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{{org_field_name}}

Registration Number: {{org_field_registration_no}}

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Maternity Leave Policy

1. Purpose

The purpose of this policy is to ensure that {{org_field_name}} supports employees during pregnancy, maternity leave, and their return to work in line with legal requirements and best practices. This policy ensures that pregnant employees and new mothers receive fair treatment, job protection, financial support, and a safe working environment, while maintaining operational efficiency within the organisation.

This policy supports compliance with:

• The Employment Rights Act 1996, including protection from pregnancy and maternity-related detriment, unfair dismissal, redundancy rights, antenatal appointment rights, and maternity-related health and safety suspension rights.
• The Maternity and Parental Leave etc. Regulations 1999, including statutory maternity leave, return-to-work rights, and protections during maternity leave.
• The Equality Act 2010, including protection from pregnancy and maternity discrimination, harassment and victimisation.
• The Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999 and the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974, including the duty to assess and manage risks to pregnant workers, new mothers and breastfeeding workers.
• The Workplace (Health, Safety and Welfare) Regulations 1992, including the requirement to provide suitable rest facilities for pregnant and breastfeeding workers.
• The Statutory Maternity Pay legislation and HMRC rules, including current statutory payment rates and eligibility thresholds.
• The Neonatal Care Leave and Pay legislation, where a baby born on or after 6 April 2025 requires qualifying neonatal care.
• The Regulation and Inspection of Social Care (Wales) Act 2016 and the Regulated Services (Service Providers and Responsible Individuals) (Wales) Regulations 2017, as amended, insofar as this policy supports safe staffing, staff well-being, lawful employment practice, continuity of care, effective governance, and the provider’s obligation to keep policies and procedures up to date.
• The Welsh Government statutory guidance for service providers and responsible individuals, Version 3, March 2024, for care home services and domiciliary support services.
• The Social Care Wales Code of Professional Practice for Employers of Social Care Workers and any updated Social Care Wales codes or guidance in force at the time of review.

2. Scope

This policy applies to:

• All employees who become pregnant or give birth while employed at {{org_field_name}}.
• Employees planning to take maternity leave or shared parental leave.
• Managers and HR personnel responsible for supporting maternity-related leave.

Statutory maternity leave applies to employees. Where an individual is engaged as a worker, agency worker, bank worker, self-employed contractor, or under another non-standard arrangement, {{org_field_name}} will review the individual’s employment status, contract, and statutory entitlements before confirming which parts of this policy apply. Nothing in this policy removes any statutory right, contractual right, or protection from discrimination, detriment or health and safety risk.

It covers:

• Eligibility criteria for maternity leave.
• Notification and application process.
• Statutory Maternity Pay (SMP) and other financial entitlements.
• Health and safety protections for pregnant employees.
• Return-to-work procedures and flexible working options.

As a domiciliary support provider in Wales, {{org_field_name}} will manage maternity-related absence in a way that protects the employee’s legal rights and health and safety, while maintaining safe staffing, continuity of care, travel-time planning, and reliable delivery of commissioned care and support. Maternity-related staffing arrangements must not compromise individuals’ personal plans, agreed visit times, safeguarding, medication support, moving and handling requirements, or other assessed care and support needs.

3. Eligibility for Maternity Leave

All pregnant employees are entitled to:

• 52 weeks of statutory maternity leave, regardless of length of service.
• Statutory Maternity Pay (SMP) if they meet qualifying criteria.
• Protection against unfair dismissal and discrimination.

To qualify for Statutory Maternity Pay (SMP), employees must:

• Be on {{org_field_name}}’s payroll in the qualifying week, which is the 15th week before the expected week of childbirth.
• Have been continuously employed by {{org_field_name}} for at least 26 weeks continuing into the qualifying week.
• Earn at least the current National Insurance Lower Earnings Limit on average during the relevant earnings period. For the 2026/2027 tax year this is £129 per week. This figure must be checked at each annual review and whenever statutory rates change.
• Give the required notice and provide acceptable proof of pregnancy, normally the MATB1 certificate.
• Employees who do not qualify for SMP may be eligible for Maternity Allowance (MA) through Jobcentre Plus.

If {{org_field_name}} decides that an employee does not qualify for SMP, the employee will be given form SMP1 within the statutory timescale, explaining the reason for refusal and signposting them to claim Maternity Allowance where appropriate. GOV.UK states that where SMP is refused, the employer must give form SMP1 within 7 days of the decision.

3.1 Antenatal Appointments

Pregnant employees are entitled to reasonable paid time off during working hours to attend antenatal appointments made on the advice of a registered medical practitioner, registered midwife or registered nurse. Antenatal care may include medical appointments, scans, relaxation classes, parent craft classes or other pregnancy-related appointments recommended by an appropriate health professional.

Except for the first appointment, {{org_field_name}} may ask the employee to provide evidence of the appointment, such as an appointment card, letter, email or text confirmation.

Managers must support attendance at antenatal appointments and must not subject an employee to detriment, disciplinary action, loss of pay, pressure to rearrange necessary appointments, or unfair treatment because they are pregnant or attending antenatal care.

Domiciliary care rotas must be adjusted in advance where reasonably possible to ensure that antenatal appointments are accommodated without compromising safe visit cover, travel time, medication support, safeguarding responsibilities, or continuity of care for people receiving the service.

4. Notification and Application Process

Employees Responsibilities

Employees must notify their line manager or HR, no later than the end of the 15th week before the expected week of childbirth, that they are pregnant, the expected week of childbirth, and the date they intend their maternity leave to start.

Employees should provide a MATB1 certificate as soon as it is available. The MATB1 is usually issued by a midwife or doctor from around the 20th week of pregnancy.

Employees must give at least 28 days’ notice of the date they want SMP to start, unless this is not reasonably practicable.

Employees should discuss any health and safety concerns, pregnancy-related adjustments, antenatal appointments, planned leave dates, and expected return-to-work arrangements with their line manager or HR.

Employer Responsibilities

• Acknowledge the maternity leave request in writing within 28 days.
• Confirm the employee’s rights, start/end dates, and pay entitlements.
• Conduct a risk assessment to ensure workplace safety for pregnant employees.
• If the baby is born early, maternity leave and SMP will normally start automatically from the day after the birth, unless maternity leave has already started. If the employee is absent from work wholly or partly because of pregnancy after the beginning of the fourth week before the expected week of childbirth, maternity leave will normally start automatically.
• Employees remain entitled to statutory maternity leave and SMP where eligible if the baby is born early, is stillborn after the start of the 24th week of pregnancy, or dies after birth. GOV.UK confirms that statutory maternity leave and SMP can still apply in these circumstances.

5. Health and Safety Protections for Pregnant Employees, New Mothers and Breastfeeding Employees

{{org_field_name}} will protect the health, safety and welfare of pregnant employees, employees who have recently given birth, and breastfeeding employees. Once an employee notifies {{org_field_name}} in writing that they are pregnant, have given birth within the previous six months, or are breastfeeding, the Registered Manager or nominated manager will complete an individual risk assessment without delay.

The risk assessment will consider the employee’s role, working pattern, travel arrangements, lone working, service-user needs, manual handling tasks, use of equipment, medication support, infection prevention and control risks, exposure to bodily fluids, cleaning products or other substances, risk of violence or aggression, fatigue, night work, emergency cover expectations, driving between visits, access to toilets and rest breaks, and any advice from the employee’s GP, midwife or occupational health.

In domiciliary care, the risk assessment must also consider risks arising from individual service-user homes, including pets, smoking environments, poor lighting, restricted working space, unsafe equipment, hoarding, infection risk, moving and handling arrangements, and any known behavioural, safeguarding or environmental risks.

Where a risk is identified, {{org_field_name}} will take the following steps in order:

1. adjust the employee’s working conditions, duties, rota, visit allocation, travel expectations, or working hours to remove or reduce the risk;
2. where the risk cannot be adequately controlled, offer suitable alternative work on terms and conditions that are no less favourable, including pay, where such work is available; and
3. where neither adjustments nor suitable alternative work can remove or adequately control the risk, suspend the employee from work on full pay for as long as necessary to protect the employee’s health and safety and/or the health and safety of the baby.

Adjustments may include temporarily removing high-risk calls, avoiding unsafe moving and handling tasks, reducing long travel runs, avoiding exposure to infectious illness where reasonably practicable, reallocating visits requiring heavy physical support, providing additional rest breaks, changing start and finish times, reducing lone working risks, or arranging alternative office-based, supervisory, training, administrative or quality-assurance duties.

Risk assessments will be reviewed regularly, whenever the employee’s pregnancy progresses, when medical advice changes, after any pregnancy-related absence, when duties or service-user allocations change, and before the employee returns to work if they have recently given birth or are breastfeeding.

{{org_field_name}} will provide suitable rest arrangements for pregnant and breastfeeding employees. Employees who are breastfeeding should notify their manager before returning to work so that a breastfeeding risk assessment and any suitable facilities or adjustments can be considered.

6. Maternity Leave Duration and Pay Entitlements

6.1 Statutory Maternity Leave

Employees are entitled to:

• Ordinary Maternity Leave (OML) – First 26 weeks.
• Additional Maternity Leave (AML) – Further 26 weeks.

Maternity leave can begin up to 11 weeks before the due date but will automatically start if the employee is absent due to pregnancy-related illness four weeks before the due date.

6.2 Statutory Maternity Pay (SMP)

Eligible employees are entitled to up to 39 weeks of Statutory Maternity Pay:

• First 6 weeks: paid at 90% of the employee’s average weekly earnings before tax.
• Remaining 33 weeks: paid at the statutory weekly rate in force at the time, or 90% of the employee’s average weekly earnings, whichever is lower. For the 2026/2027 tax year, the statutory weekly rate is £194.32.
• Final 13 weeks of statutory maternity leave: unpaid, unless {{org_field_name}} provides any enhanced contractual maternity pay.

SMP is subject to tax and National Insurance deductions. Statutory rates and earnings thresholds change periodically and must be checked at each policy review and at the time maternity pay is calculated.

6.3 Terms and Conditions During Maternity Leave

During maternity leave, the employee’s contract of employment continues except for normal pay, which is replaced by SMP or any contractual maternity pay where applicable. The employee continues to benefit from all contractual terms and conditions that would have applied if they had not been absent, except for remuneration.

Annual leave and bank holiday entitlement will continue to accrue during maternity leave. Employees should discuss with their manager or HR how accrued annual leave will be taken, including whether it will be taken before maternity leave starts, immediately before returning to work, or at another agreed time.

Pension contributions, contractual benefits, continuity of employment, length of service, and statutory employment rights will be maintained in accordance with the applicable pension scheme rules, contract of employment, and statutory requirements.

7. Keeping in Touch (KIT) Days

An employee may work for up to 10 Keeping in Touch (KIT) days during maternity leave without bringing maternity leave or SMP to an end. KIT days are optional and must be agreed in advance by both the employee and {{org_field_name}}.

KIT days may be used for training, supervision, staff meetings, induction updates, service updates, phased return activities, shadowing, or other agreed work. In domiciliary care, KIT days must only be arranged where safe staffing, travel time, insurance, lone working, and service-user continuity can be properly managed.

KIT days must not be worked during the compulsory maternity leave period immediately following childbirth.

The work to be carried out, hours, location, rate of pay, and effect on SMP or contractual pay must be agreed in writing before the KIT day takes place. Any part of a day worked will count as one KIT day.

An employee must not be pressured to work KIT days, and refusal to work a KIT day must not result in detriment, disciplinary action, or unfavourable treatment.

7.1 Neonatal Care Leave and Pay

Where an employee or their partner has a baby born on or after 6 April 2025 who requires qualifying neonatal care, the employee may be entitled to Neonatal Care Leave and Statutory Neonatal Care Pay.

Neonatal care means care for a newborn baby that starts within the first 28 days after birth and lasts for at least 7 consecutive days. It may include hospital care, qualifying medical care after leaving hospital, or palliative or end-of-life care.

Eligible employees may take up to 12 weeks’ Neonatal Care Leave, in addition to other statutory family leave. Neonatal Care Leave is a day-one right. Statutory Neonatal Care Pay is payable only where the employee meets the statutory eligibility and earnings requirements.

Neonatal Care Leave must be taken within 68 weeks of the baby’s birth. Where the employee is also taking maternity leave, Neonatal Care Leave will normally be taken after statutory maternity leave.

Employees should notify {{org_field_name}} as soon as reasonably practicable if their baby requires neonatal care. {{org_field_name}} will respond sensitively, explain the employee’s leave and pay options, and ensure that rota cover is arranged without pressuring the employee to return to work prematurely.

During Neonatal Care Leave, the employee’s statutory employment rights are protected, including rights relating to pay rises, holiday accrual, and return to work.

8. Returning to Work

Employees returning from Ordinary Maternity Leave are entitled to return to the same job on the same terms and conditions as if they had not been absent.

Employees returning after Additional Maternity Leave are also entitled to return to the same job unless this is not reasonably practicable. Where it is not reasonably practicable to return the employee to the same job, {{org_field_name}} will offer a suitable and appropriate alternative role on terms and conditions that are no less favourable.

Employees must give at least 8 weeks’ notice if they wish to return to work earlier than the previously agreed maternity leave end date. If an employee wishes to return later than previously notified, they must discuss this with their manager or HR as soon as possible, as this may require annual leave, parental leave, shared parental leave, neonatal care leave or another form of authorised leave.

Before the employee returns, {{org_field_name}} will offer a return-to-work discussion to consider rota arrangements, refresher training, supervision, DBS or registration requirements where relevant, manual handling competency, medication competency, safeguarding updates, changes to service-user needs, lone working arrangements, breastfeeding needs, and any adjustments required.

Where the employee is breastfeeding, has recently given birth, or has a pregnancy-related health condition, a return-to-work risk assessment will be completed and reviewed as necessary.

Employees may request flexible working, including changes to hours, days, shift patterns, travel runs, part-time working, compressed hours, or other arrangements. Flexible working requests must be considered reasonably and a decision must be made within 2 months of the request unless an extension is agreed with the employee.

Flexible working decisions in domiciliary care will consider the employee’s circumstances alongside safe staffing, continuity of care, contractual obligations, visit times, travel time, service-user preferences, safeguarding, medication support, and the needs of people receiving care and support. Requests must not be refused because of pregnancy, maternity leave, breastfeeding, or childcare responsibilities without lawful, objective and properly evidenced reasons.

9. Shared Parental Leave (SPL) Option

Eligible employees may choose to end maternity leave and/or maternity pay early and share the remaining leave and pay with an eligible partner as Shared Parental Leave and Statutory Shared Parental Pay. Up to 50 weeks of leave and up to 37 weeks of statutory pay may be shared, depending on how much maternity leave and SMP has already been taken.

Employees considering Shared Parental Leave should contact their manager or HR as early as possible because statutory notice, eligibility, evidence and curtailment requirements apply. {{org_field_name}} will consider Shared Parental Leave requests in accordance with the organisation’s Shared Parental Leave or Parental Leave Policy.

10. Redundancy Protection and Job Security

Employees must not be dismissed, selected for redundancy, treated unfavourably, disadvantaged, disciplined, denied opportunities, or subjected to detriment because of pregnancy, maternity leave, childbirth, breastfeeding, pregnancy-related illness, antenatal appointments, maternity-related health and safety adjustments, Neonatal Care Leave, or a request to exercise family-related rights.

A dismissal connected to pregnancy or maternity may be automatically unfair and may also amount to pregnancy and maternity discrimination.

Where a redundancy situation arises, pregnant employees and employees on maternity leave have enhanced redundancy protection. This protection applies from the point the employee notifies {{org_field_name}} that they are pregnant and continues during maternity leave. It may also continue after return to work, normally until 18 months after the child’s birth, subject to the statutory rules in force at the time.

During the protected period, if a suitable alternative vacancy exists, {{org_field_name}} must offer it to the protected employee before offering it to other employees who are at risk of redundancy. The employee must not be required to compete for a suitable alternative vacancy where the statutory priority right applies.

Enhanced redundancy protection may also apply to employees taking qualifying Shared Parental Leave, Adoption Leave, Neonatal Care Leave or Bereaved Partner’s Paternity Leave, in accordance with the statutory rules in force at the time.

Any proposed redundancy involving a pregnant employee, an employee on maternity leave, or an employee who has recently returned from maternity leave must be reviewed by the Registered Manager and HR or senior management before any decision is made. The review must confirm that the reason for redundancy is unrelated to pregnancy, maternity leave or associated rights, that consultation has been fair, that selection criteria are objective and non-discriminatory, and that all suitable alternative vacancies have been considered.

10.1 Pregnancy-Related Sickness Absence

Pregnancy-related sickness absence will be recorded separately from ordinary sickness absence and must not be used to trigger disciplinary action, absence warnings, capability action, redundancy selection, performance concerns, or any other detriment.

If an employee is absent wholly or partly because of pregnancy after the beginning of the fourth week before the expected week of childbirth, maternity leave will normally start automatically.

Managers must maintain appropriate contact with the employee during pregnancy-related absence, but contact must be supportive, proportionate and sensitive. The employee must not be pressured to return to work where this would be contrary to medical advice or health and safety requirements.

11. Monitoring, Records and Compliance

The Registered Manager is responsible for ensuring that this policy is implemented consistently and lawfully. HR, senior management and the Responsible Individual, where applicable, will support compliance through supervision, workforce planning, policy review and monitoring.

{{org_field_name}} will keep confidential records of maternity notifications, MATB1 certificates, maternity leave dates, SMP decisions, SMP1 forms where applicable, antenatal appointment arrangements, pregnancy and breastfeeding risk assessments, adjustments, suitable alternative work considerations, health and safety suspension decisions, KIT days, Neonatal Care Leave, return-to-work discussions, flexible working requests and any redundancy-related decisions.

Records will be stored securely and processed in accordance with data protection requirements. Access will be restricted to those who need the information for lawful employment, payroll, health and safety, safeguarding, rota planning, regulatory or management purposes.

The Registered Manager must ensure that maternity-related absence is planned so that the domiciliary support service continues to meet assessed care and support needs, agreed visit times, travel-time requirements, safe staffing levels, safeguarding responsibilities, and medication or moving and handling requirements.

Where maternity-related staffing changes could affect the safe operation of the service, the Registered Manager must ensure that appropriate contingency arrangements are in place. This may include recruitment, temporary cover, rota redesign, reallocation of visits, agency arrangements, competency checks, supervision, or communication with commissioners where required.

This policy will be made available to staff and managers. Managers responsible for rota planning, supervision, recruitment, absence management, health and safety or HR decisions must understand and follow this policy.

12. Related Policies

This policy should be read in conjunction with:

• Health and Safety at Work Policy (DCW16).
• Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion Policy (DCW30).
• Flexible Working Policy (DCW49).
• Absence Management Policy (DCW52).
• Parental Leave Policy (DCW53).
• Recruitment and Selection Policy.
• Staff Support and Development Policy.
• Supervision and Appraisal Policy.
• Rota Planning and Continuity of Care Policy.
• Lone Working Policy.
• Moving and Handling Policy.
• Infection Prevention and Control Policy.
• Medication Policy.
• Safeguarding Adults and Children Policy.
• Whistleblowing Policy.
• Data Protection and Confidentiality Policy.
• Redundancy Policy.
• Shared Parental Leave Policy.
• Neonatal Care Leave and Pay Policy, where held separately.
• Paternity Leave Policy.
• Time Off for Dependants Policy.
• Disciplinary and Grievance Policies.

13. Policy Review

This policy will be reviewed at least annually, and sooner where there are changes to employment law, statutory maternity pay rates, Neonatal Care Leave and Pay rules, flexible working legislation, redundancy protection, health and safety guidance, CIW requirements, Welsh Government statutory guidance, Social Care Wales codes or guidance, or operational requirements.

Statutory pay rates and earnings thresholds must be checked every April before this policy is reissued or relied upon for payroll calculations.

The review must confirm that the policy remains consistent with the Regulation and Inspection of Social Care (Wales) Act 2016, the Regulated Services (Service Providers and Responsible Individuals) (Wales) Regulations 2017, Welsh Government statutory guidance, CIW expectations, and the Social Care Wales Code of Professional Practice for Employers.

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Responsible Person: {{org_field_registered_manager_first_name}} {{org_field_registered_manager_last_name}}
Reviewed on: {{last_update_date}}
Next Review Date: {{next_review_date}}
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