This information applies to England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland
Working parents have the following legal rights:
These rights apply to parents in same-sex as well as in opposite-sex relationships.
For information about parental leave and time off work to care for dependants, see Basic rights at work.
If you are a working father, you are entitled to one or two weeks’ paternity leave when you and your partner have a child. Some other people are also entitled to paternity leave – see below. You can also qualify for paternity leave when you adopt a child. Most fathers will be entitled to statutory paternity pay for their paternity leave. Statutory Paternity Pay is paid at the same rate as Statutory Maternity Pay (see under heading Maternity Pay).
To qualify for paternity leave for a birth, you must:-
To qualify for paternity leave for an adoption, you must:-
If you are taking paternity leave for a birth, the leave can start either on the day the baby is born or on a date that has been agreed in advance with your employer. Your paternity leave cannot start before the baby is born, and, if you are agreeing a date later than the birth of your baby, it must be completed within 56 of days of the birth.
If you are taking paternity leave for an adoption, the leave can start either on the day that the child is placed with you, or on a date that has been agreed in advance with your employer. If you are agreeing a later leave date later than the date your child was placed with you, the leave must be completed within 56 days of the adoption date.
You need to be able to show your employer that you are entitled to paternity leave. To do this you must give the employer the following information:-
You can use self-certificates to provide this information to your employer. These self-certificates are available on the website of HM Revenue and Customs at: 
www.hmrc.gov.uk for a birth child and www.hmrc.gov.uk for an adopted child.
You must also give your employer notice that you want to take paternity leave. The notice must be in writing if your employer asks for written notice. You must give notice 15 weeks before the baby is due or, if this is not practical, as soon as possible once you know you want to take leave. If you are adopting a child, you must give notice no later than seven days after the date you are matched with your child for adoption. If this is not practical you must give notice as soon as possible once you know you want to take paternity leave.
If you change your mind about when you want to take paternity leave you can, but you should give your employer 28 days' notice of the changed date.
The website of the Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform (BERR) has more information about paternity leave. Go to www.berr.gov.uk. The Directgov TIGER website at www.directgov.gov.uk can help you calculate paternity leave and pay.
An organisation called Working Families has a text and e-mail service for fathers which gives more information about their rights at work. The text number is 0780 000 4722 and the e-mail address is edads@workingfamilies.org.uk.
For more information in England, Wales and Scotland about paternity leave and paternity pay, see Rights of working fathers in Employment fact sheets.
If you are a working parent who has been matched with a child for adoption or if you have had a child placed with you for adoption, you may be entitled to adoption leave. You must have worked for your employer for at least 26 weeks ending with the week in which you are notified you have been matched with a child for adoption.
If you adopt a child from overseas there are different rules. In this case you must have worked for your employer for at least 26 weeks by the end of the week in which you receive official notification, or from the day you started working for your employer.
Adoptive parents are entitled to up to 52 weeks’ adoption leave.
Most parents will be entitled to Statutory Adoption Pay (SAP). This is paid at a flat rate of £123.06 a week, or 90 per cent of your normal weekly earnings, whichever is lower. The amount is different if you started your leave before then. You get SAP for 39 weeks.
You may also be entitled to some adoption pay under your employment contract.
Where a couple adopts a child, only one parent is entitled to take adoption leave. The other parent may be able to take paternity leave (see under heading Paternity leave). This includes same-sex couples.
You must notify your employer that you want to take adoption leave no more than seven days after you have been notified that you have been matched with a child for adoption, or as soon as is practical after this. You must tell your employer the date on which you expect the child to be placed with you and the date on which you want your statutory adoption leave to start.
The partner of a person who adopts, or in a couple the person who is not taking adoption leave, may be entitled to paternity leave and pay.
The website of the Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform (BERR) has more information about adoption leave. Go to www.berr.gov.uk. The Directgov TIGER website at www.directgov.gov.uk can help you calculate adoption leave and pay.
If you are the parent of a child, you have the right to work flexibly if your child is:
You must also have worked for your employer for at least 26 weeks and must be responsible for your child on a day to day basis.
If you are caring for an adult, you also have the right to ask for flexible working.
For more information about caring for an adult and flexible working, see Basic rights at work.
Flexible working can include working part time, working school hours, working flexitime, home working, job sharing, shift working, staggering hours and compressing hours (where you work your total number of agreed hours over a shorter period).
Although you have the right to ask to work flexibly, your employer doesn't have to agree to it. However, they must give your request serious consideration and have a good business reason if they decide not to agree.
You can make one request to work flexibly each year. This must be in writing. You should say how you think the change in your working pattern will affect your employer's business and how this might work in practice.
Your employer must also follow a standard procedure for considering your request. This includes having a meeting with you. If your employer wants to turn down your request for flexible working, they must give their reasons in writing. You have the right to appeal if your request is turned down. You must do this in writing, within at least 14 days of getting your employer's decision. You should give your reasons for appealing and make sure your appeal is dated.
If your appeal for flexible working is refused, you may be able to:
www.acas.org.ukYou can only complain to an employment tribunal under certain circumstances, for example, where your employer hasn't followed the procedure properly for considering your request or where they haven't taken the right information into account when making their decision.
You may also be able to make a claim to an employment tribunal for sex discrimination. For example, you can make a claim if you are a man and your request to work part-time to look after your children is refused when a request by a female employee would be accepted. If you are a woman, you may be able to make a claim on the basis that refusing to allow you to work flexibly is 'indirect sex discrimination'. This is because more women than men have childcare responsibilities.
This is a very complicated area. If you want to make a claim to an employment tribunal because your employer has refused your request for flexible working, there are strict time limits and procedures to follow. You should get advice from an experienced adviser, for example, at a Citizens Advice Bureau. To search for details of your nearest CAB, including those that can give advice by email, click on nearest CAB.
You should also bear in mind that an employment tribunal may not be able to over-turn your employer's decision. However, it may be able to force your employer to reconsider your request or to award you compensation.
For more information about the right to flexible working, go to the Directgov website at: www.direct.gov.uk/en/Employment. Directgov has an interactive tool which can help you work out the rights and options for your own particular circumstances.
There are a number of rights for pregnant women given by the law. These are known as statutory rights:-
For more information about maternity leave and your right to return to work, see Maternity leave.
The statutory rights outlined above are minimum rights. Many workers will have better rights in their contract of employment.
For more information on contracts of employment, see Contracts of employment.
Some workers do not have any statutory maternity rights. They are:-
Any woman (except some types of workers, see under heading Workers who do not have statutory maternity rights) who is working and pregnant will qualify, regardless of how long they have worked for their present employer, and regardless of how many hours per week they work.
You can have time off for appointments for ante-natal care if your doctor, midwife or health visitor advises that it is needed. Your employer should pay your usual wage for the time off, as long as you only have a reasonable amount of time off. However, if you take a lot of time off, you may be treated as if you are off sick, and will only get paid if your contract of employment allows for you to be paid sick pay. If you are off sick, you may qualify for Statutory Sick Pay (SSP) or Employment and Support Allowance (ESA).
For more information about SSP, see Off work because of sickness. For more information about ESA, see Benefits for people who are sick or disabled.
After the first ante-natal appointment, you will have to show your employer, if requested, a medical certificate stating that you are pregnant, and an appointment card for the ante-natal care.
There is no legal right for fathers to have time off work to attend ante- natal appointments. However, the Government recommends that employers allow fathers either to take paid time off, or to make up lost time later. For more information, see the BERR leaflet, Fathers-to-be and ante-natal appointments – a good practice guide, on the website of the Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform (BERR)at: www.berr.gov.uk.
If your employer refuses to allow time off for an ante-natal care appointment or refuses to pay, you can complain to an employment tribunal within three months of the appointment. The tribunal may tell your employer to pay the wages they have withheld.
If you want to make a claim to an employment tribunal you should consult your union representative or, if you are not a union member, an experienced adviser, for example, a Citizens Advice Bureau. To search for details of your nearest CAB, including those that can give advice by email, click on nearest CAB.
An employer is under a legal duty to make the working environment safe for all employees, and particularly for women of childbearing age, to work in. This means that the employer must assess what health and safety risks there are in the workplace, and specifically, what risks may be posed to pregnant women, women who are breastfeeding and women who have given birth in the past six months.
Where there is a health and safety risk in the workplace, the employer must take action to eliminate the risk by:-
If you are a pregnant woman or have recently given birth or are breastfeeding and you think you are at risk through health and safety problems at your workplace, you should consult an experienced adviser, for example, at a Citizens Advice Bureau. To search for details of your nearest CAB, including those that can give advice by email, click on nearest CAB.
If you are dismissed because of pregnancy, you can make a claim for unfair dismissal and sex discrimination to an employment tribunal (Industrial Tribunal in Northern Ireland). It does not matter how long you have worked for your employer or whether you work full or part-time. This is because the law says that it is automatically unfair to dismiss a woman because she is pregnant.
For more information about unfair dismissal, see Dismissal.
If you are unfairly treated (suffer detriment) in connection with your pregnancy or maternity, for example, you are passed over for promotion, you should follow a proper procedure. This means you should:
If you have followed a procedure and are still not happy with the outcome, you can take your case to an employment tribunal (Industrial Tribunal in Northern Ireland). You should make a claim for both unfair treatment because of pregnancy/maternity, and sex discrimination. You should bear in mind that if you haven't followed the grievance procedure properly first, the employment tribunal may decide to reduce any compensation it awards you.
For more information, in England, Wales and Scotland, see Resolving disputes at work and in Northern Ireland, see Dealing with grievances, dismissal and disciplinary action at work.
There are some circumstances in which you do not have to follow the grievance procedure before taking your case to an employment tribunal. To find out what these are, and for more information about raising a grievance with your employer, see Dealing with grievances, dismissal and disciplinary action at work.
For more information about sex discrimination, see Taking action about sex discrimination.
If you want to make a claim to an employment tribunal you should consult your union representative or, if you are not a union member, an experienced adviser, for example, at a Citizens Advice Bureau. To search for details of your nearest CAB, including those that can give advice by e-mail, click on nearest CAB.
Dismissal because of pregnancy does not affect your entitlement to any of the other maternity rights. If you qualify for statutory maternity pay and for the right to return to work, you will still qualify if you are dismissed because you are pregnant.
Most women employees have the right to take up to one year’s (52 weeks’) maternity leave. This does not depend on how long you have worked for your employer.
For more information about maternity leave, see Maternity leave.
You can claim SMP if:
For more about national insurance and the lower earnings limit, see National Insurance – contributions and benefits.
To check the lower earnings limit, look on HM Revenue and Customs website at www.hmrc.gov.uk.
Some women cannot claim Statutory Maternity Pay (SMP) from their employer because they have no entitlement to maternity leave (see under heading Workers who do not have statutory maternity rights).
A woman who is not entitled to Statutory Maternity Pay may be entitled to Maternity Allowance paid by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP).
For information about Maternity Allowance, see Benefits for families and children.
SMP is paid for up to 39 weeks.
The earliest that you can start your maternity leave and therefore start getting SMP is the 11th week before the baby is due. The latest you can start your maternity leave and therefore start getting SMP is the week after the week when the baby is born. You can choose when you want your SMP to start within this period, unless you are sick.
If you are sick with a pregnancy-related illness in the six weeks before your baby is due, your SMP will start the week following the week you become sick. If you are sick with a non-pregnancy related illness, you can claim Statutory Sick Pay (SSP) until the week the baby is due.
For more information on Statutory Sick Pay, see Benefits for people who are sick or disabled.
For the first six weeks of maternity leave, SMP is paid at 90% of your average gross weekly earnings (that is, before tax and National Insurance contributions are deducted). For the remaining weeks, it is paid at 90 per cent of your gross weekly earnings or £123.06 a week, whichever is lower.
To claim SMP, you must tell your employer, 28 days before you decide to start maternity leave, that you are pregnant and will be off work because of the birth. Your employer will want to see a medical certificate (a MATB1) and you must get one and show it to your employer.
SMP is paid by your employer in the same way and at the same time as your wages are normally paid, for example, weekly or monthly. Your employer then claims the money back from the government.
If your employer refuses to pay SMP, you can complain to HM Revenue and Customs which will decide whether or not you should be getting SMP.
This is complicated and if you are in this position will need the help of an experienced adviser, for example, at a Citizens Advice Bureau. To search for details of your nearest CAB, including those that can give advice by e-mail, click on nearest CAB.
If you qualify for SMP but are dismissed because of pregnancy (see under heading Dismissal or unfair treatment because of pregnancy) before the beginning of the 14th week before your baby is due, you will still remain entitled to SMP.
The right to SMP does not depend on going back to work. You will still receive it, even if you don't go back. You won't have to pay back any SMP if you don't return to work.
You may have both contractual rights and statutory rights to maternity pay. Contractual rights will usually be better than statutory rights. If they are not, you can ignore your contractual rights and rely on your statutory rights.
You will need to look at your contract of employment to find out what your contractual rights are to maternity pay.
If you are in one of the groups who does not qualify for statutory maternity rights, you may still be entitled to contractual maternity rights. See under heading Workers who do not have statutory maternity rights for a list of women who do not qualify for statutory maternity rights.
If you are a woman who thinks she has contractual maternity rights but you are not sure how to enforce them, or if you are not sure what your contractual maternity rights are, you should speak to an experienced adviser, for example, at a Citizens Advice Bureau. To search for details of your nearest CAB, including those that can give advice by e-mail, click on nearest CAB.
You can claim Working Tax Credit or Child Tax Credit if you are receiving Statutory Maternity Pay or Maternity Allowance. You can claim Child Tax Credit if you already have a child, or once the new baby is born if it is your first child.
For more information about tax credits, see Problems with benefits and tax credits.
If you do not qualify for Statutory Maternity Pay, you may be entitled to Maternity Allowance which is a benefit paid by the Department of Work and Pensions.
For information about Maternity Allowance, see Benefits for families and children.
If you are on maternity leave you may be able to claim Income Support if your income is below income support level. This may apply even if you are getting Statutory Maternity Pay or Maternity Allowance.
For information, see Help for people on a low income - Income Support.
If you are entitled to Income Support you may also be entitled to a lump sum payment for maternity needs from the social fund.
For information, see Help for people on a low income - the Social Fund.
Useful leaflets about maternity rights are available on the website of the Department of Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform (DBERR). The website is www.berr.gov.uk. Some leaflets are available in certain community languages. There is also a version for employers. Go to their website at www.berr.gov.uk.
The Directgov TIGER website at www.direct.gov.uk can help you calculate maternity and paternity leave.
Further advice on pregnancy and maternity rights is available on website of the the Equality and Human Rights Commission Commission at: www.equalityhumanrights.com.
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