Maternity Leave Support Pack Irl
Maternity Leave Support Pack Irl
Maternity Leave Support Pack Irl
Support
Pack
Last update: 28 July 2022
We regularly update this document. Make sure you have the latest version by downloading it from the intranet.
This policy and supporting information pack is not contractual and is subject to change at NatWest Group’s discretion. It
will be reviewed from time to time to make sure it continues to meet the Group’s legal obligations and business needs.
Contents
Section Information Page
1. Who to contact and when Page 3
2. Key actions checklist Page 4-7
3. Before maternity leave Page 8-9
4. Maternity leave explained Page 9-10
5. Pay during maternity leave Page 11-12
6. During maternity leave Page 13
Advise your line manager Discuss how you can support your
of date, time and frequency employee’s attendance at these
of ante natal appointments. appointments.
Returning to Work
For employees For managers Forms/documentation Completed
required
Arrange a return-to-work meeting with Update Workday with
your line manager 8 weeks before your the return-to-work date
expected return to work date. and re-enable systems
access as appropriate
through Service Line
Express.
Performance Review
The performance review process needs to be completed before your Maternity Leave starts. We recommend
that the process is completed at least 5 weeks before leave is scheduled to start but this may not always be
possible.
Health and Safety risk assessment for new and expectant mothers
Risk assessment
The majority of employees are able to work up until the start of the Maternity Leave. The Group has a legal
responsibility for you and your child’s health and safety whilst at work. A number of factors exist that can affect a
new or expectant mother at work and potentially impact health and work performance. These include:
• Lifting heavy or awkward loads
• Night working
• Standing or prolonged sitting
• General fatigue
• Contact with chemicals
Line Managers should undertake a health and safety risk assessment with employees as detailed in the Group’s
new and expectant mothers risk assessment. This should be regularly reviewed.
VDU Use
Health & Safety studies have shown there is no link between VDU use and miscarriages or birth defects.
Group travel
If travel is required but you don’t wish to fly during pregnancy, other methods of transport may be used. After
28 weeks, airlines will ask for a note from a GP or midwife advising that you’re fit to fly.
Night working
If you normally work at night but have a fit note stating that this could affect your health and safety, the Group
will endeavour to find a suitable alternative role. In these cases, you should speak to your line manager who may
need to discuss your needs with HR.
Antenatal appointments
All pregnant employees, regardless of hours worked or length of service, are entitled to a reasonable amount of
paid time off for ante-natal care. Time off will be paid at your normal rate of pay. If appointments are arranged
during normal working hours, you should inform your line manager. With the exception of the first appointment,
you should be ready to provide proof that you’re pregnant (e.g. certificate from your doctor or midwife). You
should inform your line manager of dates of other ante-natal appointments booked, giving as much notice as
possible so that arrangements can be made to cover absence. Where arrangements cannot be made for you to
attend outside working hours, consideration will be given to a reasonable amount of paid time off for other types of
ante-natal care such as relaxation and parent-craft classes.
Do fathers/expectant parents get time off to attend antenatal appointments?
Fathers/expectant parents are entitled to paid time off to attend a minimum of 2 antenatal appointments per
pregnancy. However, if further time off is requested to attend appointments, this will also be paid but is subject to
line manager approval. Line managers should consider individual circumstances when considering such requests.
The expectant parent should inform their line manager of the dates in question and give as much notice in
advance so that their request can be considered arrangements made to cover their absence if appropriate.
March
M T W T F S S
1 2 3 4 5 6
7 8 9 10 11 12 13
14 15 16 17 18 19 20
21 22 23 24 25 26 27
28 29 30 31
April
M T W T F S S
1 2 3
4 5 6 7 8 9 10
11 12 13 14 15 16 17
18 19 20 21 22 23 24
25 26 27 28 29 30
The 31st March is the actual Maternity Leave date after holiday entitlement deducted.
The 30th April is the due date.
You should claim State Maternity Benefit six weeks before your Maternity Leave is due to begin.
The necessary MB 1, 2 & 3 forms can be obtained from any local office of the Department of Social Welfare or
direct from the: Department of Social Protection, Maternity Benefit Section, McCarter’s Road, Ardaravan,
Buncrana, Donegal, Ireland.
Tel: (01) 471 5898/Local: 1890 690 690.
What happens if you receive a pay rise before their Maternity Leave?
Any pay rise will be taken into account and reflected in your Maternity pay.
What happens if you get less than the standard rate of State Maternity Benefit?
You should advise HR People Services of the rate of State Maternity Benefit to be paid along with copy of the
confirmation received. HR People Services will then change the deduction of State Maternity Benefit from your
Occupational Maternity Pay to match with the amount you are to be paid.
What happens if your baby is born before your Maternity Leave start date?
• If you are still working and your baby is born early, your Maternity Leave will automatically start from the day
your baby is born
• Let your line manager know the date your baby was born as quickly as you can. They will then update
Workday with this information.
• If you haven’t already done so by this time, you will also need to upload your medical certificate and MB 1, 2
& 3 forms, stating the expected date of birth and the actual date your baby was born. You should also email a
copy of the MB1, 2 & 3 forms to ~ Family Friendly Forms
Buddy/Sponsor role
• In order to keep up to date with news about your branch, business unit or division while you’re on leave,
you should nominate a buddy/sponsor who can do this while you are away from work.
• You may wish to ask your line manager or one of your colleagues to act as your buddy/sponsor. There is
a Support Pack designed to assist your buddy/sponsor and it’s recommended that you give this to them.
RBSelect charges
If you’re receiving OMP:
• We’ll continue to pay your Pension Funding and any Benefit Funding you get in addition to your OMP
• The charge for your RBSelect benefits will be made against your pay
• If you don’t receive enough pay to cover the cost of your RBSelect charges the Group will pay the shortfall
You’ll need to pay any tax due to RBSelect benefits you get while you’re on Maternity Leave, even though you
may not be charged for them.
Banking Benefits
All banking benefits continue during your leave. Any borrowing on special staff terms will continue, such as
mortgage, personal loans and overdrafts. It’s not possible to freeze any payments to loans or mortgages. If you’re
experiencing financial difficulty please speak to your local branch.
Holidays
• You’ll continue to build up contractual and Bank holiday entitlement for the current holiday year (and the
previous holiday year if your leave started in the previous holiday year)
• You can take all or part of your holiday entitlement before your leave starts or take them immediately
following the end of Maternity Leave
Bonus
• Where appropriate, performance for the year should be reviewed before you go on leave
• As long as you’ve not resigned before the date of the grant, you’ll be told of any bonus due as soon as its
known
• If you’re eligible for a discretionary performance bonus (subject to the qualifying criteria) you’ll receive a
pro- rated bonus to reflect the period worked during the relevant performance year. Your line manager will
explain how the performance rating and the pro-rating of any bonus payment will operate.
• Where eligible, the bonus will be paid regardless of whether you’re receiving maternity leave payments at
that time
• Any bonus will be paid on the defined payment date.
Sharesave
Existing plans
Subject to the rules of the plan, during leave you can:
• Continue to make monthly contributions to any existing Sharesave contracts by payroll deduction; or
• If you’re not receiving pay, you’ll need to contact Computershare to continue to make monthly contributions
to any existing Sharesave contracts by an alternative method – you should contact Computershare on 0870
702 0109 if you want to set this up
• Take up any new Sharesave offers (subject to terms applying) Choose to take a twelve-month payment
holiday by contacting Computershare on the number above. If you choose to do this, you’ll need to inform HR
via an online "Sharesave Payment Suspension" form. This is available at HR > Pensions and benefits > benefits
> shares > share save
Note: Suspending contributions will delay when the savings plan finishes, as you’ll need to catch up on the
missed payments. If you miss more than twelve payments, your right to buy shares will lapse.
If you want to reinstate payment through your salary, you should contact Computershare one month before
you want the payments through payroll to re-start. Computershare will then pass this information onto HR
People Services.
Further information regarding Sharesave can be found on the Intranet under HR > Pensions and benefits >
Shares.
New plans
• All Sharesave grants are subject to approval by the Board and there is no guarantee that Sharesave will
operate in any given year
• Once details of a Sharesave grant are announced, your sponsor or line manager should send a copy of
any related correspondence and an application pack to you at your home address.
What happens to benefits if the employee chooses not to return?
You’ll be treated as a leaver from the Group. Most benefits will stop from the day you leave or the end of the
month in which you leave. Full details can be found in the Leavers Benefit Guide.
After the meeting, Meera's manager needs to update Workday. It's important this form is completed so the
employee is paid correctly. Meera's manager also needs to complete the actions on the Administration
Checklist which includes reactivating systems access and e-mail which will help make her return to work
smoother.
Phase back
Following a long period of leave, it can be hard coming back to work, and this can be helped by phasing back.
You’re entitled to 12 weeks phase back; working agreed reduced hours over a set period and you’ll receive full
pay and benefits. Phase back to work can’t exceed the 12 weeks and there’s no set programme of return as
each request needs to be considered on an individual basis. However, a line manager must make sure that all
requests are treated with consistency. A phase back might involve a buildup of hours each day or the number of
days in a week. Where you’re phasing back to a part-time work pattern it’s likely you’ll do this sooner than
someone phasing back to full- time.
Two examples are set out below:
Example 1 – Return to full time hours
Document Classification: External Page 15 of 20
If an employee takes their full phase back entitlement of 12 weeks they might work the first 3 weeks as 1 day
a week, weeks 4 - 6 as 2 days a week, weeks 7 – 9 as 3 days a week and weeks 10 and 12 as 4 days a week
before returning full time. Pay and benefits will be paid for their full contractual hours, not just the hours
worked.
Example 2 – Return to part time hours e.g. 20 hours per week
If an employee takes their full phase back entitlement of 12 weeks they might work the first 4 weeks as 1 day
a week for 5 hours, weeks 5-8 as 2 days a week for 5 hours, weeks 9 – 12 as 3 days a week for 5 hours before
returning to 20 hours hour per week. Pay and benefits will be paid for their full contractual hours, not just the
hours worked.
Breastfeeding
If you’re breastfeeding and you return to work within 26 weeks of the date of your baby’s birth, you’re entitled
to either a break of 1 hour where suitable facilities are provided in the workplace or a reduction in working hours.
This entitlement lasts up to 26 weeks after the date of birth.
What if the employee is reducing their hours when they return from Maternity
Leave?
If you’re reducing your hours, a change in hours request will be required by your line manager.
Example An employee works 5 days per week, 35 hours, prior to going on maternity leave. The employee then
takes 9 months maternity leave, followed by 25 days holiday. The Line Manager must update Workday with the
date they are ending Maternity and commencing holidays to ensure the employee is returned to payroll. During
this time, the employee and line manager agree the employee will return 3 days per week, 21 hours. Following
the holidays, a change in hours needs to be submitted via Employee > Actions > Job Change > Change Job on
Workday. The employee will then start their phase back, building up to 21 hours per week.
If a child has a prolonged illness, the employee should discuss with their line manager the possibility of taking
some unpaid Parental Leave or reorganising their work to allow them to make some other arrangements. Please
see the Parental Leave Policy and Holiday & Other Leave Support Pack for more information (HR > Absence).
Childcare
Childcare is one of the most important matters to consider when deciding about returning to work. Everyone’s
circumstances are unique. You should start looking at childcare options early on as places may be scarce and
some nurseries allocate places far in advance.
Our Employee Assistance Programme offers advice, information and support on a wide range of issues, including
childcare and parenting.
Parental Leave
You'll usually need at least one year's continuous employment with the Group to be entitled to unpaid Parental
Leave. However, if you have more than three months' continuous service, and the child is approaching 18, you
can take one week's leave for every full month of continuous employment with the Group.
You can take up to 26 weeks leave in total until your child’s 18th birthday, which you can choose to take as a
continuous block of 26 weeks. However, if you qualify for Parental Leave for more than one child, you can't take
more than 26 weeks' Parental Leave in any 12-month period.
In the case of children in receipt of disability living allowance, there’s more flexibility when Parental Leave can
be taken - this can be one day at a time or in longer periods if you wish.
You may be able to add Parental Leave to the end of Maternity Leave and should you provide your line manager
with three weeks’ notice.
Flexible working
You have the right to apply to work flexibly and this request will be considered by your line manager. The Group
has a range of different working practices detailed in the Flexible Working Support Pack. Alternatively, you can
contact HR or speak to your line manager. The support pack gives guidance on the flexible working application
process.
Employment breaks
The Group offers unpaid employment breaks to allow you time away from work to focus on other things in your
life. You can request a break of between 8 and 52 weeks to focus on personal interests. Further details can be
found in the Holiday and Other Leave Support Pack.
Special Leave
We understand that sometimes things happen in life out with your control. To support you during these times you
can take reasonable time off work, paid or unpaid, to deal with emergencies, for example those involving a
dependent. For further information, you should speak to your line manager and review the Holiday and Other
Leave Support Pack.
Basic access to work systems – On an ongoing basis Your Line Manager can request this
Insite, Workday, Workplace as through ServiceLine Express
agreed with your line manager
before you go on Maternity Leave
Both you and your line manager are responsible for agreeing the amount of contact you wish to have
during Maternity Leave.
Email Address
Employee ID
2. Optional communications
Frequency of I would like to receive a copy of
communication this communication (Yes/No)
Communication
Internal jobs are advertised via Workday, If Real time
you wish to have access to internal jobs
Yes No
while you are on maternity leave your line
manager should request access for you via
the ServiceLine Express process.