Examples of holiday entitlement:
- 4 hours per week = 16 hours paid holiday per year
- 24 hours per week = 96 hours paid holiday per year
- 5 Days per week = 20 days paid holiday per year
- Public Holidays
You may be required to work on Public Holidays even if this does not form part of your normal working week.
The payment for working on Public Holidays will be made at the rate of £ [enter your Bank Holiday rate here] per hour or an extra day’s holiday for every Public Holiday worked
Public Holidays are:
January 1st, Good Friday, Easter Monday, May Day, Spring Bank Holiday, Late Summer Holiday, December 25th , December 26th
Holidays cannot be taken during the period December 15th to January 15th inclusive [or other periods that your business may be very busy or you are customarily away from the business, say, for seasonal operations or your holidays]
- MATERNITY LEAVE
If you are pregnant you need to tell company in writing at least 15 weeks before the beginning of the week your baby is due. If this is not possible you need to tell the company soon as possible.
You need to say:
- you are pregnant and
- when the baby is due
When you inform the company that you are pregnant you and the company will undertake a Health and Safety Risk Assessment. We will then agree what work you may safely undertake during your pregnancy and work which you may not undertake during your pregnancy.
When you want to start your maternity leave (you can change the date later, provided you give the company 28 days written notice).
We will also ask for a copy of Form MAT B1, which your doctor or midwife will give you. This says when the baby is due.
Once you have told the company that you want to take maternity leave, we will write to you, within 28 days, telling you the date when your leave will end.
You can start your leave any time from 11 weeks before the beginning of the week when your baby is due. If you are off work because of your pregnancy in the four weeks before the expected birth date, the company can, at its absolute discretion, make you start your maternity leave.
You need not take all of your maternity leave, but you must take two weeks of ‘compulsory maternity leave’ after your baby is born.
In the event your baby dies, provided you meet all the other conditions, you can still take maternity leave if your child is:
- stillborn after 24 weeks of pregnancy
- born alive at any point of the pregnancy
Keeping in touch
During your leave it is often helpful to keep in touch with the company. The company is entitled to make reasonable contact with you during maternity leave. This might be to discuss such things as arrangements for your return to work, or to update you on any significant changes in the workplace while you have been away.
Your maternity leave and pay will normally come to an end when you return to work, however, you are entitled to do up to ten days work during your maternity leave without losing maternity pay or bringing your leave to an end.
These ‘keeping in touch days’ may only be worked if both you and the company agree. They may be used for any form of work and should make it easier to return to work after your leave. You will need to agree with the company what work is to be done on “Keeping in Touch Days” and how much pay you will receive.
If you become pregnant again during maternity leave, you have the right to further ordinary and additional maternity leave.
[Although it may seem obvious to say here, you cannot sack an employee because she becomes pregnant as this high-profile case shows with an employee being awarded £18,701 by an employment tribunal for just this reason!]
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