Columnist

Maternity rights in the UK

One of the most sensitive issues, it seems, in today’s working world, is the issue of maternity and paternity leave. A recent survey carried out by QualitySolicitors shows that working women still feel worried about confronting their employers regarding maternity leave. But why is this issue still a stigma?

It seems many of us have not even discussed our rights regarding employment leave when expecting a child, with our employers – with some not ever mentioning the issue until the time arises.

For many women, it’s important to address this issue when starting at a new company, so that you don’t find yourself worrying if you ever do get pregnant. Ensure you have discussed their maternity policy and ensure you know what your requirements are as an employee, such as what kind of timescale you need to give your employer.

But this doesn’t just apply to women. As men, you are also entitled to paternity leave, so if this is something you think you’ll be doing then discuss it with your employer as soon as you’ve found out the good news. You now have legal rights as the father of the child, so make sure you utilise your rights. Prince William has claimed his paternity leave, so when the royal baby arrives – even he will be taking his allocated time off work.

As such a powerful issue, and an important one, we’ve sourced an interesting infographic from Quality Solicitors, who also have a free legal guide online, available for download.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Ellie .