So, some employers do offer more generous maternity benefits than SMP - sometimes called Occupational Maternity Pay or Enhanced Maternity Pay. The Council operated enhanced maternity and adoption leave pay for employees. Expert Answer by Claire Taylor Evans from Boyes Turner. It is for employers to decide whether or not to enhance contractual pay to employees on shared parental leave, where they already pay enhanced maternity pay. . Read more. Therefore they continue to tread water in their current role until one day, often way into the future; they finally fall pregnant. This maternity pay will be paid for by your employer directly. This means that for a fair proportion of her maternity leave, the employee is likely to be receiving far less pay than she would ordinarily. Where a pay award or annual increment is implemented during paid maternity leave, the maternity pay due from the date of the pay award or annual increment should be increased accordingly. Financial incentives, or other benefits such as flexible working to assist with a return to work following maternity leave, are offered by 45.9% of employers. Maternity leave will count. The low rate of pay is what's typically deterred dads from taking more . This was on the basis that paying enhanced maternity pay constituted special treatment afforded to a woman in connection with pregnancy or childbirth. The battle for talent. If such a pay award was agreed retrospectively, the maternity pay should be re-calculated on the same basis. Because this is about the amount of your pay above certain thresholds, the amount you get paid changes the size of the effect. We offer an enhanced Maternity Package, whereby we pay our employees more than the statutory maternity payments of 90% of their salary for 6 weeks and 33 weeks at 156.66. Enhanced maternity pay for eligible employees at 50% of weekly pay for 12 weeks, plus 39 weeks' Statutory Maternity Pay. For example, you could: pay more than SMP over a certain period, e.g. However, an employment tribunal found that Mr Price was not entitled to compare maternity leave or adoption leave with shared parental leave. In the UK, Statutory Maternity Pay (SMP) is paid for up to 39 weeks. On the one hand, under the UK legislation, surrogate mothers and other birth mothers who give their child up for adoption are entitled to take the full period of statutory maternity leave and pay, regardless of whether or not they continue to have contact with the child following the birth (also entitled are those who sadly suffer a stillbirth). Nearly a third (31.7%) of organisations in XpertHR's survey do not offer any enhanced maternity, paternity, or shared parental pay, citing cost and company culture as the cause. The survey also shows that employers are increasingly using enhanced maternity benefits and incentives to retain key skills in the workforce. This is to attract and retain employees and can differ from one employer to the next. This led Mr Price to bring a claim for direct sex discrimination. Enhanced maternity and paternity pay therefore helps your retain experienced and talented employees. New mums and adoptive mums receive 21 weeks full pay and new dads receive 10 days paternity pay. When one of your staff goes on maternity leave, you must pay them Statutory Maternity Pay (SMP). MA is 136.78 a week or 90% of average weekly wages, whichever is lower, for 39 weeks. In order to make this additional benefit more flexible, the University offers employees two options when deciding how they wish to receive their Enhanced Maternity Pay. Offering enhanced maternity pay can help your business attract and keep the best employees. Some employers have also opted to enhance. The best way to determine staff AWE is to take all earnings paid in the relevant period and divide the earnings by the number of weeks in that period. Enhanced Paternity Pay. BALPA has welcomed the improvements to maternity, paternity and adoption pay at Jet2, saying the company has recognised the barriers that can put people off a . The legal minimum for maternity pay If your business does not offer enhanced maternity pay, it must pay Statutory Maternity Pay (SMP). In Hextall v Chief Constable of Leicestershire Police, a tribunal held that failing to offer enhanced SPL pay was not discriminatory. Maternity Allowance is paid at a flat rate and is not linked to your salary. The legal minimum for maternity pay . Enhanced maternity pay Some employers offer enhanced maternity pay to attract and retain staff either as a contractual right or on a case-by-case basis. Data shows that nearly two thirds of UK businesses offer maternity pay above the statutory minimum, and three-fifths offer enhanced paternity pay. Paid maternity or paternity leave signals a flexible attitude to the challenges of life outside of work, and has shown to boost a parent's feeling of goodwill towards their employer, particularly if pay is enhanced during parental leave time. Tech firm Lenovo came second. For example, you could: pay more than SMP over a certain period, eg full pay for the first six weeks, half pay for the next ten weeks, SMP for the remaining 23 weeks Financial incentives or other benefits such as flexible working to assist with a return to work following maternity leave are offered by 45.9% of employers. Con: Non-parents may feel short-changed The enhanced after you've been with the company 2 years is 20 weeks full pay, then 19 weeks statutory. Offer enhanced Shared Parental Pay at the same level as enhanced maternity pay Encourage take up of Shared Parental Leave (see our guidance ). In the latest stage of an ongoing court battle between two fathers and their employers - Capita and the Chief Constable of Leicestershire Police - the court upheld a previous ruling that the employers were allowed to offer enhanced maternity pay without the need to provide the same benefits through SPL. Pay whichever of these is lower: 90% of their average weekly earnings . Enhanced Maternity Pay. What is enhanced maternity pay (EMP)? However, 21% now offer more than this, compared to only 9% who offered more than two weeks in 2019. This form is for employees who are absent from work for a pregnancy-related reason during the four weeks prior to their expected week of childbirth (EWC), giving new dates of maternity leave and pay. According to the International Network on Leave Policies and Research, receiving 66% or more of your salary while on maternity leave is considered 'well-paid'. full pay for the first six weeks, half pay for the next ten weeks, SMP for the remaining 23 weeks make a bonus payment on the employee's return to wor There is no statutory provision requiring them to do so. When making such a decision, employers should bear in mind the need to avoid any discrimination. I use QuickBooks online and the statutory payment is calculated and correct but does anyone know how I add the enhanced payment in for the employee . Using this benchmark, the UK finds itself slipping down the charts, as shown below. In addition to promoting agile working, we offer enhanced maternity and paternity pay. Enhanced maternity pay. Families have faced many challenges in the past few years, with childcare labelled the leading cause of stress by people working from home during the pandemic. If your business does not offer enhanced maternity pay, it must pay the following. Enhanced maternity pay If you wish, you can offer enhanced maternity pay arrangements to attract and retain employees. This is the most important figure in working out your employees' maternity pay rates. On top of this, 45% of employers also choose to enhance maternity pay, by offering longer or more generous periods of pay linked to a woman's income. There is "Interestingly, the majority who offer enhanced paternity leave still offer just two weeks at full pay. 1) Etsy. Supermarket chain Morrisons has been ordered to pay 60,442.25 to a woman from Wetherby, Yorkshire, as an employment tribunal found that the employer had discriminated against her after returning from maternity leave.. Shared parental leave allows mothers to end maternity leave/pay early so that one or both parents can take leave in a more flexible way during the baby's first year. The decision by the Leeds Employment Tribunal that, failing to offer enhanced pay for Shared Parental Leave (SPL) where the Respondent offered enhanced pay for maternity leave amounted to direct sex discrimination, has potentially significant ramification. Under this, eligible employees whose children are due to be born on or after 3 April 2011 will have the right to take up to 6 months' APL. The judges ruled that the predominant . In April last year we posted a blog on the change in law on paternity leave focussing on the new right to Additional Paternity Leave (APL) which came into force on 6 April 2010. Minimum wage and national living wage. Jet2 is the latest airline (along with Virgin Atlantic and SAS CAE Parc) to have introduced enhanced maternity pay, after starting the year offering pilots just the statutory minimum. Some offer bonuses upon return while others have a clause in their policies whereby pay above the legal minimum must be paid back to the employer if the employee does not return to work or does not return . This rises to 59% among firms with 1,000 or more staff. nhs maternity pay . If the amount due is less than the ShPP to which the employee is Companies will continue to evolve their maternity leave packages to ensure they attract top talent. And defending and improving members' pay is one of UNISON's main tasks. Read more on statutory pay and leave. Few employers offer enhanced maternity pay throughout maternity leave and, for financial reasons, most smaller employers offer statutory maternity pay rights only. The EAT held that this was not discriminatory, however the case was subsequently sent to the Court of Appeal for further clarification. They may pay more than statutory maternity pay for a fixed period. Mothers will get 90% of average weekly earnings (before tax) for the first 6 weeks, then 151.97 or 90% of average weekly. It is noted that the soon-to-be-abolished additional paternity leave regime was not well received. Enhanced pay during family leave will also make your organisation attractive to a more diverse workforce. Many thanks to Employee Benefits for their report on the tribunal decision in the case of Shuter v Ford Motor Company. Some also extend these benefits to fathers and to adoptive parents who do not give birth themselves but still need time to bond with their new arrival. Alternatively, 45.9% of businesses offered financial benefits to those returning from maternity leave, such as a bonus. employee's working conditions to remove the risks to her health and there is no suitable alternative work available to offer her on a temporary basis, the School may suspend her from work on maternity . My work pays me 90% of my pay for the first 6 weeks of mat leave, then because I've worked with them for a long time I get 50% of my pay on top of the statutory maternity (151 a week . One explanation lies in the distinction between 'paid' leave and 'well-paid' leave. They may pay full pay for the first six weeks, half pay for the following 10 weeks and maternity pay for the remaining 23 weeks. Check your contract or talk to your HR department to find out what yours is. Statutory maternity pay is a legal entitlement and some employers may offer more than this, in what is called 'enhanced maternity pay', as a contractual right. If you're only getting SMP, that will be paid as 90% of your average weekly earnings for the first six weeks, but drops to the lower of 90% of your weekly earnings or 156.66. If you wish, you can offer enhanced maternity pay arrangements to attract and retain employees. calculate your maternity leave take-home pay. The Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) in Ali v Capita Customer Management Limited has now confirmed that it is not direct sex discrimination for employers to offer 14 weeks' enhanced maternity pay but only statutory ShPL pay. You probably knew that. Other notable names on the list include Spotify, Twitter, Netflix and Etsy - who offer unlimited sick leave to look after unwell children. The findings, from a report by XpertHR, show encouraging signs that employers are taking support for their working parents more seriously. . . 2.2 The University offers Enhanced Maternity Pay (EMP) which exceeds the statutory pay provision by providing 18 weeks of full pay during an employee's maternity leave. Occupational maternity pay is an optional payment that you can make as an employer. Every work place differs for how long you get paid that amount, but that's how much they have to pay you minimum. If they earn 120 on average per week or more in the tax year, they are eligible for statutory maternity pay. Editor: To qualify for Maternity Allowance you need to have worked for 26 weeks in the 66 weeks up to your baby's due date. Why does this happen? Maternity pay. Why? The case of Ali v Capita Customer Management Ltd is causing some justifiable concern for employers. Mothers returning to work after maternity leave can take advantage of working 80% of their hours on full pay to help ease their transition back to work. This rises to 59.1% among firms with 1,000 or more staff. This could be a good area for companies looking to differentiate themselves from competitors and steal a march on talent." Statutory . This is often referred to as occupational or contractual maternity pay. EShPP is inclusive of any Statutory Shared Parental Pay (ShPP) to which the employee is entitled. But would it be effective - and cost effective - in your business? You also need to have earned at least 30 a week in any 13-week period. Paying enhanced maternity but not paternity pay 17 September 2014 An employment tribunal has ruled that a car manufacturer was justified in not paying enhanced paternity pay to a male employee during additional paternity leave. For example: Inform future fathers that. Respondents say they offer enhanced maternity pay because it is either part of a broader family friendly policy (63%), it improves recruitment and retention (50%) or it enhances the corporate brand (21%). Companies With The Best Maternity Leave Which is full pay for 14 weeks (114x14=1596), 14 weeks at half pay (114x14=798) and then 11 weeks at SMP so 90% of weekly earnings 102x11=1122), so 3500 ish. As you state, this means you qualify for maternity pay in October. The most common form of enhanced maternity leave, offered by two in five (42 per cent) firms, is full pay for six weeks followed by the standard statutory rate. Below, we've compiled some of the best policies out there. The percentage of private sector organisations offering EMP was 65.5% in 2021 but new data from February 2022 shows this has increased to 74.1%. Government 'repeatedly failed' women in Covid response, MPs warn Low-paid workers more likely to take unpaid leave because of school closures, survey finds The statutory weekly rate of paternity pay is 148.68 or 90 per cent of your average weekly earnings (whichever is lower). Enhanced maternity pay Some employers will offer employees enhanced maternity pay on top of SMP. Etsy offer a 'gender blind' approach to parental leave, offering all employees 26 weeks of fully paid leave to be taken in the first year of their child's life. When your pay is more even over multiple tax years you may pay less tax, and make smaller student loan repayments, because a smaller amount of your income is above the various thresholds. This will increase loyalty and retention rates among working parents, and make working mothers more likely to return to work after maternity leave. Many employers who offer enhanced maternity pay rates often don't provide enhanced SPL or paternity leave rates. In between the two The most common option for employers is to offer full pay for the first six weeks or more when the employee takes maternity leave, instead of 90% of their average weekly earnings (before tax) for the first six weeks. You pay it on top of the Statutory Maternity Pay that you can pay your staff while they're on maternity leave. Enhanced Maternity Pay is offered by almost two thirds of UK Organisations. This could be a good area for companies looking to differentiate themselves from competitors and steal a march on talent," Priest said. However, 31.7% of organisations do not enhance maternity, paternity or shared parental pay at all. If you are adopting a child, see Shared parental leave and pay-adoption. Check the maternity benefits you're entitled to & how much SMP, Enhanced Maternity Pay, Maternity Allowance & Child Benefit you'll get each month after tax. You do not say when this year the current office is likely to be closed. During the next 33 weeks of maternity leave. Download Form providing notification of absence for pregnancy related reasons 4 weeks before EWC.docx 54.96 KB In Shuter v Ford Motor Company Limited, an Employment Tribunal ("ET") considered whether an employer's policy of paying 52 weeks' enhanced maternity pay to mothers but no enhanced additional paternity pay to fathers amounted to direct or indirect sex discrimination under the Equality Act 2010. For example, this might be six months on full or half pay. Both SMP and any enhanced maternity pay you get from your employer will be based on your salary. While this case is in line with Government guidance and the traditional view, it is notable that this case concerned an . tools. Parents can take time off at the same time or separately. One of the advantages of being in the public sector. check if you're eligible for maternity leave & pay. During the first 6 weeks of maternity leave. American Express came out on top with their offer of 20 weeks paid leave. University employees eligible to take Shared Parental Leave are entitled to 18 weeks Shared Parental Leave at full pay, minus any weeks enhanced maternity/adoption or paternity pay they have already received. Civil service - 6 months on full pay, then statutory pay. During the first 6 weeks of maternity leave Pay them 90% of their average weekly earnings (before tax). Offering enhanced maternity and paternity pay shows that you care about your employees' wellbeing, which may make your company more attractive to a diverse workforce, and more competitive for recruiting the best talent. The right to take up to 52 weeks maternity leave is available to all pregnant employees. This is over and above SMP. Pay them 90% of their average weekly earnings (before tax). The EAT decided (overturning the employment tribunal decision)that it was not discriminatory to offer enhanced maternity pay but only statutory shared parental pay: The primary purpose of maternity leave is the health and wellbeing of the mother; whereas the purpose of shared parental leave is the care of the child; . Enhanced Maternity Pay is correct at 31/3/2022. 4's enhanced maternity pay provisions don't apply This policy does not form part of any employee's contract of employment and we may amend it at any time Published: 24 May 2021 Nearly two thirds (63.5%) of businesses offer maternity pay above the statuary minimum in the UK, and three-fifths (60.8%) offer enhanced paternity pay. Earn 120 on average per week or 90 % of businesses offered financial benefits to those from. 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