At Stafftax we deal with domestic employees on maternity leave on a daily basis, and with over 15 years experience we understand the many different situations employers can find themselves in. To help answer some of the most frequently asked questions, we've put together a Q&A (see below), but if you have more questions, please don't hesitate to get in touch.

Q. Is my employee entitled to Maternity leave?
A. Any pregnant employee may take 52 weeks leave regardless of their length of service. If they wish to return before the end of the 52 weeks they must give the employer 8 weeks notice.

Q. What about Maternity pay? How long does my employee have to have worked with me before she becomes entitled to SMP?
A. The employee cannot be pregnant when she starts her new employment. She qualifies for SMP if she has been in the same employment for 26 weeks (i.e. six months) prior to the "notification week". The "notification week" is 15 weeks before the baby's due date.

Q. What is the amount of SMP?
A. See our current rates and thresholds page for the most up-to-date rates.

Q. Is it reasonable to expect a part-time employee to attend antenatal classes in her own time?
A. She is entitled to paid time off to attend appointments made on the advice of her midwife, health visitor or GP. Except for the first appointment she must be prepared to show the employer the appointment card. She may not be able to arrange appointments on the days of her choice in which case she must be allowed to attend and be paid.

Q. If the pregnant employee is still in her probationary period and the employer are not happy with her as she has had several days off already, can they legally dismiss her?
A. If the sickness is related to her pregnancy then it would be unlawful to dismiss her and the employer could be at risk of a sex discrimination claim. The best approach here is to discuss with her the reasons for her absence, explain the importance of reliability and see how her attendance can be improved.

Q. Young children forget easily and with the new longer maternity leave many parents are concerned that their children will have forgotten their employee when she returns a year later.
A. The Government have introduced 10 “Keeping in Touch Days” which means the employee may work for up to 10 days without bringing her Maternity leave to an end or losing her SMP or MA. This is to enable her to keep in touch during her leave if she wishes to. They can be used for any work related activity which may be a children’s party or special event. Working for part of a day will count as one day’s work. Employers now can also make reasonable contact during Maternity leave, for example, to discuss the employee's return to work. Any work during maternity leave must be by agreement and neither the Employer nor the Employee can insist on it.

Q. Does the employee qualify for holiday while she is on maternity leave?
A. Yes, holiday is accrued as normal, and must be paid out by the employer. The only situations when employee wouldn't qualify for holiday pay are if she has explicitly told her employer that she does not wish to return to work following her maternity leave, or if she has been made redundant (although the employer has to be very careful if they wish to make her redundant).