Maternity & family rights

As an employer you will want to know an employees’ statutory entitlement to time off for family-related reasons and how the landscape may be changing over time. This may be because you want to pitch your contractual terms at the right market level for your business, or for health and safety considerations (e.g. for expectant mothers), employee relations and the need to avoid claims for direct or indirect discrimination.

The key areas of considerations are:

  • Pregnancy and Maternity (considerations for pregnant staff; maternity leave; maternity pay)
  • Paternity (paternity leave; paternity pay; how additional paternity leave works)
  • Adoption (adoption leave; adoption pay)
  • Parental leave (who is entitled to it; when; for how long)
  • Flexible working (who is entitled to it; when; how should you deal with a request)
  • Emergency time off for dependents

Our experience

  • We regularly draft Employee Handbooks and Policies dealing with family rights. We can align existing policies to the current law and advise on enhanced provisions
  • On a daily basis members of our team provide customised guidance to employers in different industries on applying these rights
  • Our lawyers have defended and defeated unmeritorious claims for discrimination linked to family-friendly rights

For further information, please see our Employment Law Guide.

If you would like to speak on a confidential basis to one of our expert solicitors about an issue relating to  family-friendly rights, please call us on 0203 178 5360.