Can employer maternity policy be challenged?

[connie26]

They are offering SMP only to my colleague despite the employee working for many years. She's planning on coming back to work after three months because she won't be able to afford to pay her mortgage. It will be her only chance to be a mum and I feel so sorry for her that she won't have the precious time she would like with her baby. She's planning to ask for some paid mat leave in addition to the SMP but having mentioned it to them in passing, they don't seem as though they will change their policy. Does anyone have any advice for her?

You want them to offer additional paid leave that they don’t legally have to offer? What makes you think they can be made to do that?

They can't but what about valuing loyalty and retaining people's skills?

She may be able to do some keeping in touch (KIT) days which are up to 10 paid days in the office that don’t stop maternity leave. If she got a little pay bump from one of those a week, could she stay off a bit longer?

And as others have said, save all holiday from now

of course she can ask, but I guess will be unlikely to get anywhere. Lots of women end up in the same position

I agree but it’s their choice. There’s nothing you can do to “challenge” their decision to only pay the legal minimum.

We don't sign people off sick on demand

😂

Seriously, who are you kidding?

Wave the MH card. I haven't been sleeping, I can't concentrate on anything, I struggle to get out of bed in the morning, the thought of seeing people makes me feel sick etc etc. Google a list of depression/anxiety/burn out symptoms and list them.

GP's will sign you off before you get to your second sentence. You can't exactly be asked for proof can you?

Potentially - a single parent, or a woman whose partner was either a low earner or couldn't work due to health/disability might qualify for UC but it will depend on circumstances. I was the main earner and for the SMP part of my nat leave we were very short of money but DH earned slightly too much for us to get any support.

I'd sign you off for a week or two at a time, review you regularly, possibly refer you to perinatal MH team, you'd have to come in and lie to me regularly and declare the time off sick and MH issue whenever you take put insurance.

Chances are, if you can’t afford to be off on Mat leave you can’t afford to be off sick either.

If she can’t afford to take time off for maternity then how on earth is she going to afford nursery care for a 3 mth old? Has she got a family member to take care of the baby?

Presumably she read her contract and workplace policies before committing to the job. She can't expect to be treated more favourable than everyone else. Lots of workplaces only offer the statutory for both maternity and sick leave.

I would say going back to work after three months is not bad.

My maternity leaves were all short (6 weeks, 3 months and 4 weeks). Each post C Section.

A short maternity leave means you havent got out of the habit of work. You settle into the routine quite quickly. I have come across a lot of women who really struggle when going back after a year. They have had time to build routines which dont fit with being up and ready to get to work on time. The baby is much more aware of its surroundings and may struggle to settle into childcare.

That's ludicrous. Noone asks for the maternity leave policy when they're offered a job. Or during probation, which can be six months. If you're made redundant before two years you don't get statutory redundancy pay, so noone is likely to ask to see the maternity policy during that period either!

Saying she knew what she was getting into is complete and utterly BS

I have asked for a copy of staff policies before accepting a job - the staff handbook or similar will usually have maternity policy, sick pay policy, grievance policy etc. You don’t have to request any given one,

And once you have started, it’s often on the staff intranet, probation or not.

Wish with all my soul that that was my GP experience with postnatal depression.

Neither me or my health visitor could ever actually get an appointment.

My experience in this field would suggest many many people do not research family policies or otherwise until after they join or more so until the particular policy becomes relevant to them.
SMP is shit, stats show that I think approx 60% of organisations offer an enhanced pay but for the ones that don't, it's crap (me included)
There is no harm in putting together a proposal for them or create a discussion for them to reconsider their POV on it but they have no obligation to change it.
Instead she could see if she could use KIT days or some balance of remote/annual leave to create part time on full time wage for a while.