Employees' Rights (Hansard, 7 May 1996)

§ Mr. Robin Squire

The following arrangements apply within the Department:

(A) MATERNITY LEAVE
To qualify for departmental unpaid maternity leave an employee must:
Be employed on a permanent basis, as a part-year appointee, or as a recurring temporary appointee.
Produce a maternity statement from a registered medical practitioner or certified midwife, giving the expected week of confinement.
State that they intend to return to work after the baby is born.
Maternity leave—paid and/or unpaid—is allowed for an overall period of 52 weeks from the start of the maternity absence.
Casual employees have a statutory right to take a period of 14 weeks' unpaid maternity leave.

(B) MATERNITY PAY
In addition, meeting the qualifying criteria for unpaid maternity leave, to qualify for paid maternity leave an employee must also:
Be in paid service at the time their maternity leave begins and have at least one year's reckonable service.
Agree to repay any salary received, less any entitlement to statutory maternity pay for the period of maternity leave, if they fail to return to work and complete the equivalent of one month's reckonable service.
Employees will not qualify for paid maternity leave if, immediately before beginning their maternity leave, they are on special unpaid leave, unauthorised absence, or sick leave at no pay or pension rate.
Maternity pay is allowed for a continuous period of three calender months and one week.
Different provisions exist for employees on recurring temporary appointments and for part-year appointees.
Casual employees are not eligible for paid maternity leave under the civil service scheme. If the appointment is subsequently made permanent, casual service will count towards the qualifying period for paid maternity leave.
(C) PATERNITY LEAVE
Two day's paid paternity leave may be taken at the time of the birth, or
during the weeks following the birth when mother and baby leave hospital.
(D) PARENTAL LEAVE
Adoption Leave
Special leave may be granted to the adoptive parent(s):
up to 20 days' paid leave may be taken either before or after the child comes into full-time care
up to 52 weeks' unpaid leave, less any paid leave taken as above
the leave can be taken by either parent, or shared between them
Birth of a second or subsequent child
Special paid leave, up to a maximum of five days may be given:
at the birth of a baby. when alternative arrangements cannot be made to look after other small children
Care for children
Special paid leave up to a maximum of five days may be given when normal child minding arrangements break down unexpectedly.
Up to three weeks' special unpaid leave may be allowed, on line manager's recommendation, to care for school-age children during school holidays, providing the leave is taken in addition to at least two weeks annual leave charted in one or more of the school holiday periods.
(E) FLEXIBLE WORKING HOURS (FWH)
The Department operates a FWH system to provide a more flexible system of attendance for all staff.
All staff may work FWH at line management's discretion.
(F) PART-TIME WORK
The Department operates an equal opportunities policy whereby all posts are considered to be available on a part-time basis.
Staff can apply to change from full-time to part-time employment to suit changing circumstances for a short period or an indefinite period.
Entitlement to annual leave, special leave etc. is on a pro rata basis to the hours worked. Part-time staff are regarded as non-mobile.
(G) JOB SHARING
All posts are considered to be available on a job-sharing basis. This is a voluntary arrangement whereby a full-time post is divided into two part-time jobs. The two job holders work together and share the overall duties and responsibilities of the original full-time post.
(H) LEAVE TO CARE FOR SICK CHILDREN
Special leave with pay may be allowed to a member of staff to care for sick children. Medical evidence is requested to support the application if the absence is over five days.
Line managers consider the circumstances, the operational need and discuss alternatives ie. part-time hours, working from home.
Where longer-term nursing is required, special leave with pay may be allowed to enable staff to make suitable arrangements. Sympathetic consideration is given to requests for special leave without pay if more time is needed to make such arrangements.
(I) HOMEWORKING
There are three main categories of homeworking:
1. Working part-time at home, based in an office with agreed amounts of time homeworking.
2. Home as a base.
3. Working at home on a permanent basis.
Consideration is given to costs, security, communications, management of staff, health and safety, environment and facilities when a manager decides when to transfer work from a normal office environment to a home-based office.
Staff can not be moved into a post without their agreement.
(J) TERM-TIME WORKING
There is provision for term-time working, providing the non-working period is not less than two weeks or more than three months.
Dates of attendance must be agreed in writing in advance.
Pay can be averaged out over the year or be received at the end of each month for periods actually worked. Tern-time appointments are non-mobile. Non-working periods do not count for sick absence pay, qualifying service for higher annual leave, qualifying service for maternity leave, or reckonable service for pension purposes.
(K) ANNUAL HOURS CONTRACTS
There is no standard arrangement for annual hours contracts although consideration would be given to all requests for alternative working patterns.
(L) WORKPLACE NURSERIES
The Department provides a nursery at its head quarters in Runcorn and Sheffield. Both nurseries offer 50 places and the cost to parents ranges from £5.50 per half day to £57.50 for a week. Opening hours are 8 am to 6 pm.
There are also school holiday playschemes, which operate in Darlington, London, Runcorn and Sheffield.
(M) CHILD CARE ALLOWANCES
Staff who have young children can apply for additional child care costs when attending a residential training course or being required to work outside their normal pattern of hours.
(N) CARERS' LEAVE
Special leave with pay can be allowed to help staff cope with serious illness of a partner, close relative or dependant, in order to deal with the initial emergency or care on discharge from hospital, where there is no one else available to provide the care required.
In exceptional circumstances, special leave can be allowed to look after close relatives with minor illnesses.
Special leave without pay can be allowed up to a maximum of six months to care for an aged/infirm relative. Periods in excess of six months may qualify for a career break.
(O) CAREER BREAKS
Career breaks may last for a minimum of six months to a maximum of five years. The period of unpaid leave may be extended for a further 52 weeks if a woman has a second child during the career break.
Staff should have a good attendance record and have achieved a satisfactory performance.