The Legal Requirements of Employing Parents

Employing parents? Stay legally compliant with our blog on maternity, paternity, adoption, flexible working, and return-to-work obligations.

76.7% of mothers and 91.8% of fathers in the UK are currently employed so parents make up a huge chunk of our workforce and that's why you need to understand the legal requirements of employing parents.

Key considerations for employing parents:

Maternity leave and pay

• Pregnant employees can take 52 weeks of maternity leave: 26 weeks Ordinary and 26 weeks Additional.
• Eligible employees get Statutory Maternity Pay for up to 39 weeks.
• They must tell you at least 15 weeks before their due date when they plan to start leave.

Paternity leave and pay

• Partners can take one or two weeks’ paid paternity leave within 52 weeks of the birth.
• They can also attend up to two antenatal appointments unpaid.

Shared Parental Leave

• Parents can share up to 50 weeks of leave and 37 weeks of pay between them. 
• This offers more flexibility for modern families.

Adoption leave

• Primary adopters can take up to 52 weeks of leave. Statutory Adoption Pay is available for 39 weeks, if they're eligible.

Parental leave

• Parents with at least one year of service can take up to 18 weeks of unpaid leave per child up to their 18th birthday.

Pregnancy loss support

• For miscarriages before 24 weeks, offer compassionate and/or sick leave. 
• For stillbirths (after 24 weeks) or neonatal death, full maternity and paternity rights apply, plus two weeks of parental bereavement leave.

Neonatal Care Leave

• Eligible parents can take up to 12 weeks’ leave, and paid leave if they qualify, if their baby needs neonatal care after birth. This is on top of any other parental entitlements.

Flexible working requests

• All employees now have the right to request flexible working from day one of employment. For parents, this might be essential for managing childcare.

Health and safety for pregnant employees

Your legal duties include:

• Conducting specific risk assessments 
• Removing or reducing any risks identified 
• Adjusting working conditions or hours if needed 
• Offering suitable alternative work if risks can't be removed 
• Suspending the employee on full pay if no suitable alternative work exists

Breastfeeding accommodations

For employees returning from maternity leave, you must:

• Provide suitable rest facilities, including a place to lie down 
• Make reasonable adjustments for breastfeeding mothers
• Ensure that there's a clean, private space (not a toilet) for expressing milk 
• Provide proper storage for expressed milk

Return to work support

Plan carefully for employees returning from parental leave:

• Arrange "keeping in touch" days during leave (up to 10 paid days) 
• Hold a pre-return meeting to discuss concerns 
• Consider phased returns or temporary flexible working 
• Update them on changes that happened during their absence 
• Provide a re-induction if needed 
• Train managers to support the transition

How can we help?

We work with our clients to create workplaces which are legally compliant and where parents are supported so can do their best work. We offer support ranging from access to our cost-effective HR Hub, an ad hoc 15-minute pay as you go advice call/email right up to monthly subscription services where we manage your HR function. Get in touch with us to find out more or take a look around our website.