maternity advice? NHS 12 May 2021 at 12:42PM in Marriage, relationships & families 10 replies 681 views

Poshsalt

Hi,

1. My gf works for NHS, the baby is due in OCT 19. They have said she has to work until End of Augest, then take 4 weeks sick off to get September off, is this right?

I thought you by law had to have 2 months off before due date.

2. No paper or information has been given to her, what information can she request to see or read?

3. First 3 month on maternity she will get ?95%?, 6 months 80% then 3 months 0%, does that sound right?

Thank you for your help

Savvy_Sue

I presume you have the wrong year in that first post. 

She can only take time off sick if she is actually sick. If she is actually sick with a pregnancy related condition, she would have to start her maternity leave then. 

You do not have to have any time off before baby is due: my colleague is planning to start her m/l on her due date - if baby comes early she'll have to start it then. 

She should ask to see her employer's maternity leave policy, which may be available online. Read that and all should become clear. 

Are you saying that she wants to stop working at the end of August? She can start maternity leave no more than 11 weeks before her due date. 

This won't give the right information about payments, as her employer has a more generous policy than the statutory minimum, but it may help you a bit. 

Poshsalt

Sorry I ment 19th of Oct.

They said she would have to do  sick leave all August then end Augest leave for matenity.

I'll have  alook about maternity leave policy

Thanks

MX5huggy

Point 3 no:- 
https://www.nhsemployers.org/pay-pensions-and-reward/nhs-terms-and-conditions-of-service---agenda-for-change/nhs-terms-and-conditions-of-service-handbook/parents-and-carers/maternity-leave-and-pay-section-15

Then as the dad you can share some of her maternity leave so you have more than the 2 weeks paternity leave. 

barbiedoll

Is she clinical staff? Does this have anything to do with Covid and not working on a ward or in a clinical area after 28 weeks?

There is no "law" which states that maternity leave starts two months before the due date, I work in midwifery (in the NHS) and many of my patients and colleagues have worked until their due date, or just a few days before, it's perfectly legal. If she is unwell due to illness unrelated to pregnancy, she can't be made to take this as maternity leave. If it is pregnancy-related or under her obstetrician's advice, it will be included as maternity leave.

Clouds88

It may be due to Covid, can she ask her manager to clarify? I am pregnant, due 2nd October, atm my colleagues are still going off at 28 weeks, they  will  be paid as 'suspended on full pay' and mat leave kicks in at 36 weeks.

I am not sure yet what will happen to me, I'm waiting for the next guidance to come out but as a unvaccinated asthmatic, who cares for so many women and their babies I do feel we are still quite vulnerable so the advice may not change. 

Also, If you go off work with a pregnancy related illness I think the advice above is incorrect, they can only start your mat leave if you are 36 weeks pregnant. 

barbiedoll

Clouds88 said:

It may be due to Covid, can she ask her manager to clarify? I am pregnant, due 2nd October, atm my colleagues are still going off at 28 weeks, they  will  be paid as 'suspended on full pay' and mat leave kicks in at 36 weeks.

I am not sure yet what will happen to me, I'm waiting for the next guidance to come out but as a unvaccinated asthmatic, who cares for so many women and their babies I do feel we are still quite vulnerable so the advice may not change. 

Also, If you go off work with a pregnancy related illness I think the advice above is incorrect, they can only start your mat leave if you are 36 weeks pregnant. 

Clouds88...you may well be right about the mat leave starting at 36 weeks, OP, apologies, I thought that they could make your gf start it earlier if necessary.

What does she actually want to do?

silvercar

Clouds88 said:

It may be due to Covid, can she ask her manager to clarify? I am pregnant, due 2nd October, atm my colleagues are still going off at 28 weeks, they  will  be paid as 'suspended on full pay' and mat leave kicks in at 36 weeks.

I am not sure yet what will happen to me, I'm waiting for the next guidance to come out but as a unvaccinated asthmatic, who cares for so many women and their babies I do feel we are still quite vulnerable so the advice may not change. 

Also, If you go off work with a pregnancy related illness I think the advice above is incorrect, they can only start your mat leave if you are 36 weeks pregnant. 

Slightly off topic, but the current government guidelines suggest that anyone pregnant should be vaccinated in line with the general guidelines. If your asthma put you into category 6 or you were a health or social care worker, you would have been offered the vaccine already. If not then it is on an age basis. Latest advice is that those pregnant should be offered Pfizer or Moderna as this has had more extensive testing on those pregnant that AZ.

Poshsalt

barbiedoll said:

Is she clinical staff? Does this have anything to do with Covid and not working on a ward or in a clinical area after 28 weeks?

There is no "law" which states that maternity leave starts two months before the due date, I work in midwifery (in the NHS) and many of my patients and colleagues have worked until their due date, or just a few days before, it's perfectly legal. If she is unwell due to illness unrelated to pregnancy, she can't be made to take this as maternity leave. If it is pregnancy-related or under her obstetrician's advice, it will be included as maternity leave.

Hi, She works in NHS as maternity, they have said she will not be taken off as there is no covid now.

A couple people have said now they worked upto 2-3 weeks before due date, so it must be ok, which seems crazy!

Clouds88

Yes I agree that's not right. Unless the gov change their guidance (if you google covid 28 weeks gov) it comes up, it suggests after 28 weeks people should avoid direct patient contact, and either work from home or be suspended on pay. They are due to update that again on monday so I'm waiting to see what they say.

I don't want the vaccine whilst pregnant either but I'll get it as soon as hes born. I think that's rubbish to say it's gone, it hasn't, it's less because of the restrictions but with them easing again soon and the threat of the indian variant its bound to increase again but obviously the older and most vulnerable are protected so should be less deaths. 

I dont think I should be forced to have the vaccine whilst pregnant either, they have only just decided its 'safe' which is way too quick in my opinion. So pregnant unvaccinated women will still be high risk. One of my colleagues is going off in 3 weeks also at 28 weeks so they are still currently doing that at my hospital.  We mix with so many women/partners/other staff we work with which changes shift by shift.

I hope she is getting on okay in her pregnancy! 

Rambosmum

Poshsalt said:

barbiedoll said:

Is she clinical staff? Does this have anything to do with Covid and not working on a ward or in a clinical area after 28 weeks?

There is no "law" which states that maternity leave starts two months before the due date, I work in midwifery (in the NHS) and many of my patients and colleagues have worked until their due date, or just a few days before, it's perfectly legal. If she is unwell due to illness unrelated to pregnancy, she can't be made to take this as maternity leave. If it is pregnancy-related or under her obstetrician's advice, it will be included as maternity leave.

Hi, She works in NHS as maternity, they have said she will not be taken off as there is no covid now.

A couple people have said now they worked upto 2-3 weeks before due date, so it must be ok, which seems crazy!

Legally you can work up to your expected date of delivery (so 19th October). You can start maternity leave 2 months before that, but that obviously impacts how much leave you get after delivery - you can have 12 months total (39 weeks paid, 13 weeks unpaid). IF she were to be sick with pregnancy related issues in the 4 weeks prior to her due date, maternity leave would automatically start. 

Personally, I worked until 2 weeks before my due date with number 1 then took annual leave for those last 2 weeks (didn't end up using them as DC was born the day after!), number 2 I took 3 weeks of annual leave before my maternity leave started.