Maternity and Parental Leave etc. Regulations 1999
| Year | 1999 |
1999 No. 3312
TERMS AND CONDITIONS OF EMPLOYMENT
The Maternity and Parental Leave etc. Regulations 1999
Made 10th December 1999
Coming into force 15th December 1999
Whereas a draft of the following Regulations was laid before Parliament in accordance with section 236(3) of the Employment Rights Act 19961and approved by a resolution of each House of Parliament:
Now, therefore, the Secretary of State, in exercise of the powers conferred on him by sections 47C(2) and (3), 71(1) to (3) and (6), 72(1) and (2), 73(1), (2), (4) and (7), 74(1), (3) and (4), 75(1), 76(1), (2) and (5), 77(1) and (4), 78(1), (2) and (7), 79(1) and (2) and 99(1)2of that Act and of all other powers enabling him in that behalf, hereby makes the following Regulations:—
PART 1
GENERAL
Citation and commencement
1. These Regulations may be cited as the Maternity and Parental Leave etc. Regulations 1999 and shall come into force on 15th December 1999.
Interpretation
2.—(1) In these Regulations—
“the 1996 Act” means the Employment Rights Act 1996;
“additional maternity leave” means leave under section 73 of the 1996 Act;
“business” includes a trade or profession and includes any activity carried on by a body of persons (whether corporate or unincorporated);
“child” means a person under the age of eighteen;
“childbirth” means the birth of a living child or the birth of a child whether living or dead after 24 weeks of pregnancy;
“collective agreement” means a collective agreement within the meaning of section 178 of the Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 19923, the trade union parties to which are independent trade unions within the meaning of section 5 of that Act;
“contract of employment” means a contract of service or apprenticeship, whether express or implied, and (if it is express) whether oral or in writing;
“disability living allowance” means the disability living allowance provided for in Part III of the Social Security Contributions and Benefits Act 19924;
“employee” means an individual who has entered into or works under (or, where the employment has ceased, worked under) a contract of employment;
“employer” means the person by whom an employee is (or, where the employment has ceased, was) employed;
“expected week of childbirth” means the week, beginning with midnight between Saturday and Sunday, in which it is expected that childbirth will occur, and “week of childbirth” means the week, beginning with midnight between Saturday and Sunday, in which childbirth occurs;
“job”, in relation to an employee returning after additional maternity leave or parental leave, means the nature of the work which she is employed to do in accordance with her contract and the capacity and place in which she is so employed;
“ordinary maternity leave” means leave under section 71 of the 1996 Act;
“parental leave” means leave under regulation 13(1);
“parental responsibility” has the meaning given by section 3 of the Children Act 19895, and “parental responsibilities” has the meaning given by section 1(3) of the Children (Scotland) Act 19956;
“workforce agreement” means an agreement between an employer and his employees or their representatives in respect of which the conditions set out in Schedule 1 to these Regulations are satisfied.
(2) A reference in any provision of these Regulations to a period of continuous employment is to a period computed in accordance with Chapter I of Part XIV of the 1996 Act, as if that provision were a provision of that Act.
(3) For the purposes of these Regulations any two employers shall be treated as associated if—
(a)
(a) one is a company of which the other (directly or indirectly) has control; or
(b)
(b) both are companies of which a third person (directly or indirectly) has control;
and “associated employer” shall be construed accordingly.
(4) In these Regulations, unless the context otherwise requires,—
(a)
(a) a reference to a numbered regulation or schedule is to the regulation or schedule in these Regulations bearing that number;
(b)
(b) a reference in a regulation or schedule to a numbered paragraph is to the paragraph in that regulation or schedule bearing that number, and
(c)
(c) a reference in a paragraph to a lettered sub-paragraph is to the sub-paragraph in that paragraph bearing that letter.
Application
3.—(1) The provisions of Part II of these Regulations have effect only in relation to employees whose expected week of childbirth begins on or after 30th April 2000.
(2) Regulation 19 (protection from detriment) has effect only in relation to an act or failure to act which takes place on or after 15th December 1999.
(3) For the purposes of paragraph (2)—
(a)
(a) where an act extends over a period, the reference to the date of the act is a reference to the last day of that period, and
(b)
(b) a failure to act is to be treated as done when it was decided on.
(4) For the purposes of paragraph (3), in the absence of evidence establishing the contrary an employer shall be taken to decide on a failure to act—
(a)
(a) when he does an act inconsistent with doing the failed act, or
(b)
(b) if he has done no such inconsistent act, when the period expires within which he might reasonably have been expected to do the failed act if it was to be done.
(5) Regulation 20 (unfair dismissal) has effect only in relation to dismissals where the effective date of termination (within the meaning of section 97 of the 1996 Act) falls on or after 15th December 1999.
PART II
MATERNITY LEAVE
Entitlement to ordinary maternity leave
4.—(1) An employee is entitled to ordinary maternity leave provided that she satisfies the following conditions—
(a)
(a) at least 21 days before the date on which she intends her ordinary maternity leave period to start, or, if that is not reasonably practicable, as soon as is reasonably practicable, she notifies her employer of—
(i) her pregnancy;
(ii) the expected week of childbirth, and
(iii) the date on which she intends her ordinary maternity leave period to start,
and
(b)
(b) if requested to do so by her employer, she produces for his inspection a certificate from—
(i) a registered medical practitioner, or
(ii) a registered midwife,
stating the expected week of childbirth.
(2) The notification provided for in paragraph (1)(a)(iii)—
(a)
(a) shall be given in writing, if the employer so requests, and
(b)
(b) shall not specify a date earlier than the beginning of the eleventh week before the expected week of childbirth.
(3) Where, by virtue of regulation 6(1)(b), an employee’s ordinary maternity leave period commences with the first day after the beginning of the sixth week before the expected week of childbirth on which she is absent from work wholly or partly because of pregnancy—
(a)
(a) paragraph (1) does not require her to notify her employer of the date specified in that paragraph, but
(b)
(b) (whether or not she has notified him of that date) she is not entitled to ordinary maternity leave unless she notifies him as soon as is reasonably practicable that she is absent from work wholly or partly because of pregnancy.
(4) Where, by virtue of regulation 6(2), an employee’s ordinary maternity leave period commences with the day on which childbirth occurs—
(a)
(a) paragraph (1) does not require her to notify her employer of the date specified in that paragraph, but
(b)
(b) (whether or not she has notified him of that date) she is not entitled to ordinary maternity leave unless she notifies him as soon as is reasonably practicable after the birth that she has given birth.
(5) The notification provided for in paragraphs (3)(b) and (4)(b) shall be given in writing, if the employer so requests.
Entitlement to additional maternity leave
5. An employee who satisfies the following conditions is entitled to additional maternity leave—
(a) she is entitled to ordinary maternity leave, and
(b) she has, at the beginning of the eleventh week before the expected week of childbirth, been continuously employed for a period of not less than a year.
Commencement of maternity leave periods
6.—(1) Subject to paragraph (2), an employee’s ordinary maternity leave period commences with the earlier of—
(a)
(a) the date which, in accordance with regulation 4(1)(a)(iii), she notifies to her employer as the date on which she intends her ordinary maternity leave period to start, and
(b)
(b) the first day after the beginning of the sixth week before the expected week of childbirth on which she is absent from work wholly or partly because of pregnancy.
(2) Where the employee’s ordinary maternity leave period has not commenced by virtue of paragraph (1) when childbirth occurs, her ordinary maternity leave period commences with the day on which childbirth occurs.
(3) An employee’s additional maternity leave period commences on the day after the last day of her ordinary maternity leave period.
Duration of maternity leave periods
7.—(1) Subject to paragraphs (2) and (5), an employee’s ordinary maternity leave period continues for the period of eighteen weeks from its commencement, or until the end of the compulsory maternity leave period provided for in regulation 8 if later.
(2) Subject to paragraph (5), where any requirement imposed by or under any relevant statutory provision prohibits the employee from working for any period after the end of the period determined under paragraph (1) by reason of her having recently given birth, her ordinary maternity leave period continues until the end of that later period.
(3) In paragraph (2), “relevant statutory provision” means a provision of—
(a)
(a) an enactment, or
(b)
(b) an instrument under an enactment,
other than a provision for the time being specified in an order under section 66(2) of the 1996 Act.
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