💁 Getting maternity right

READ TIME - 3 minute read

Welcome Back

This week’s It’s All About People covers:

🍼 How getting maternity wrong cost one employer £350K at tribunal
📋 5 Key Areas to Get Right with Maternity
🗓️ Events coming up

Last week I stepped well and truly out of my comfort zone to try something new…and I loved it.

What did I do - I had a taster session at Rock Choir, having seen their incredible founder speak at the Entrepreneurs Circle convention a couple of weeks ago.

Did I enjoy it? OH YES and now I am all signed up and officially a Rockie :-)

This week’s edition is all about how to get managing maternity in the workplace right.

The content will be vital for all those who manage people and need to make sure when a team member is pregnant that you meet all your legal obligations.

Let’s go 👇️ 

💷 How Getting It Wrong Cost £350K

For most of our readers, a tribunal payout of £350K would be game over for the business - it certainly would be for mine!

However, that is what happened in a recent tribunal case related to how someone was managed during their pregnancy - which resulted in her successful winning a tribunal claim for constructive dismissal and pregnancy related discrimination.

Some of the key elements of the case were:

•  the company was in breach of its statutory obligations in terms of duty of care - namely a risk assessment

• failing to follow their own policy and procedures in relation to supporting pregnant workers

• discriminatory behaviour and language that the judge described as “dismissive and belittling” when the employee had asked for help

📋 What Employers Should Do:

📃 Have a written Maternity Policy and make sure that you follow it and that managers know their obligations.

📋️ Risk Assessment should be conducted as soon as a team member informs you of their pregnancy and then reviewed as the pregnancy progresses.

🤝 Support Pregnant Workers the support needed may well come as a result of a risk assessment but make sure people know they can ask for support at any time

📆Keeping in Touch Days these are days when people on maternity leave can come in to work and be paid (but it does not end maternity leave). Make sure these are well managed and facilitated.

🧑‍🏫Train Managers make sure managers know what they need to do, when and how

🙋 Do You Fancy Some Free Stuff?

In the coming weeks we will be adding additional resources to this weekly email that you can download and use.

Other weeks it will be invites to some of training sessions.

All we ask in return is that you refer this newsletter to people in your network that you think will enjoy the content.

Simply click on the link below, and once you have referred at least 2 people - you will get the exclusive access - simple :-)

As always, if you have any questions to simply hit reply and I will be happy to answer them.

Have a wonderful week.

Emma

CEO and Founder of Gateway HR

P.S. If you're a member of our HR Hub, we have all the resources you need to manage maternity (and all other family leave).

 P.P.S.  If you are not a Hub member you can join here for only £45/month for all your HR needs.

P.P.P.S If we have not connected on LinkedIn yet, I would love to connect

Events to Join in the coming weeks (click on the links to join us)

Let’s Talk Menopause - Monthly Menopause Clinic (free to all) - 2nd October 12pm

Winter Blues - Mental Health in the Workplace Lunch and Learn (free to clients and only £35 for others) 8th October 12pm

Make Work Pay – Labour’s 100 Day Plan for HR & Leaders (Free Webinar) - 23rd October 12-1pm