|
Please
note that the following is only a general guide, and should
not be taken as an authoritative statement of the full
maternity entitlements within the
Statutory/Contractual/Regulatory provisions.
Maternity Leave Entitlement
Police
officers are entitled to take up to 15 months maternity leave,
irrespective of their length of service. Maternity leave can
be taken in one or more blocks, 6 months before and 12 months
after the week the baby is due. Leave can be started at any
time after the 13th week of pregnancy.
All
maternity leave must start on a Sunday.
Application for Maternity Leave
Officers
should give notice of their intention to take maternity leave
by the 15th week before the Expected Week of
Confinement, but are encouraged to inform line managers as
soon as possible. Form MAT1A (available from Administration
Sections) should be completed and forwarded to line managers.
Completion
of Form MAT1A will enable a mandatory risk assessment to be
carried out as soon as pregnancy is confirmed. The purpose of
this is to ensure that neither staff nor expected babies are
placed at risk by work or the working environment. For some
staff, this may mean a change of duties whilst pregnant or
breast feeding. Night shift duty can be replaced by daytime
working on receipt of a certificate from a doctor which states
the health concerns and the adverse effect of continuing to
work night duty.
+
Police officers may need to consider
+
Movement to non-confrontational duties
+
No contact with prisoners or potential prisoners
+
Any duties outside of police buildings to be carried out in
plain clothes
The
maternity certificate, MATB1 can be issued by Doctors/Midwives
from 27th week of pregnancy and should be forwarded
to Personnel Administration. On receipt of Form MAT1A and
MATB1 certificate, applicants for maternity leave will be
notified within 28 days of a proposed return to work date,
based on the assumption that the full entitlement of leave
will be taken.
Premature Birth
When a baby
is born before the maternity pay period was due to start,
notice is required of the birth of the baby no later than
three weeks after the event. The maternity pay period will
then begin the Sunday after the birth.
Death of a Baby or Stillbirth
If, in the
unfortunate event that a baby dies or is stillborn after 24
weeks of pregnancy, the provisions within the maternity scheme
will apply. When this occurs before 24 weeks (miscarriage),
sympathetic consideration will be given to any request for
special leave.
Time off for ante natal appointments
Expectant
mothers are entitled to take time off with full pay during
normal working hours for antenatal examinations with GPs and
hospital clinics. However, wherever possible, appointments
should be arranged at the start or the end of the working
day. Evidence of appointments must be provided on request
from supervisors, who should be advised of antenatal
appointments as far in advance as possible.
MATERNITY PAY
Maternity
pay will be paid into bank accounts on the same date as a
salary would be received, and will be subject to the usual
deductions.
If pay
increases come into effect during a maternity pay period,
regulatory/occupational maternity pay will include any
additional amounts due.
Statutory Maternity Pay (SMP)
Police officers who have at
least 26 weeks service by the end of the 15th week
before the Expected Week of Confinement (EWC) will be entitled
to receive Statutory Maternity Pay whether or not there is an
intention to return to work.
SMP is payable from the 11th
week before the EWC for a maximum of 26 weeks comprising
9/10ths of average salary for the first six weeks, followed by
a set statutory rate per week for the remaining period,
subject to the usual deductions.
Regulatory Maternity Pay
Officers who have 63 weeks
continuous service at the beginning of the EWC (Sunday), will
be entitled to full pay and allowances for the first 13 weeks
of maternity leave.
To receive maximum benefit of
13 weeks regulatory maternity pay and 26 weeks statutory
maternity pay, officers must start their maternity leave 24
weeks before the EWC. Where Regulatory Pay and SMP coincide,
officers will be paid the greater of the two, not both.
Where officers receive
regulatory maternity pay, they must return to work for at
least 1 month following maternity leave. This requirement
affects both those working reduced hours and full time and
includes both sick and annual leave taken during that time.
If an officer does not return to work for 1 month then the
difference between the statutory and regulatory maternity pay
must be repaid.
Housing Allowance
Officers in receipt of 13
weeks regulatory maternity pay will also be entitled to
housing allowance. Once regulatory maternity pay has ceased,
officers will no longer be entitled to this allowance.
However, if an officer’s husband is also a serving police
officer and eligible for housing allowance, the full married
allowance may be claimed for the period when the allowance is
not longer received by a spouse. In order to claim the
allowance, officers must notify the Finance Department at
least 1 month prior to the start of the unpaid leave.
Returning to work after
Maternity Leave
Those taking their full
maternity leave entitlement will not be required to give
notification to Personnel Administration of their intention to
return to work, unless they wish to do so before the end of
their additional maternity leave.
Returning to work before the end
of additional Maternity Leave
Officers who intend to return to
work before the end of additional maternity leave within 26
weeks will normally return to their previous job. Where this
is not possible, they may return to an alternative post, but
this would be on terms and conditions not less favourable than
if they had not been absent.
Police officers can postpone
their return date and give 21 days’ notice again of the
revised date.
The Force reserves the right to
postpone a return to work by up to 4 weeks. If a return is
postponed, officers will be notified in writing of the reason
for the postponement and the date on which they should
return. Rights under Regulation 36A are not affected.
For health and safety reasons,
staff may have been required to change their duties while
pregnant. For the same reason, staff may also be required to
return to a different job for a short time on return to work.
If preferred, officers may have
a phased return to work. This may include working reduced
hours/days or flexible working for the first 28 days following
a return to work.
Officers should follow the
‘Return to core policing’ guidance to ensure any training and
development needs are addressed on return to work.
Returning to work on Reduced
Hours
Officers wishing to return to
work on reduced hours should complete the appropriate form
(available from Administration Sections) and submit this to
their Area Commander as soon as possible. Whilst every
request will be looked at sympathetically, the operational
needs of the Force will take precedence.
Officers are advised to contact
the pension section at Gateshead Council for details of how
working reduced hours may affect a pension.
Failure to return to work
If a decision is made not to
return to work, then Personnel Administration must be notified
immediately.
Applying for other posts whilst
on Maternity Leave
Officers can apply for and
accept another post whilst absent on Maternity Leave.
Annual Leave
All maternity leave, whether
paid of unpaid, is regarded as service for the purpose of
calculating annual leave.
Although annual leave is accrued
during maternity leave, it cannot be taken during maternity
leave. However, it may be taken either at the beginning or
the end of the maternity leave.
Officers may carry forward 5
days into the next leave year.
If a decision is made not to
return to work, leave entitlement will be a proportion of the
full annual leave year calculated from 1 January to the last
day of service.
Pension Contributions
Officers will continue to pay
their pension contributions at the appropriate percentage
whilst on PAID maternity leave.
Officers will have up to 6
months from their return to work following maternity leave to
make contributions in arrears.
Maternity Uniform
A maternity uniform is available
from Supplies for both police staff and officers required to
wear a uniform. Police officers may also wear plain clothes.
Court attendance during
Maternity Leave
Officers on unpaid maternity
leave will be regarded as being on duty and will be paid for
and receive an appropriate allowance for the days attended at
court.
Continuity of Service
The first 26 week of maternity
leave are counted for the purposes of assessing pay
progression, leave and probationary service for police
officers. Additionally, maternity leave taken within the
first 29 weeks of a baby being born will also be counted for
officers with 26 weeks service at the 14th week
before the EWC.
|
