MATERNITY SCHEME FOR TEACHERS

Transcription

1 MATERNITY SCHEME FOR TEACHERS Children & Young People s Department

2 CONTENTS 1. Introduction 2. Initial obligations on the teacher 3. Employer s confirmation of return date 4. Rights of a Teacher to Time off from Work (Maternity Leave) 5. Start of Maternity Leave 6. Notification of Return to Work 7. Working during Maternity Leave/ Keeping in Touch days 8. Reasonable contact during maternity leave 9. Teachers Maternity Provisions (for births expected on or after 1 April 2007) 10. Stillbirth 11. Additional Information Appendix A Other employee friendly documents available for School Staff Appendix B Request for Maternity Leave (Teachers) IMPORTANT STATEMENT FROM LOCAL GOVERNMENT EMPLOYERS (LGE) LGE have still to commence discussions on a collective agreement to incorporate the changes arising from the Work and Families Act and the Statutory Pay and Maternity Allowance Regulations 2006 into the Burgundy Book. 2

3 1. INTRODUCTION 1.1 This Scheme is produced to satisfy the requirements of the Parental Leave (Amendment) Regulations and the Government s Work and Families Act 2006 which came into force on 1 October The following will apply where a woman s expected week of childbirth is on or after 1 April Under the revised Scheme, all women will be entitled to take both 26 weeks ordinary and 26 weeks additional maternity leave, providing a right to a 52 weeks maternity leave in total regardless of qualifying service with their employer. 1.4 Fathers will be able to take up to six months additional paternity leave if the mother has returned to work before her period of additional maternity leave has expired. This entitlement will be in addition to the current statutory two weeks paternity leave available to fathers and would have to be taken before the child s first birthday. 2. INITIAL OBLIGATIONS ON THE TEACHER 2.1 A teacher must notify her Headteacher in writing of her pregnancy and maternity leave by the end of the 15 th week before the expected date of childbirth (EDC). It should state whether she is proposing to take Ordinary Maternity Leave (OML) or OML and Additional Maternity Leave (AML). 2.2 It is possible for a teacher to change the date her leave commences provided she gives 28 days notice. 3. EMPLOYER S CONFIRMATION OF RETURN DATE 3.1 Following the teacher s notification (see 2.1) the employer must write to the teacher within 28 days of receiving the notice stating her expected date of return from maternity leave. 3.2 This will be either 26 or 52 weeks from the start of the leave depending upon whether the teacher has chosen to take Ordinary Maternity Leave (OML) or OML and Additional Maternity Leave (AML). 4. RIGHTS OF A TEACHER TO TIME OFF FROM WORK (MATERNITY LEAVE) 4.1 Teachers (regardless of their length of service) have the legal right to take up to 26 weeks Ordinary Maternity Leave, starting at any time on or after the beginning of the 11 th week before their expected day of childbirth (EDC) and six months additional maternity leave (AML). 3

4 Paid Maternity Leave From 1 April 2007 the period of statutory maternity pay will be extended from 26 weeks to 39 weeks. Start of SMP Under the new provisions, a woman will be able to start to receive her SMP on any day of the week. SMP will start on the day she specifies in her notice, provided she starts her leave on that day. The existing provisions where SMP starts from the day following the birth, where this occurs before she starts her leave, or the day following absence due to pregnancy after the start of the fourth week before the EDC, continue to apply. Another change provides that where a woman leaves her employment after the beginning of the 11 th week before the EDC but before she has started to receive SMP, her SMP will be payable from the day following the day on which her employment ended. 5. START OF MATERNITY LEAVE 5.1 If a teacher s maternity leave has not already started it will be triggered by the birth of the child, or pregnancy-related absence from the beginning of the 4 th week before the EDC. 5.2 In both these situations the teacher must notify her employer in writing as soon as is reasonably practical that she has given birth or that she is absent wholly or partly because of pregnancy. 6. NOTIFICATION OF RETURN TO WORK 6.1 If a teacher wants to return to work early from OML or from AML, she must give 8 weeks written notice to her Headteacher. The teacher s letter should be forwarded to Staffing Section as soon as possible. 6.2 Where an employee changes her mind about the date she intends to return, where she has already notified an early return date, she will have to give notice 8 weeks before the new date. 6.3 Where an employee wants to postpone her early return she will have to give notice 8 weeks before the original early return date. 7. WORKING DURING MATERNITY LEAVE/ KEEPING IN TOUCH DAYS (KIT) 7.1 The new regulations provide that a woman can do 10 days work during her maternity leave without bringing her maternity leave to an end. 7.2 Work for part of a day will count as one day. 4

5 7.3 SMP Regulations will be amended to provide that a woman will not lose any SMP for working for up to 10 days. The current rule will, however, apply after this which means that she will lose her SMP for any week in which she does any further work. 7.4 Work is defined as any work done under the contract of employment and may include training or any activity undertaken for the purposes of keeping in touch with the workplace. 7.5 The employer cannot insist that a woman carries out any work and she is protected from suffering a detriment or being dismissed for refusing to do so. Equally, a woman cannot insist on being given any work to do. 7.6 A woman s maternity leave will not be extended due to the fact that she has carried out some work during this period. 7.7 It will be a matter of agreement between the employer and the employee as to whether the employee should be paid for any work that she does during these 10 days. She will continue to receive her SMP for the week in which she works. 7.8 NOTE: An employee cannot carry out any work during the first two weeks following the birth of the child. It is an offence to permit an employee to work during this period (known as the compulsory maternity leave period) and the employer may incur a fine. 8. REASONABLE CONTACT DURING MATERNITY LEAVE 8.1 The Regulations make it clear that an employer and employee are allowed to make reasonable contact during maternity leave to discuss such issues as the return to work. This would not constitute work and would not, therefore, count towards the 10 KIT days. 5

6 9. TEACHERS MATERNITY PROVISIONS (for births expected on or after 1 April 2007) Continuous service with Wirral LA by the end of the 15 th week before EWC At least 26 weeks OPTION 1 Continuous service with one or more LAs at the start of the 11 th week before EWC At least 1 year Maternity Pay SMP Statutory Maternity Pay MA Maternity Allowance 39 weeks occupational and statutory pay as follows: 4 full pay inclusive of SMP 2 90% of week s salary inclusive of SMP 12 half pay plus SMP 21 SMP Maternity Leave OML Ordinary Maternity Leave AML Additional Maternity Leave 26 weeks OML 26 weeks AML Less than 26 weeks OPTION 2 At least 1 year 39 weeks occupational and statutory pay as follows: 4 full pay inclusive of MA if eligible 2 90% of week s salary inclusive of MA if eligible 12 half pay plus MA if eligible 21 MA if eligible 26 weeks OML 26 weeks AML At least 26 weeks OPTION 3 Less than 1 year 39 weeks statutory pay as follows: 6 SMP equal to 90% of weekly salary 33 SMP 26 weeks OML 26 weeks AML Less than 26 weeks OPTION 4 Less than 1 year No occupational pay No SMP MA if eligible 26 weeks OML 26 weeks AML 6

7 10. STILLBIRTH 10.1 If an employee loses her child before reaching the 25 th week of her pregnancy she will not be entitled to maternity leave or SMP. Her absence, however, will be treated as sickness absence and she will be paid contractual sick pay as per School Teachers Pay and Conditions Childbirth is defined to include the birth of a living child (however premature) or of a child living or dead, after 24 weeks pregnancy. In these circumstances the employee is entitled to the same leave and SMP as other employees. 11. ADDITIONAL INFORMATION 11.1 A teacher is entitled to commence her maternity leave no earlier than the eleventh week before the expected date of childbirth. She will be required to send in a Maternity Certificate (MAT.B1 Form) which can be obtained from her doctor or midwife no earlier than 20 weeks before her expected week of childbirth On return she must complete the equivalent of 13 weeks full-time service. Failure to do so will require a refund of the Occupational Maternity Pay received. Following her return to duty the normal provisions for termination will apply. Where the Headteacher agrees, a full-time teacher may return to work on a part-time basis for a period which equates to 13 weeks of fulltime service. Similarly, where the Headteacher agrees, a part-time teacher may return to work on a different part-time basis which equates to 13 weeks part-time service relating to her previous contract. The 13-week period (or part-time equivalent) starts from the date the teacher returns to work or the date during the school holiday on which the teacher declares herself available to work Absence on account of illness which is attributable to the pregnancy, including on account of miscarriage, and which occurs outside the period of absence for maternity, shall be treated as ordinary sick leave and shall be subject to the conditions normally governing such leave, provided it is covered by a doctor s certificate Maternity Leave and Pension Contributions For the period of Maternity Leave Pension deductions will only be taken whilst a teacher is in receipt of salary. Therefore the no pay period of a teachers leave, as no deductions are being made, will be nonpensionable. Teachers Pensions offer several ways of covering this period should a teacher wish to do so. Details of the various methods can be obtained from them at:- Teachers Pensions Mowden Hall Darlington Co. Durham DL3 9EE 7

8 APPENDIX A Other employee friendly documents available for school staff: Unpaid Parental Leave Unpaid Time off for Dependants Code of Practice for Leave Requests from all School Staff Paternity Leave Scheme Adoption Leave Career Break Scheme for Teachers Career Break Scheme for Support Staff Part Time Working and Job Sharing for Teachers Part Time Working and Job Sharing for Support Staff

9 REQUEST FOR MATERNITY LEAVE (TEACHERS) MATERNITY LEAVE OPTION FORM Please complete and return this form to: Employee Admin Team Team F, Town Hall, South Annexe, Brighton Street, Wallasey, Wirral, CH44 8ED APPENDIX B NAME: PAYROLL NO: ADDRESS: SCHOOL: MATERNITY LEAVE TO BEGIN ON: EXPECTED DATE OF CHILDBIRTH: MATERNITY LEAVE Maternity Leave consists of 26 weeks OML and 26 weeks AML regardless of qualifying service with your employer. MATERNITY PAY Maternity Pay differs depending on the service you have with Wirral LA combined with service from one or more LAs. Full details are contained in Wirral s Maternity Scheme for Teachers document. Please tick the Option applicable to you (see Number 9 in the Scheme information) Option 1 }intending to return to work/not intending to return to work * Option 2 }intending to return to work/not intending to return to work * *(please delete as appropriate) Option 3 Option 4 If you are entitled to paid Maternity Leave please tick which option(s) you require:- (a) Ordinary Maternity Leave (OML) = 26 weeks paid OML plus a further 13 week paid AML to equal 39 weeks (b) OML as outlined in (a) plus = 13 weeks unpaid AML which will start immediately after the OML to equal 52 weeks in total

10 P.T.O. If you are NOT entitled to paid Maternity Leave please tick which option(s) you require:- (c) (d) 26 weeks OML 26 weeks OML and 26 weeks AML Signed: Date: