By Eve Clennell One of my employees has just told me she’s 7 weeks pregnant. In our business we’re on our feet for most of the day, rushing around and she said that she’s getting really tired. What do I do?
The first thing you must do is a risk assessment. The first trimester (12 weeks) of pregnancy is very tiring and it is by no means unusual that your employee will be feeling very tired at times during the day. Risk assessments must be undertaken by a person competent to do so in order to identify risks to your workers health and the health of her child. If there is a risk you must remove it or find make alternative arrangements. If you are not familiar with risk assessments then employ professional help such as Eden HR.
Part of the risk assessment process will involve discussing how your employee feels and if she’s feeling tired as a result of the work she does then it would be reasonable to allow her to take additional breaks. Try and find ways of working that won’t tire her as much, as legislation demands that you make reasonable adjustments in such situations.
Your next duty is to inform her of her rights as a pregnant worker. It’s a good idea to do this face to face but you should follow this up in writing. Talking to your employee about her plans from any early stage will help you both during her pregnancy, maternity leave and her return to work. You must allow her time off to attend ante-natal appointments. These must be paid with the exception of the first appointment. If you ask, she must show you her appointment card. You must ensure that your employee is treated fairly and ensure that your others treat her fairly also. 15 weeks before your employees baby is due she must write to you to inform you she is pregnant, when her baby is due and when she wants her maternity leave and pay to begin. At this point she must also have given you her MATB1 form. Within 28 days of this notification you must write to her telling her when she is due back to work. It is also helpful to tell her how you will pay Statutory Maternity Pay (SMP) to her. Your employee is entitled to SMP if she has been continuously employed by you for 26 weeks in to the 15th week before her baby is due. Other conditions also apply to the entitlement to SMP. Women can take up to 52 weeks maternity leave; however you must not allow her to work for the first two weeks after the birth (four weeks if she works in a factory). Your employee is entitled to be paid 90% of her average pay for the first six weeks of her maternity leave and SMP is paid for 39 weeks. It is worth pointing out that your employee is entitled to maintain her benefits during her maternity leave including accruing holiday, car allowance and the like. If your employee returns to work after 26 weeks she is entitled to return to the job that she left. If she takes longer maternity leave she may not be entitled to her old job but she is entitled to a similar job with at least the same pay and benefits of her old job. During her maternity leave you are able to make reasonable contact with your employee, and, providing you both agree, she can work up to 10 days without it effecting her maternity pay. These are known as keeping in touch days. The answer I have given outlines the basics of a Maternity Policy, however, there is a good deal of nuances and I could write several pages on the subject. For further details please give me a call on 01403 734455.
Eden HR Consulting are an award winning firm of HR consultants. They are committed to providing our clients with advice and solutions that are practical, relevant and business focused. All consultants are CIPD (Chartered Institute for Personnel and Development) qualified and have the knowledge and experience to assist with any employee problems and can often suggest solutions to your business which save you money or make your staff more productive with little outlay. Post A Comment You must be a registered user to comment on this page and be logged in. If you already a member of ProjectBook, please click here  If you are not yet signed up, please click here
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