EDIT BY MNHQ 23 March 2020 Please check this FAQs for the most recent advice.
Hello
Our friends at Maternity Action (who have run several clinics on MN about maternity employment rights) have written a blog post covering legal rights in pregnancy with relation to COVID-19.
We thought it might be useful for some of you so we're sharing the text below.
Thanks
MNHQ
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Coronavirus (Covid-19) and rights at work during pregnancy, by Katie Wood, Senior Legal Officer, Maternity Action
Government guidance announced 16th March 2020 advised that all pregnant women should take social distancing measures such as working from home, avoiding public transport and social gatherings wherever possible:
Guidance is changing rapidly so it’s important to keep checking on gov.uk.
In this blog we look at your rights if you are pregnant and working.
Health and safety
All employers have a duty to assess workplace risks and this must include risks to pregnant women and new mothers. If there are workplace risks, e.g. heavy lifting or a lot of travelling, your employer must take reasonable action to remove the risks by altering your working conditions or hours of work, providing suitable alternative work or suspending you on full pay. As Covid-19 is an infectious disease an employer’s duty to take health and safety action only applies if there is a ‘level of risk at work which is in addition to the level to which a new or expectant mother may be expected to be exposed outside the workplace.’ As many workplaces will not have a higher level of risk than is the case in all public places, we consider what other rights you have during pregnancy.
Working from home
As Government guidance is now strongly advising that pregnant women should work from home, all employers should enable pregnant women to work from home wherever practical. You should show your employer the guidance above and discuss what action needs to be taken.
Sick pay
If you are advised to self-isolate by Public Health England, a health professional or NHS 111 you are deemed to be incapable of work and you would be eligible for Statutory Sick Pay or any contractual sick pay that your employer provides. Your employer cannot insist that you come into work if you have been advised to self-isolate. If you are dismissed for self-isolating you should contact ACAS on 0300 123 11 00 within three months (less one day) from the dismissal.
You are eligible for Statutory Sick Pay (SSP) if you are an employee or worker and your employer pays you directly and deducts tax and National Insurance from your salary. This can include agency and zero hours workers. You can find more information on eligibility for SSP here: www.gov.uk/statutory-sick-pay
You can self-certify sickness absence or incapacity for work if you have been advised to self-isolate for the first 7 days or absence. After that, your employer should waive the requirement to provide a fit note if you are not able to see your GP. If your employer is asking for confirmation about whether you should be working you can contact your GP or midwife or as a last resort NHS 111.
The Government has announced that all employers with less than 250 employees will be able to claim reimbursement from HMRC for the first 14 days of SSP and that they are intending to make SSP payable from day one of sick leave, not from day four as is normally the case.
Maternity pay and benefits
Eligibility for Statutory Maternity Pay (SMP) depends on your average earnings in approximately weeks 18 to 26 of your pregnancy. Employees and workers can claim SMP if you meet the normal qualifying conditions. You can find an online calculator here: www.gov.uk/maternity-pay-leave/pay. If you do not qualify for SMP or you are self-employed you can claim Maternity Allowance here: www.gov.uk/government/publications/maternity-allowance-claim-form
All employers are reimbursed for SMP payments by HMRC. Small employers can get advance payments of SMP by contacting HMRC. If you are eligible for SMP but your employer goes into liquidation before or during your SMP period or is unable to pay your SMP, you can claim it directly from HMRC Statutory Payments Disputes Team on 0300 0560 630.
You may be eligible for Universal Credit to top up your income if you are receiving SSP, SMP or Maternity Allowance. However, Maternity Allowance is deducted from Universal Credit pound for pound as it is not treated as earnings in the same way as SMP. Eligibility for Universal Credit depends on your total family income, number of dependants and housing costs. You can find a Universal Credit calculator here: www.gov.uk/universal-credit/what-youll-get
Annual leave
If you want to protect your earnings during the qualifying period for SMP (approx. weeks 18 to 26 of your pregnancy) or during a period of self-isolation, you can ask to take annual leave. If you are unable to work from home or if you have been asked to self-isolate, your employer can ask you to take annual leave or you may be entitled to sick leave as above.
You accrue annual leave as if you are at work during your maternity leave so you could discuss using your annual leave before your maternity leave if you want to stop work earlier. Your employer does not have to agree to annual leave that has not yet accrued but in many cases employers will agree to this where it will avoid having to carry a large amount of leave forward or returning to work with a large amount of annual leave still to take. If you take all your leave in advance and then leave your job your employer can ask you to repay
Start of maternity leave
It is normally up to you to decide when you want to start your maternity leave. This can be anytime from 11 weeks before your baby is due, up to the birth. If you are absent from work wholly or partly because of pregnancy, your employer can start your maternity leave and pay from the start of week 36 of your pregnancy.
Dismissal and discrimination
Unfortunately many employers will be making redundancies, however, they must not discriminate. You are protected against automatic unfair dismissal and discrimination from day one of your employment if you are dismissed, made redundant or discriminated against because of your pregnancy or maternity leave. If you think you have been discriminated against you should seek advice and you must contact ACAS on 0300 123 11 00 within three months (less one day).
Our Maternity Rights Advice Line is currently very busy but we will update our website regularly with specific information on your rights during pregnancy and maternity leave during the epidemic. Maternity Action has written to the Government asking for further support for pregnant women during this difficult time. You can see our letter here.
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PLEASE NOTE: this information is dated March 17 2020. We will do our best to update it as more information becomes available, but please do keep checking NHS advice on Coronavirus for updates, and of course let us know if you think we need to look again at anything on this page.