So you are going back to work after having a baby? It is awful, that feeling of leaving your baby with someone else so you can earn some money. So many emotions will go through your mind and it can be a worrying time for you. Your colleagues should be supportive of you returning to work. The working mums will be more supportive as they have also been home on maternity leave. They might also help you to know your rights as a working mum, because as soon as you go back – everything changes.
If you know your rights before you return to work, then it will make it easier. But we all know that workplaces are still male-dominated places and that still needs to change. But we can only fight one battle at a time!
Your Working Hours
As long as you have worked for your employer for more than 26 weeks, you are entitled to ask for more flexible working hours. You can even request to work from home, obviously, if you are a lollypop lady or work in the casualty department of the hospital, that won’t work. But you can still ask for flexible working.
Although you can apply for flexible working, your employers have to seriously consider the pros and cons. They must look at whether it will have a negative impact on the business. If it does, then you can then take them to an employment tribunal for it to be assessed. You can get more advice on flexible working on the Gov UK website. Never be too scared or intimidated to ask for flexible working.
Maternity Leave
When you go on maternity leave, your rights as an employee are protected. Your wages are protected and your holiday rolls over. You can take a whole year of maternity leave if you wish, but it really comes down to whether you can afford it or not. You need to have worked for your employer for 26 weeks before you go on maternity leave to qualify and then you get 90% of your wages for the first 6 weeks. After that time you get either 90% of your wages or £151.97 for the next 36 weeks.
For the last 3 months of your maternity leave, it is usually unpaid, but you can add a holiday to the end of the maternity time. This extends it a little bit. You can even use holiday days to cut down the number of days that you work, to help settle your child in with the childminder.
Breastfeeding At Work
You need to let your employer know if you are going to need space to breastfeed at work. There needs to be a safe space for you and it is not allowed to be the toilets. Even if you need to express milk rather than actually feed your baby at work, you still need a clean space to do it. As a new mother, you need to make sure you take all allocated breaks to rest.
Parental Leave
Not many people know about this one. So let me explain what it is. EVERY parent is entitled to 18 weeks of unpaid time off until the child is 18 years old. So that equates to a week a year of unpaid leave on top of your holiday. This time can be taken to help your child settle into a new childcare arrangement like when they start school. Or it can be used to visit other children or grandparents that live far away.
Although this is unpaid, you are still entitled to it and there are rules you need to follow. Some employers will just give you the unpaid week off because it saves all of the paperwork. But to get parental leave you need to apply at least 21 days before you need the time off. Put it in writing and explain the situation. If they cannot accommodate your request, they can give you an alternative date or a reason why the parental leave will not work.
To get parental leave you need to have worked for the company for at least a year as a full employee (not an agency worker). You can get more details of eligibility on Gov UK
Sick Leave For Kids
If your child is sick, you are allowed to take time off to look after them or take them to a doctors appointment. Although in an ideal world, this would be done on days off. But sometimes appointments do fall on workdays. If you need to take time off for a sick child or to take them to an appointment, then it will be unpaid. It will not count as one of your sick days either.
The HR Dept
Most companies have an HR department that you can get advice from, but they are looking out for the business before they look out for you. If you feel like you are not being treated fairly at work, you need to get proper advice.
