Changes to Maternity rights with effect 1st April According to a recent DTI survey 80% of women chose to return to work after the birth of their child, two thirds of them did so on a part-time basis.    Some of the basic rights that a pregnant employee has are:   Time off work for anti-natal care   To take maternity leave and return to work afterwards, her original job or into a role of equal status.   Statutory Maternity Pay (subject to 6 months service)   To be suspended from work on full pay if this is the only way to protect the pregnant worker’s health & Safety   The new right is to work for up to 10 days during the maternity leave period for their employer without losing the right to maternity pay or ending the maternity leave (these are being called ‘keeping in touch days’).  It is the employer’s decision whether or not to allow KIT days, clearly for some job roles it would be very useful, for others it may not.  The new changes to pay and leave have left many employers confused and we have been asked a number of questions by our clients seeking clarification recently.  We would recommend that you mentally separate out maternity leave and pay but if you need to talk it through please just give us a call.     Statutory Maternity Pay     SMP changes have been brought in for women whose babies are expected (whether or not they arrive early or later than the expected date) on or after April 1st this year.   Has been extended to 39 weeks in total if:   She has been employed for more than 26 weeks by the end of the qualifying week (15 weeks before the baby is due)  She has average earnings above the lower earnings threshold for NI (£87 per week) – measured over the 8 weeks up to and including the qualifying week   As before the first 6 weeks are paid at 90% of the average earnings and the remaining amount at £112.75, unless the average weekly earnings are below this in which case the rate remains at 90% of their weekly earnings.    Statutory Maternity Leave    For those employees with an expected birth date on or after 1st April 2007 her LEAVE entitlement is a full 52 weeks (she has a right to both ordinary maternity leave and additional maternity leave).  NB.  She will only be paid SMP for 39 weeks of this.  If her baby was due before 1st April she would only be eligible to ordinary leave of 26 weeks unless she had over 26 weeks continuous service by the 14th week before the baby is due in which case she would be eligible to the additional leave.

 

Health & Safety Questionnaires - who needs them? I hate them and I am Chartered Safety Practitioner so I fully understand when I get calls of desperation from clients wanting advice on how to complete them.     I think it’s important to firstly understand why they are used. The Health and Safety Act 74 Sect 3 makes it absolutely clear that employers have a legal duty to ensure the health and safety of persons not in their employee. This includes suppliers, contractors, visitors, members of the public etc. Another way to look at it is organisations have a legal responsibility to engage ‘competent’ contractors.     A key question in the questionnaire will concern Risk Assessments and Method Statements. It may ask for your process and or examples.   Many organisations have unfortunately discovered their responsibilities for contractors working on their behalf under Sect 3, in the courtroom.   A recent case involved Jeremy Davenport who suffered multiple injuries when he fell over five meters from a ladder he was using for access to a ledge at the University of the Arts London. The ledge was located above the busy shopping area of Oxford Street. He fell onto the ledge and from there to the ground. The ladder also fell and injured a member of the public who was walking underneath at the time. At a hearing on 8 March 2007, at the City of London Magistrates Court, self-employed workers John Preston and Graham Cresswell were each fined £7,500 after pleading guilty to breaching Section 3(2) of the HSWA. The University of the Arts London, who employed the three workers, was fined £20,000 (the maximum fine in the Magistrates Court) after pleading guilty to breaching Section 3(1) of the HSWA. You cannot insure against fines in the courts!  Having now established why organisations need to send out these questionnaires why on earth isn’t there a standard one? The ones I look at are asking the same questions in a different way and that doesn’t make life easy. There is no easy answer to this and organisations are of course trying to meet their legal responsibilities.     One of my frustrations is that the person sending out the questionnaire often doesn’t really understand the process and on receipt puts it on file and ticks a box somewhere.     So what advice can I give you on this matter?   If you get a health and safety questionnaire answer it as soon as possible. A common mistake is to leave it till the last moment.   If there are questions on there you don’t understand ring the organisation and speak to the person concerned.   Ensure that the person answering the questionnaire in your organisation understands how health and safety is managed in your organisation.   Ensure your health and safety documentation is up to scratch as it is often asked for in a selection questionnaire.   Don’t tell porkies. It will always catch you out somewhere.   Be safe   JB