- Our guidance on pregnancy and maternity equality at work
- Pregnancy and maternity leave: what are you entitled to?
- Shared parental leave: what is it and how can it help me?
Our guidance on pregnancy and maternity equality at work
We want all members to have the opportunity to develop themselves and achieve in their working lives, while successfully balancing home and work.
To qualify for shared parental leave, complex eligibility criteria and notification requirements must be met. Read our briefing on parental and family leave for further information.
We have made formal submissions to the government setting out our policies on work and parents. We have identified the following three priorities:
- Enhanced maternity leave and paternity/maternity support leave with pay, enabling parents to spend valuable time with their baby. This would benefit the health and well-being of parents as well as their babies
- Rights for both parents and carers to work reduced or flexible hours, encouraging a balance between home and work responsibilities. This should be a statutory right, since it has been shown that voluntary practices do not work
- Paid parental leave and shared parental leave with flexible implementation, also allowing parents to balance home and work responsibilities.
Pregnancy and maternity leave: what are you entitled to?
All women are entitled to:
- 52 weeks’ maternity leave
- statutory maternity pay
- paid time off work to attend ante-natal sessions.
Adoptive parents have similar entitlements. Men and women are entitled to:
- shared parental leave and pay (the mother’s partner can share the statutory leave and pay)
- time off to care for dependants in exceptional circumstances
- return to the same or (in some cases) similar job after maternity or parental leave
- 18 weeks’ unpaid parental leave for children aged up to 18 but only after one year’s continuous employment
- two weeks’ paternity/partner leave and statutory paternity pay
- one weeks’ unpaid leave in a 12-month period for carer’s leave.
Shared parental leave: what is it and how can it help me?
The provisions under the Children and Families Act introducing shared parental leave and pay came into effect on 1 December 2014. The provisions will apply for children born or adopted on or after 5 April 2015.
Shared parental leave will enable eligible parents to share up to 50 weeks’ leave and will allow them flexibility to decide whether they take it in turns to take the time off to look after the child or to be off work at the same time.
The amount of paid leave available mirrors the statutory maternity leave arrangements: ie, 39 weeks available at the statutory minimum pay and 13 weeks’ unpaid leave – less the two weeks’ compulsory leave directly following the birth/adoption.
Get support as a member
Speak with your representatives:
If you work in an organisation that has local Bectu representatives, you should speak to them about any work-related issues.
Call the member contact centre on 0300 600 1878 or email [email protected]