An employee who has only recently joined us has announced that she is pregnant. Is she entitled to maternity leave?
Yes. She will be entitled to ordinary maternity leave (26 weeks), plus additional maternity leave (another 26 weeks), irrespective of her length of service, provided that she gives you proper notice (see below).In most cases, employees will also be entitled to maternity pay (see question five) or maternity allowance (see question 21).
In order to qualify for ordinary maternity leave, your employee must notify you by the end of the 15th week before the week in which the baby is due (or if that is not reasonably practicable, as soon as is reasonably practicable) of:
- her pregnancy
- the expected week of childbirth
- the date on which she intends to start ordinary maternity leave
Related Resources
in the Legal Information Centre
- Am I allowed to ask a woman at a job interview whether she is or intends to become pregnant?
- When can an employee start ordinary maternity leave?
- I only have three employees. If one of them disappears on maternity leave, I don't have to keep her job available for her, do I?
- Under what circumstances do I have to pay statutory maternity pay (SMP)?
