Did you know that 76.7% of mothers and 91.8% of fathers in the UK are currently employed?
Parents make up a huge chunk of our workforce and that’s why, as a business owner, you need to understand the legal requirements of employing parents.
Key considerations for employing parents:
Maternity leave and pay
Pregnant employees can take 52 weeks of maternity leave: 26 weeks Ordinary and 26 weeks Additional.
Eligible employees get Statutory Maternity Pay for up to 39 weeks.
They must tell you at least 15 weeks before their due date when they plan to start leave.
Paternity leave and pay
Partners can take one or two weeks’ paid paternity leave within 56 days of the birth. They can also attend up to two antenatal appointments unpaid.
Shared Parental Leave
Parents can share up to 50 weeks of leave and 37 weeks of pay between them. This offers more flexibility for modern families.
Adoption leave
Primary adopters can take up to 52 weeks of leave. Statutory Adoption Pay is available for 39 weeks, if they’re eligible.
Parental leave
Parents with at least one year of service can take up to 18 weeks of unpaid leave per child up to their 18th birthday.
Neonatal Leave
Neonatal care leave allows parents to have additional time off to be with a baby who is receiving neonatal care.
The right to take neonatal care leave applies from the first day of work. Eligible parents can take neonatal care leave once their child has been in neonatal care for at least 7 consecutive days.
Parents who have a baby admitted to neonatal care up to the age of 28 days might be eligible for up to 12 weeks of leave. This includes fathers and partners of birth parents.
Pregnancy loss support
For miscarriages before 24 weeks, offer compassionate and/or sick leave. For stillbirths (after 24 weeks) or neonatal death, full maternity and paternity rights apply, plus two weeks of parental bereavement leave.
Flexible working requests
All employees now have the right to request flexible working from day one of employment. For parents, this might be essential for managing childcare.
Health and safety for pregnant employees
Your legal duties include:
- Conducting specific risk assessments
- Removing or reducing any risks identified
- Adjusting working conditions or hours if needed
- Offering suitable alternative work if risks can’t be removed
- Suspending the employee on full pay if no suitable alternative work exists
Breastfeeding accommodations
For employees returning from maternity leave, you must:
- Provide suitable rest facilities, including a place to lie down
- Make reasonable adjustments for breastfeeding mothers
- Ensure that there’s a clean, private space (not a toilet) for expressing milk
- Provide proper storage for expressed milk
Return to work support
Plan carefully for employees returning from parental leave:
- Arrange “keeping in touch” days during leave (up to 10 paid days)
- Hold a pre-return meeting to discuss concerns
- Consider phased returns or temporary flexible working
- Update them on changes that happened during their absence
- Provide a re-induction if needed
- Train managers to support the transition
Get in contact to make sure you’re legally complaint
We’ve helped loads of businesses, just like yours, to create places where parents can do their best work.
Get in touch today for a friendly conversation and some straightforward advice to help your parent employees and your business succeed together.