutory conditions. This is paid at the statutory rate set by the Government in the relevant tax year.
Enhanced Maternity Pay (EMP)	This is an enhanced rate paid by PCI Pal in addition to (or on top of) any SMP entitlement as an additional benefit to eligible staff, to allow them to receive 90% of full salary for a period of time.
Maternity Allowance (MA)	This is paid (up to 39 weeks) to employees who are not entitled to SMP but who meet the qualifying conditions (for maternity allowance).
Shared Parental Leave	An alternative or supplementary option to maternity leave, which allows a mother to reduce her maternity leave entitlement and share the remainder of her time off with her partner (if eligible). Details are available in the Parental Leave Policy.

The provisions of this policy apply to all employees. Any questions or concerns regarding eligibility should be directed to the relevant line manager or HR manager.

Maternity leave and pay entitlement

PCI Pal offers an Enhanced Maternity Leave Scheme to eligible employees, which exceeds the statutory provision by providing Enhanced Maternity Pay (EMP) equivalent to 90% of an employee’s full salary during maternity leave.

Regardless of this, all female employees are entitled to take up to one years’ maternity leave (52 weeks). This is not pro-rated for part-time workers and it does not require a minimum length of service however it is subject to satisfying the notification requirements below.

This 52 week period is split into two blocks, referred to as:

Ordinary Maternity Leave (OML) for 26 weeks
Additional Maternity Leave (AML) for 26 weeks.

* note – the law requires a mother to take at least 2 weeks off, following the birth of her child

An employee’s length of service determines the scheme (specifically the maternity pay or allowance) to which they are entitled during their maternity leave as per the table below.

The different entitlements to maternity pay (under each scheme) are as shown below:

Type of leave/scheme	Length of continuous service with PCI Pal (UK) Ltd	Entitlement/pay
Enhanced Maternity Leave Scheme (Advanced)	Minimum of 2 years service prior to the end of the qualifying week (SMP elements will be paid provided the employee has average earnings above the "lower earnings limit" for national insurance purposes for the relevant period)	6 weeks SMP at 90% pay 13 weeks at 90% pay (inclusive of appropriate rate of SMP) 33 weeks’ at the appropriate rate of SMP

Type of leave/scheme	Length of continuous service with PCI Pal (UK) Ltd	Entitlement/pay
Enhanced Maternity Leave Scheme (Basic)	Minimum of 6 months and less than 2 years service prior to the end of the qualifying week (SMP elements will be paid provided the employee has average earnings above the "lower earnings limit" for national insurance purposes for the relevant period)	6 weeks SMP at 90% 6 weeks at 90% pay 33 weeks’ at the appropriate rate of SMP 7 weeks unpaid
	Minimum service of less than 6 months	Please see Maternity Allowance

Type of leave/scheme

Length of continuous service with PCI Pal (UK) Ltd

Entitlement/pay

Statutory Maternity Leave Scheme	Minimum of 26 weeks’ (but less than 52 weeks’) service prior to the end of the qualifying week (provided the employee has average earnings above the "lower earnings limit" for national insurance purposes for the relevant period)	6 weeks’ paid at 90% of the employee’s average weekly earnings, followed by; 33 weeks’ leave at the appropriate rate of SMP, then; 13 weeks’ unpaid.
Maternity Allowance	Less than 26 weeks’ service prior to the end of the qualifying week (provided the employee has average earnings above the lower earnings threshold for maternity allowance as set by the Government in the relevant tax year)	Employees who are not entitled to SMP but who meet qualifying conditions based on their recent employment/earnings may take up to 52 weeks maternity leave and claim up to 39 weeks of Maternity Allowance. Employees with earnings below the lower earnings threshold for maternity allowance will not qualify for Maternity Allowance but may be able to receive additional financial support from local authority.

Antenatal care

A pregnant employee is allowed to take reasonable paid time off to attend antenatal appointments regardless of their length of employment with PCI Pal. This can cover, for example, pregnancy related medical appointments or parenting classes made on the advice of a Medical Practitioner, Health Visitor or Midwife. Employees may be requested to provide evidence of appointments to their line manager and, if possible, appointments should be made at times which cause minimal disruption to the working day.

Notification process

To ensure that PCI Pal can provide full support with regards to health, safety and wellbeing, employees should notify their line manager of their pregnancy as early as possible. This may just be informally in the first instance.

Employees should then enter their formal request for maternity leave where they will be asked to specify the date on which the period of leave will begin. Having been notified of the pregnancy, the line manager will ensure that a risk assessment of the employee’s workplace is carried out as soon as possible.

The employee should forward their Maternity Certificate (MATB1 form) to the Finance Manager no later than the end of the qualifying week (i.e. the 15th week before the estimated week of childbirth);

On receipt of the MATB1 form, the Finance Manager will write out to the employee to confirm the leave and pay arrangements. The leave entitlement will be calculated from the agreed date of cessation of work, or from the day after the actual date of cessation of work, if earlier.

Please note, the notification requirements are the same regardless of the scheme that the employee qualifies for.

Commencement of maternity leave

Employees may commence maternity leave at any time from the 11th week before the expected week of childbirth to the actual date of birth, subject to compliance with the notification procedures.

If an employee is absent from work due to any pregnancy related illness during the week period prior to the commencement of the EWOC (including the continuation of an existing pregnancy related absence), maternity leave will automatically commence regardless of when it was initially planned to begin. In such cases, the maternity leave will begin on the day after the first day of the employee’s absence from work. The employee (or their partner/spouse) must notify the line manager that they are absent from work wholly or partly because of pregnancy related illness as soon as possible, specifying the date on which the absence began. Where notification is provided by a partner/spouse, this should be followed up in writing by the employee as soon as is reasonably practicable.

Where an employee gives birth before their maternity leave period is due to commence they should notify their line manager, as early as possible once they are able to do so, of the date on which they gave birth. This ensures that maternity pay can be managed appropriately. In this instance, the maternity leave period will commence automatically on the day after the date of birth.

Keeping on touch during maternity leave

During the maternity leave period the line manager and the employee should maintain reasonable contact with each other. This allows the employee to keep up to date with any workplace developments or changes and provides an opportunity to ask and discuss any work related questions. Communication arrangements should be agreed before any maternity leave begins.

Keeping in Touch (KIT) Days - On agreement with their line manager, employees may work up to a maximum of 10 days during their maternity leave period. These days are known as ‘keeping in touch’ (KIT) days. These days may be taken at any stage during the maternity leave, except within the first 2 weeks after the baby is born. Keeping in touch days should be mutually agreed i.e. the employee is not required to undertake such days and PCI Pal (U.K.) Ltd is not obliged to agree to them. Employees will receive the normal hourly/salary rate for the hours worked on such days; inclusive of any maternity pay they are currently receiving (i.e. maternity pay will be ‘topped up’ by salary to the level of normal pay). The type of work undertaken should be agreed between the employee and their line manager. KIT days can be used to attend (but are not limited to) training courses, staff meetings, away days or performance & development reviews and should not necessarily be restricted to the performance of the employee’s normal duties. It is the responsibility of the line manager to monitor KIT days, and to record these within 5 days of the employee attending work.

Shared parental leave (SPL)

Shared Parental Leave allows eligible parents to convert a mother’s maternity leave into Shared Parental Leave which can then be shared between both parents as they wish in order to share the care of their child during the first year. Please see the Shared Parental Leave and Pay policy.

Returning to work after maternity leave

Change of return date (notice required) - If an employee intends to return to work before the end of their full maternity leave period (i.e. 52 weeks), or before a date they had previously agreed, they must give 8 weeks’ written notice of the new date on which they intend to return to their line manager (with a copy to the HR).

If the required notice is not given, the line manager may postpone their return untilthe full 8 weeks’ notice has been given. Please note, the law requires that an employee takes a minimum of 2 weeks’ maternity leave following the birth of their baby.

Right to return to the same/similar role – An employee returning to work from a period of Ordinary Maternity Leave (OML) will generally return to the job in which they were employed prior to the leave, on the terms and conditions that would have applied had they not been absent. Where an employee is returning from a period of Additional Maternity Leave (AML), they are entitled to return either to the same job, or if this is not reasonably practicable (for example due to exceptional circumstances such as a unit restructure), to an equivalent job which would be considered suitable alternative work, on terms and conditions no less favorable than would have applied if the they had not been absent.

Flexible Working - On returning from a period of maternity leave, an employee may wish to consider applying for a change to their working hours/pattern.

Any absence following the end of the period of maternity leave will be managed in accordance the sickness policy.

Employees not returning to work

If the employee does not intend to return to work, they must comply with their obligation to give notice as set out in their terms and conditions of employment.

Partners rights during pregnancy/maternity leave antenatal care

Expectant fathers, civil partners or partners of pregnant women have a right to take unpaid time off during working hours to accompany them to up to two antenatal appointments made on the advice of a Medical Practitioner.

The right is available to:

the spouse or partner of the pregnant woman
the father or parent of the pregnant woman’s expected child

Where possible, appointments should be made at times which cause minimal disruption to the working day.

Managers should try to allow for a degree of flexibility (e.g. allowing an employee paid time off to attend an appointment on the basis that the time will be worked back), if possible, where an employee wishes to attend an antenatal appointment but does not wish to take unpaid leave.

Additional Information

Maternity leave and pay covers both single and multiple births and as such, entitlement to leave and pay will remain the same irrespective of the number of children born as a result of the same pregnancy.

During periods of OML and AML the employee is entitled to all relevant terms and conditions of employment (except for payment of salary/pension) which would have applied had they not been absent. Where an employee exercises their right to return to work following a period of maternity leave the period of absence will be considered as continuous service with PCI Pal (U.K.) Ltd.

Pension rights and contributions shall be managed in accordance with the provisions of the relevant superannuation scheme, providing that these provisions do not conflict with any statutory requirements that may apply at the time.

Holiday during maternity leave

Annual leave entitlement will continue to accrue, as normal, during ordinary and additional maternity leave. Any accrued annual leave may be used in lieu of an equivalent amount of unpaid maternity leave subject to the approval.

Any unused annual leave from the holiday year maternity leave commences can be carried over to the next holiday year but must be used at the end of maternity leave*

Bank Holidays that fall during maternity leave will continue to be accrued while on maternity leave and will be given back in lieu to be used at the end of maternity leave*

We encourage employees to try and take some of their annual leave ahead of their maternity leave where possible

*Holiday/ Bank Holiday’s in Lieu can be used in full at the end of the 52 weeks maternity leave, used to end maternity leave early or used to create a phased return

If you have a company car or car allowance this will continue during maternity leave.

Other Provisions

Average weekly earnings will be calculated in accordance with the statutory maternity pay regulations that apply at that time.

An eligible employee will remain eligible for maternity leave (and/or pay) if their baby is stillborn after the start of the 24th week of pregnancy, or if their baby dies after being born.

This policy will be regularly reviewed and may be amended at any time following appropriate consultation.

Neonatal Care Leave

Neonatal care leave is designed to assist new parents of babies who are admitted into neonatal care. ‘Neonatal care’ is the name given to care for newborn babies which starts in the first 28 days after birth. This may be for:

Hospital care
Medical care after leaving hospital - this must be under a consultant and include ongoing visits or checks arranged by the hospital where your baby was treated
Palliative or end of life care

You may be able to get:

Neonatal Care Leave
Statutory Neonatal Care Pay

You can get one week’s leave for every 7 full and continuous days your baby is in neonatal care, for up to 12 weeks.

You get Neonatal Care Pay and Leave in addition to other parental pay and leave entitlements. If you’re already on maternity leave or adoption leave, Neonatal Care Leave must be taken at the end of that entitlement.

Full details of Neonatal Care Pay and Leave can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/neonatal-care-pay-leave

Health and safety

If you are employed in a position which has been identified as posing a risk to your health or to that of your unborn child, you will be notified immediately and arrangements will be made to eliminate that risk.

For this reason, you are required to notify the Finance Manager as soon as you are aware that you may be pregnant. If necessary, arrangements will then be made to alter your working conditions or, if that is not possible and such a job is available, you will be offered a suitable alternative job.

If there is no suitable alternative job, the company has and reserves the right to suspend you on full pay until you are no longer at risk. These alternative arrangements may continue after the birth of your child if you return to work and you are still considered to be at risk.

If you have any concerns about your own health and safety, at any time, you should consult HR immediately. Please see also the Health and Safety policy.