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The draft Maternity and Parental Leave etc. and the Paternity and Adoption Leave (Amendment) Regulations 2008 have been published. The draft Regulations stipulate that women whose expected week of childbirth begins on or after 5 October 2008 will be entitled to the same contractual benefits during Additional Maternity Leave as they receive during Ordinary Maternity Leave.
Ordinary Maternity Leave is a period of 26 weeks' statutory leave which is available to an employee who gives birth, regardless of the length of time she has been working for her employer. Additional Maternity Leave is an additional period of 26 weeks' statutory leave which immediately follows the end of Ordinary Maternity Leave and which again is available to all employees regardless of length of service.
The draft Regulations also remove similar distinctions between the rights of employees on Ordinary Adoption Leave and Additional Adoption Leave.
When the draft Regulations come into force, women on Additional Maternity Leave will be entitled to receive the same benefits and be bound by the same obligations which would have applied if they had not been absent. Their seniority, pension and similar rights will also be unaffected by their absence on Additional Maternity Leave.
