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Your Rights: Now your baby is here

Returning to work

Many new mums decide to either put off returning to work or resign altogther to spend more time with their baby. It goes without saying that childcare is expensive and many new parents find the extra earnings barely cover the costs so it's important to weigh up the pros and cons and decide which arrangement will work best for you as a family. Though there is no automatic right to reduce your hours or increase flexibility, some employers will be happy to consider cutting down your work, or perhaps organising a job share with another new mum so it's certainly worth arranging a time to meet to chat through your options.

The good news is that SMP is yours to keep, whether you choose to return or not (your employer gets most of this money back from the government anyway!) and the only time you may be required to pay any money back is if you received any additional money (agreed in advance) above the standard SMP.

It's important to note that if you want to change the date you return to work, you must tell your employer in writing, at least 8 weeks before you are orginally due back.

Your right to flexible working

By law, your employer has to seriously consider any request you submit for working hours once you are due to return to work. This law is applicable to any working parent with a child under six or a disabled child under 18 and if your employer can only reject your claim if it is based on one of the following 'business reasons':

The burden of additional costs

The detrimental effect on the ability to meet customer demand

The detrimental effect on quality

The detrimental effect on performance

If the employer is unable to reorganise the work among existing staff

If the employer is unable to recruit additional staff

If there is not enough work during the periods the employee wants to work, or if there are planned structural changes

Think carefully about the hours you'd like to do and put your request into writing. Your employer must hold a meeting within 28 days of receiving your letter, and must give you their decision within 14 days.

If you think your employer did not follow the correct procedure, or took a decision for an invalid reason, you can appeal. If unsuccessful, you may make a complaint to an employment tribunal. The employment tribunal will award financial compensation for up to 8 weeks whilst awards for sex discrimination are not limited. Take advice on your options and the most appropriate action.

For further information, see our section on flexible working.

Postnatal illness 

Postnatal illness is very common, and affects all aspects of a person's life, including their ability and wish to work. Please look at our section on postnatal illness, for more general advice.

If you are suffering from Postnatal Illness, you might find that you are not ready to return to work, or even feel that physically and emotionally, you're simply not ready to take on the extra responsibility.

Take the following steps to see what you can do....

Consider whether you can take more maternity leave - if you've taken all your ordinary maternity leave, you can take the extra 13 weeks of unpaid maternity leave, taking your entire leave period up to a year.

Have you used up your Holiday entitlement? You still get holidays even while you're on maternity leave - so your annual leave builds up. If you have some still to take, you can add it onto the end of your maternity leave. Just ask your employer in the normal way.

Parental Leave is usually unpaid, but some employers do pay it. Find out and make a request for parental leave if it will help (your employer has the right to postpone this leave if they feel it would unduly disrupt the business). Remember that working fathers can also take parental leave. You can ask your employer for more unpaid time off work but make sure you get it in writing.

If you've taken all the leave that you can (or that you can afford) and you are not well enough to return to work, you can take Sick Leave.

You will need to tell your employer that you are returning to work, but that you will be taking sick leave - the company's usual arrangements will apply. Of course you will need to also get sick notes from your GP to give to your employer.

Can you reduce your hours?

You may decide that working flexibly will help. Have a look at the section on Flexible Working to see how it works. You don't have to tell your employer that you are suffering from postnatal illness, but if you choose to and your depression is relatively severe they have an increased legal obligation to provide you with working conditions that you are better able to cope with.

Do you want to resign?

Giving up work, particularly if it's for health reasons, is a very difficult decision to take. Make sure you think it through and talk to people about your options. If you decide to go ahead you can resign while you are on maternity leave. Check to see what the financial implications are - you should be paid any holiday you've not taken, you don't need to repay Statutory Maternity Pay, but you may have to repay additional 'employers' maternity pay.

 Other benefits

There are many other benefits you may be entitled to so it's advisable to get in touch with your local job centre or citizens advice bureau to find out.

The following benefits are available to any new parent, regardless of income:-

Child benefit: It's advisable to find out about this before your baby is born to prevent missing out on any payments. Late applications can be backdated for three months but if you're applying later than that, you could miss out on money due to you. Child benefit is paid from birth until your child is 19 (or has left full time education) and the amount you receive depends on your combined family income and working status.

You can claim on-line here.

Free dental treatment and prescriptions: All pregnant women are entitled to free trips to the dentist (including treatments) from the start of their pregnancy until their baby turns one.

Child/working Tax Credits:

Tax credits are available to families with children whose income is no higher than £58,175 a year (up to £66,350 if your child is under one). Click here for a simple explanation of what it's all about!

Families on very low incomes may also be entitled to working tax credits. Find out if you're eligible here or call the tax credit helpline: 0845 300 3900

Child Trust Fund

Once your baby's birth has been registered, the Government will send you a £250 cheque for your child which you can pay into a bank or building society (participating in the CTF initiative) of your choice. Families with incomes under £15,575 will receive an extra £250 and the government will pay an additional amount (either £250 or £500) when your child turns seven. Find out more here.  

Low income families
 

If you claim Jobseekers Allowance or Income Support, tell the Jobcentre that you are pregnant, as you are entitled to 7 pints of free milk each week (paid in tokens).

Your antenatal clinic will be able to provide you with free vitamins.

If you earn less than £79 per week, claim Maternity Allowance from your local Jobcentre Plus on form MA1 (see above).

If you receive Jobseekers Allowance, Income Support or Child Tax Credit of more than the family element, you may be able to claim a £500 Sure Start Maternity Grant to help with the costs of the new baby. Claim it anytime from week 29 of your pregnancy to 3 months from the date of the birth.

Register the birth within 6 weeks, so you have a birth certificate.

If you have been getting Income Support because you are pregnant you have to claim Jobseekers Allowance instead when the baby is 7 weeks old (if you are entitled). If you are a single parent, you stay on Income Support.


Working Families provide factsheets you can download that help explain these rights - here is their index

The important stuff...

Working Families provide a useful summary of the different types of Flexible Working:

Part-time working: anything below the standard working week. Part-time workers must not be treated less favourably in the terms and conditions of their employment just because they work part-time.

Flexi-time: you can vary your hours but have a fixed core time and can take banked hours as flexi leave.

Job-sharing: a job is split between two individuals.

Term-time working: allows you to be in a permanent full or part-time job while taking unpaid leave during agreed school holidays. Your pay may be averaged out over the year.

School hours working: you work during school hours only.

Compressed hours: where you work more hours each day, but fewer days of the week.

V-time(voluntary reduction in hours): born in the USA but now in the UK, V-time allows you to reduce your time at work by an agreed period.

Working from home: where you can work from home all or part of the week. Whilst it can be done with older children, it can be tricky to work and look after a baby or young child at the same time.

Further Help

Join the debate!

A recent survey revealed that over a third of new parents (in particularly mums) are having to return to work out of necessity due to the rising costs of living in the UK. Has this affected you? Do you think the government is doing enough to help working mums or indeed those who would prefer to stay at home? Find out more and join the discussion here.

 


Having a baby affects family finances and your ability to work. Working out what you are entitled to in terms of time off, working when you want to work, and financial support is all rather complicated.

Working Families are experts in this field and have lots of useful information and factsheets about employment rights, childcare and flexible working available on their website www.workingfamilies.org.uk

Chat to other mums and mums to be on the pregnancy and antenatal boards

 

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