GUIDELINES FOR MANAGERS ON MANAGING STAFF WHO ARE PREGNANT OR ON MATERNITY LEAVE

Transcription

1 GUIDELINES FOR MANAGERS ON MANAGING STAFF WHO ARE PREGNANT OR ON MATERNITY LEAVE Originator: Graham Curling Date: June 2010 Approved by: Type: Guidelines Revised: [Date]

2 CONTENTS 1. Introduction 3 2. Protection against discrimination on grounds of pregnancy or maternity leave 3 3. Paid time off work for antenatal care 4 4. Employees' health and safety rights during pregnancy 4 5. Sickness absence during pregnancy 4 6. Maternity leave 5 7. Inconvenient timing of maternity leave 6 8. Early and late births 7 9. Terms and conditions during maternity leave Keeping-in-touch days Reasonable contact Return to work after maternity leave Employees who fail to provide correct notice of their maternity leave The effect of maternity leave on holiday entitlement Redundancy during maternity leave Reinstatement issues Sickness absence preventing a return to work Dealing with requests to return to work part time Combining maternity leave with parental leave Further pregnancy during maternity leave Transfer of maternity leave and pay rights from the mother to the father Test yourself 13 2

3 1. Introduction These guidelines are designed to help managers in managing staff who become pregnant and take maternity leave. These outline issues that managers should be aware of, and where appropriate their legal obligations. These guidelines supplement information which is already available in the College s Maternity Leave Policy and the College s Flexible Working Policy. These guidelines work through the process of being informed that your member of staff is pregnant, to their return to work following maternity leave. If on reading these guidelines managers are unclear on their responsibilities, or how to deal with a situation they should contact the Senior HR Assistant/HR Manager or College Health and Safety Officer as appropriate for advice. 2. Protection against discrimination on grounds of pregnancy or maternity leave 2.1 Managers should be aware that pregnant employees are entitled not to be subjected to any type of unfavourable treatment for reasons related to their pregnancy or impending absence on maternity leave. Such unfavourable treatment would amount to direct sex discrimination and will always be unlawful. Managers should therefore ensure that pregnant employees do not experience: exclusion from training, appraisal or other normal activities; demotion; detrimental change to job duties; removal of responsibility; denial of sick pay if absent on account of a pregnancy-related illness; pressure to resign or dismissal; or abuse or derogatory remarks. 2.2 Any dismissal on grounds related directly or indirectly to the fact that an employee is pregnant will be automatically unfair as well as discriminatory. Employees may bring complaints of pregnancy-related detriment or dismissal to an employment tribunal irrespective of their length of service. 2.3 When an employee first announces that she is pregnant her manager should take care that what is said in response is appropriate, and preferably positive in content and tone. While it is understandable that an employee's pregnancy and impending absence on maternity leave may cause inconvenience for the manager, this is no excuse for making negative or critical remarks to an employee at this important time in her life. Managers should be aware that using any of the don t say remarks below could amount to sex discrimination. Don't say Oh no, not another pregnancy in my section! And just how do you think the department is going to cope with your absence? You do realise that this will scupper your chances of promotion? Do say Congratulations! Let's discuss the timing of your forthcoming maternity absence. No substitute. This is wholly inappropriate and discriminatory. 3

4 You are no use to me now - you might as well resign. I suppose that you'll be taking a lot of time off sick from now on. We will arrange to sit down soon to discuss your rights and responsibilities. Are you keeping well? 3. Paid time off work for antenatal care 3.1 All pregnant employees are entitled to take a reasonable amount of paid time off work on medical advice to attend antenatal appointments. An employee can be asked to produce a medical certificate or appointment card, except in the case of her first request for time off. Employees should complete an Absence Request Form for this time, so that the College is able to accurately record this as a form of authorised absence. 3.2 Managers cannot ask employees to work additional hours to make up for any time spent at antenatal appointments. 4. Employees' health and safety rights during pregnancy 4.1 Under health and safety legislation, if the job duties of a pregnant employee are in any way likely to cause her harm, steps must be taken to remove or reduce the risks. Specifically, consideration must be given to whether it is necessary to: adjust the employee's working hours if she is normally employed on night work and removal from night working has been recommended by her doctor; remove the employee from any job duties that might pose a risk to her health or safety; transfer the employee to an alternative job - which must be on terms and conditions not substantially less favourable than those of her normal job; if alternative work is not available or would not remove or reduce the risks to the employee, place her on paid suspension until the commencement of her maternity leave. 4.2 To ensure that this legal obligation is properly discharged and any potential source of harm identified, managers should carry out a risk assessment on the work which is being undertaken by the pregnant employee. Advice on maternity risk assessments can be sought from the College Health and Safety Officer, and additional information can be found on the HSE website Sickness absence during pregnancy 5.1 Many employees enjoy excellent health throughout their pregnancy and remain fully capable of performing all their job duties. Others may experience minor problems such as morning sickness, which may, for example, cause occasional lateness. A small number of women may experience more serious health problems, which may result in their being signed off work by their doctor. 5.2 Irrespective of the inconvenience that an employee's sickness absence, occasional lateness or inability to perform all aspects of the job may cause, line managers should accept that such effects are part of normal life. Employees do not generally choose to be unwell during pregnancy. It is therefore essential for managers to take care not to express disapproval or criticism. 4

5 5.3 Managers should also take care not to penalise an employee who is unwell during her pregnancy or who, as a result of her pregnancy, cannot perform every aspect of her job. Apart from the intrinsic injustice that this would cause to the employee, such behaviour is likely to be viewed as direct sex discrimination or as sex-related harassment. 5.4 An employee who is absent from work during pregnancy will be entitled to receive statutory sick pay and, depending on the terms of her contract, contractual sick pay, in the same way as any other employee. 5.5 Any less favourable treatment of a woman on the grounds that her sickness absence is pregnancy related will be direct sex discrimination. Line managers should therefore ensure that an employee who falls sick while pregnant is treated fairly, with respect and in line with her normal contractual rights. It may be necessary to apply reasonable adjustments and to discount pregnancy related absences from the College s Absence management Procedure. Advice should be sought from HR on this matter. 5.6 The only impact that pregnancy-related sickness absence may have will be in the event that an employee is absent from work wholly or partly on account of a pregnancy-related condition at any time during the four weeks immediately before the week her baby is due. Did you know that : The European Court of Justice has ruled that the dismissal of a woman on the grounds that she was absent due to sickness for six months while pregnant amounted to sex discrimination? This was despite her employer's written policy that any employee who was absent from work on account of sickness for six months would be automatically dismissed. The dismissal in this case was pregnancy related and, since only women, and not men, can be pregnant, it was gender specific and therefore sex discrimination. 6. Maternity leave 6.1 Managers should be aware that there are three types of maternity leave: ordinary, additional and compulsory. 6.2 Ordinary maternity leave and additional maternity leave Irrespective of their length of service, all pregnant employees are entitled to take 26 weeks' ordinary maternity leave, followed by 26 weeks' additional maternity leave, and resume working afterwards. All pregnant employees are therefore entitled to a total period of up to 52 weeks' maternity leave. To be eligible, an employee must give notification: that she is pregnant; of her expected week of childbirth; and of the date on which she intends her maternity leave to start. These requirements are outlined in the College Maternity Policy. Under the College policy this should be in writing and when available she is also required to produce a certificate from a registered medical practitioner or a registered midwife stating the expected week of childbirth. 5

6 Though the legal aspects of maternity leave are dealt with by the HR Section on behalf of the College managers should be aware of the following details. Notification must be provided no later than the end of the 15 th week before the week that the baby is expected, unless this is not reasonably practicable, in which case the employee must provide notification as soon as it is reasonably practicable for her to do so. The employee can choose when to start her ordinary maternity leave, subject to two restrictions: maternity leave cannot begin prior to the 11 th week before the week that the baby is expected, unless the baby is born prematurely in which case maternity leave will begin the day after the baby is born; and the start of ordinary maternity leave will be triggered automatically if the employee is absent from work wholly or partly on account of a pregnancy-related reason within four weeks of the week her baby is due. If an employee who has already provided notification of her maternity leave start date subsequently changes her mind, she may do so by giving at least 28 days' notice of the revised start date. This may be earlier or later than the date originally notified. On receipt of an employee's notification that she intends to take maternity leave, the employer must respond in writing within the next 28 days acknowledging the employee's intentions and informing her of the date on which her additional maternity leave will end. This will be 52 weeks after the start of the employee's maternity leave. This response on behalf of the College is undertaken by the College s HR Manager. 6.3 Compulsory maternity leave A woman who has given birth must not be allowed to do any work for a period of two weeks from the date on which her baby was born. This is a legal requirement and cannot be subject to any negotiation on behalf of either the College or the employee. 7. Inconvenient timing of maternity leave 7.1 Circumstances may arise that an employee gives notice that she wishes to start her maternity leave at a time that is inconvenient for the line manager or the running of the department or course area. 7.2 This will be unfortunate, but it does not give a manager any right to attempt to influence the employee's decision. This is because employees who become pregnant have the right to choose when to start their maternity leave, save that it cannot begin prior to the 11 th week before the week in which the baby is due. 7.3 Thus a woman may elect to begin her maternity leave 11 weeks before the week her baby is due, to work on until the day that the baby is born, or to start her leave at any point in between these two dates. It is the employee's right to choose, and the manager simply has no say in the matter. 7.4 Line managers should not, therefore, attempt to persuade pregnant employees to bring forward or postpone the start of their maternity leave, no matter what the circumstances. It is possible that such pressure could be interpreted as unlawful harassment. 6

7 8. Early and late births 8.1 Managers should be aware that if an employee's baby is born early and she is still working at the time of the premature birth, her maternity leave and statutory maternity pay will automatically begin the day after the baby is born. 8.2 However if the notified start date of her maternity leave is the date on which the baby is due, where the baby is late this will not entitle the employee to postpone the start date. It must still begin on the date notified. 9. Terms and conditions during maternity leave 9.1 Regardless of the timing of an employee's expected week of childbirth, during ordinary and additional maternity leave all contractual benefits, except normal wages or salary, must continue. This means that ordinary basic salary and other monetary payments may be stopped, but all other contractual benefits must remain in place. For example, the employee will remain entitled to contractual holiday entitlement, and accrue this during the period of maternity leave (see section 14 below). The employee is also bound by obligations arising from the terms and conditions of her contract. 10. Keeping-in-touch days 10.1 Employees on ordinary or additional - but not compulsory - maternity leave may do up to 10 days' work under their contract of employment without bringing their maternity leave period to an end or losing their entitlement to statutory maternity pay. These days are known as "keeping-in-touch days" and are detailed in the maternity policy The days of work may be separate days or a single block, as agreed between the employee and her manager. The provision can be used in a number of ways, for example to invite an employee on maternity leave to go on a training course, to attend an important team meeting or to undergo an appraisal review Line managers may not, however, oblige employee to do any work during their maternity leave, and the employee may decline to attend an event as a keeping-in-touch-days. Neither are employees entitled to be offered any work to do. The amount and type of work to be done is subject to the agreement of both parties, as is the amount of remuneration that the employee will be paid. 11. Reasonable contact 11.1 Managers may make reasonable contact with employees who are on maternity leave, for example to discuss the employee's plans to return to work or whether she might wish to seek any changes to her working hours or pattern of work on her return. In addition it is appropriate to agree with an employee before the commencement of her maternity leave, how you will keep her updated on developments within a department/course area, and the college as a whole. The aim of such communication is to help her eventual return to the workplace and to ensure that the employee does not feel excluded from the workplace Employees on maternity leave have the right to be consulted over a range of matters, for example any proposed redundancies or reorganisation, and to be given information about pay rises, bonuses and internal vacancies (including promotion opportunities). 7

8 12. Return to work after maternity leave 12.1 An employee who decides to return to work at the end of her additional maternity leave is not required to give notice of her return date. She may simply turn up to work in the usual way on the appropriate date. This return is often better facilitated if a line manager has had ongoing contact with an employee during their maternity leave, as discussed above If, however, she wishes to return to work early, including at the end of her ordinary maternity leave, she must give at least eight weeks' notice of the intended early return date Managers should note that there is no option for the employer to postpone an employee's return to work except in circumstances where she fails to give the necessary eight weeks' notice for an early return. Her return cannot, however, be postponed beyond what would otherwise have been the last date of her maternity leave An employee can change her mind more than once about her return date provided that she at least eight weeks' notice before whichever is earlier of the date on which she now intends to return and the date on which she had intended to return An employee has the right to resume working in the same job if she is returning to work at the end of ordinary maternity leave. If she is returning to work after additional maternity leave, the entitlement is slightly different. Her right is to return either to the same job or, if this is not reasonably practicable from the company's perspective, to another suitable job on terms and conditions that are not less favourable. Where this may be the case, advice must be sought from the College s HR Manager An employee's period of continuous service must be calculated to take into account the whole of her maternity leave. This means, for example, that if the employee is made redundant at some future time, her redundancy pay will have to be calculated using her total length of service as if she had never been absent. 13. Employees who fail to provide correct notice of their maternity leave 13.1 The law requires pregnant employees to give their employer notification of the date on which they wish their maternity leave to start no later than the end of the 15 th week before the week the baby is expected or, where this is not possible, as soon as is reasonably practicable. There is also a right for the employee to change her mind and bring forward or postpone the beginning of her maternity leave, with a minimum of 28 days' notice of the new start date. This notification should be sent to HR who will liaise with you about the period of maternity leave and any cover arrangements The law does not, however, state what should happen in the case of an employee who fails to give notice, or gives late notice of the date on which she wishes her maternity leave to begin The manager should, in these circumstances, refrain from making negative assumptions about the employee's conduct. The following guidelines should also be adhered to: 8

9 Dos and don'ts Do make sure that employees are always fully informed of the notice periods that they are required to give, preferably by directing them to Human Resources who will supply them with a copy of the College Maternity Policy that covers both their maternity rights and their duties and responsibilities towards the College. This policy is also available on the intranet. Do seek to agree to the employee's wishes regarding the start date of her maternity leave, irrespective of whether proper notice has been given. Do not deny or attempt to reduce the employee's maternity rights. Don't use operational inconvenience as a reason to deny an employee the right to start her maternity leave on a date of her choosing. 14. The effect of maternity leave on holiday entitlement 14.1 As stated above, the employee's contract of employment remains in force during ordinary and additional maternity leave for all purposes except wages or salary. It follows that both statutory and contractual annual holiday entitlement continue to accrue in the normal way The basic four weeks of statutory annual holiday cannot be carried forward from one holiday year to the next and it is the College policy that additional contractual annual leave entitlement should not be carried forward. Another limitation is that buy-out of statutory annual holiday is prohibited, except when an employee is leaving The manager, in consultation with the employee, should therefore review the timing of her holiday in relation to her forthcoming maternity leave. Maternity leave will usually span two holiday years and the manager should ensure that the employee is given the opportunity to use up all her holiday entitlement for the first of the two holiday years before commencing maternity leave. After her return to work during the next holiday year, the employee should be permitted to take her full annual leave entitlement in the usual way at agreed times during the year In the event that the employee's period of maternity leave coincides with the employer's holiday year to the extent that she is unable to take her full entitlement for the current holiday year before she goes on maternity leave, the manager should discuss the position with the employee and seek advice from HR. 15. Redundancy during maternity leave 15.1 Issues around redundancy will normally be dealt with by Directors and the Human Resources Manager. This section provides guidance for these staff and is included to raise the awareness of line managers. An employee on maternity leave retains all her statutory rights in respect of redundancy, including the right to a notice period in accordance with statute and her contract of employment Managers should remember to give any employee on maternity leave the opportunity to be included in any consultation that is taking place over the redundancies and how they are to be implemented. A failure to do this is likely to be regarded as sex discrimination. 9

10 15.3 Suitable alternative employment If, after proper procedures have been carried out, an employee who is on maternity leave is given notice of redundancy, the employer is under a duty to offer her any suitable alternative vacancy that exists, whether it is within the same organisation, with its successor, or with an associated organisation. "Suitable" in this context generally means work that would be appropriate for the employee to do, and is on terms and conditions not substantially less favourable than those under her current contract The alternative job must be offered before the employee's existing contract comes to an end, and the new contract must take effect immediately afterwards. The fact that an employee is not, at the time her job is made redundant, ready to return to work must be disregarded when considering whether or not to offer her an alternative position In other words, the employee's absence on maternity leave must not be used as a factor in the determination of whether or not the alternative job is suitable and, if it is suitable, she must be offered it irrespective of the timing of her availability to take up the position The duty to offer a suitable available vacancy to an employee on maternity leave whose job is redundant is absolute. This means that any available job must be offered to a woman on maternity leave in preference to another employee who is not on maternity leave but whose job is also redundant This is because the law says that any failure to offer an available suitable vacancy to an employee on maternity leave will make the employee's dismissal by reason of redundancy automatically unfair If no suitable alternative job exists at the time that the employee's job is redundant, she will be entitled to notice of termination of employment in the usual way. 16. Reinstatement issues At the time that an employee is ready to return to work following maternity leave, the following issues may arise Unwillingness to reinstate employee It may sometimes occur that a manager would prefer not to take the employee back after maternity leave because, for example, of previous poor performance or unreliability or because a temporary replacement employee has proved to be more efficient or competent. However, the manager has no choice. The employee's right to return is absolute and will be the right to return to the same job after ordinary maternity leave or, after additional maternity leave, the right to return to the same job or, if this is not reasonably practicable, to another suitable job on terms and conditions that are no less favourable. Once the employee has returned to work, the manager may, of course, proceed to deal in an appropriate way with any problems with the employee's performance or efficiency, if such problems arise in line with either the College s Performance Capability Policy or the College s Disciplinary Policy. 10

11 17. Sickness absence preventing a return to work 17.1 If an employee is ill and unable to return to work on the relevant date, the manager should treat her in the same way as any other employee who had not been on maternity leave would be treated, ie pay statutory and/or contractual sick pay in the usual way. The day that the employee should have returned to work will be the first day of a period of sickness absence. Unless this sickness absence is directly related to the birth of the child, this absence will be dealt with as normal under the College s Managing Attendance Procedure. Where there is a link between the sickness absence and the maternity leave, such as post natal depression, advice should be sought from HR. 18. Dealing with requests to return to work part time 18.1 It often happens that an employee will ask her employer for a move from full-time working to part-time working to fit her working life around caring for her baby. Such a request may be forthcoming either before the employee starts her maternity leave, or after she has had her baby. This request will be made under the College s Flexible Working Policy, to the HR Manager, who will consult with the employee s manager before making a decision as to whether the request can be approved. 19. Combining maternity leave with parental leave 19.1 Occasionally, an employee may request a period of parental leave to follow on immediately after the end of her maternity leave. These requests will be dealt with by Human Resources who will liaise with the manager concerned. To be eligible to take a period of parental leave, the employee must normally give at least 21 days' notice of the date on which she wishes the period of parental leave to begin, and must also state the date on which she wishes it to end. Parental leave requests will be dealt with by HR and are subject to a qualifying period of one year s continuous service The right to parental leave is the right to unpaid leave for the purpose of caring for a child. Although the total available period of parental leave is 13 weeks, under the default procedure that applies unless the employer specifies otherwise, the employer is not obliged to grant more than four weeks' parental leave in any one year. Parental leave can only be taken if the child is under 5 years of age, unless they have a disability, in which case it can be taken up to the child being 18 years old An employee's right to return to work will differ slightly depending on the length of the parental leave taken and whether it occurred after ordinary or additional maternity leave. The rules are as follows. Where parental leave lasts for four weeks or less and immediately follows ordinary maternity leave, the employee's right will be to return to the same job as she occupied before going on maternity leave. Where parental leave lasts for four weeks or less and follows on from additional maternity leave, the employee's right is to return either to the same job as before or, if this is not reasonably practicable, to an alternative suitable job on terms and conditions that are no less favourable than those that applied to her prior to the commencement of her maternity leave. 11

12 Where the period of parental leave lasts for more than four weeks, and follows on immediately after either ordinary or additional maternity leave, the right is to return either to the same job as before or, if this is not reasonably practicable, to an alternative suitable job on terms and conditions that are no less favourable than those that applied to her prior to the commencement of her maternity leave. 20. Further pregnancy during maternity leave 20.1 Taking into account that the maximum available period of statutory maternity leave is 52 weeks and that a woman may subsequently request and be granted a period of parental leave to follow on from her maternity leave, it is possible that she may become pregnant again prior to returning to work There is no limit on the number of times that an employee can qualify for the right to take maternity leave or receive statutory maternity pay (SMP). Thus, the fact that she is not physically at work when she becomes pregnant or notifies her employer of her intention to take a further period of maternity leave will not act to reduce her rights She will in theory have the right to SMP once again as her length of service for statutory purposes will be unaffected by her absence on maternity leave. However, it is probable that a woman in these circumstances will not in fact qualify for SMP as eligibility depends, amongst other things, on the employee having average weekly earnings during the relevant calculation period that are equal to or greater than the lower earnings limit for national insurance contributions. The relevant calculation period is the eight weeks that immediately precede the 14 th week before the expected week of childbirth. If the employee is in the later weeks of maternity leave or on parental leave at this time she may have no earnings and will thus not qualify for SMP. She will, however, be entitled to maternity leave in the usual way. 21. Transfer of maternity leave and pay rights from the mother to the father 21.1 Legislation was implemented on 6 April 2010 permitting fathers or partners to take up to six months' additional paternity leave where the mother of the child elects to return to work before her period of statutory maternity leave has expired. This affects parents whose child is due on or after 3 April 2011, a year after the legislation was enacted Additional paternity leave is a period of between two weeks' and six months' leave that eligible fathers can take (in a single block) between the time that the child is 20 weeks old and the date of his or her first birthday Further, if the mother returns to work before her entitlement to statutory maternity pay (SMP) has expired, the child's father may apply for additional paternity pay at the same standard fixed weekly rate for the remainder of the 39 weeks (ie the period during which SMP is payable) The legislation essentially provides for employees to self-certify their eligibility for additional paternity leave. Although there is no obligation on the father s employer to check the information provided with the mother s employer, some employers may seek to do this. Therefore, line managers may receive requests from other employers asking them to confirm details of a mother s employment, for example that she has notified her intention to return to work, the intended date of her return and whether or not there will be any statutory maternity pay entitlement outstanding on her return. 12

13 22. Test yourself A Which three pieces of information must an employee provide to be eligible to take maternity leave? i) The fact that she is pregnant, her expected week of childbirth and when she intends her maternity leave to start. ii) The fact that she is pregnant, her expected week of childbirth and whether or not she intends to return from maternity leave. iii) The fact that she is pregnant, when she intends her maternity leave to start and whether or not she intends to return from maternity leave. iv) Her expected week of childbirth, when she intends her maternity leave to start and whether or not she intends to return from maternity leave. B. How much continuous service does a woman need to qualify for additional maternity leave? i) 52 weeks' service at the end of the 15 th week before the baby is due. ii) 26 weeks' service at the end of the 11 th week before the baby is due. iii) 26 weeks' service at the end of the 15 th week before the baby is due. iv) None. C. An employee is not entitled to the benefit of which of the following during her maternity leave? i) Redundancy pay in the event of redundancy. ii) Notice of termination of the contract if she is dismissed. iii) Her salary. iv) Her company car. D. Janice's additional maternity leave finishes on 26 October How much notice is she required to give of her intended return to work on 27 October 2011? i) Eight weeks' notice. ii) Notice is required 28 weeks' notice. iii) 28 days' notice. iv) No. E. Marianne wishes to start her maternity leave a week before her baby is born. Two months before she is due to go on maternity leave she has to take time off as she is suffering from high blood pressure caused by her pregnancy. Which of the following statements is correct? i) She is off sick with a pregnancy-related illness so the early start of her maternity leave will be triggered. ii) She is off sick while pregnant so will not be entitled to statutory sick pay. iii) She should be paid statutory or contractual sick pay in the same way as any other sick employee. iv) She should be paid statutory or contractual sick pay in the same way as any other employee so long as she has not been off sick in the previous four weeks with the same condition. 13

14 F. Lorna's position becomes redundant while she is on maternity leave. Which of the following statements is incorrect? i) She must be offered any suitable alternative employment that exists before her existing contract comes to an end. ii) She must be offered any suitable alternative employment in preference to other redundant employees who are not on maternity leave. iii) A failure to offer any suitable alternative employment that exists will make Lorna's dismissal automatically unfair. iv) If no suitable alternative employment exists a new job must be created for Lorna. G. Sadly, Michelle, who has six years' service with her employer, suffers a miscarriage just before her three-month scan. Which of the following will be applicable in her case? i) She will be entitled to neither statutory maternity pay nor statutory maternity leave. ii) She will be entitled to both statutory maternity pay and statutory maternity leave. iii) She will be entitled to statutory maternity pay but not statutory maternity leave. iv) She will be entitled to statutory maternity leave but not statutory maternity pay. H Shortly after her baby is born, and while she is still on maternity leave, Margot puts in a request to change to part-time hours when she returns to work so that she can spend more time with her new son. Which of the following is appropriate behaviour on the part of her line manager Sharon? i) Sharon refuses her request on the basis that no one else at the company works part time. ii) Sharon refuses her request on the basis that she has had to refuse similar requests from other employees with young children in the past. iii) Sharon decides not to let Margot return to work at all on the basis that from now on she is obviously going to cause problems. iv) Sharon invites Margot to a meeting to discuss her request. I. Sally takes three weeks' parental leave following on immediately after her ordinary maternity leave. To which job is she entitled to return at the end of it? i) By taking a period of parental leave at the end of her ordinary maternity leave she has lost the right to return to work. ii) She is entitled to return to the job in which she was employed before her absence. iii) She is entitled to return to the job in which she was employed before her absence, or to a suitable alternative position if this is not reasonably practicable. iv) She is entitled to return to any position that she chooses so long as she is qualified to perform the job. A. (i) B. (ii) C.. (iii) D. (iv) E. (iii) F. (iv) G. (i) H. (iv) I. (ii) 14