Does anyone know when you must start maternity leave if you are pregnant and are off on long term sickness - particulary NHS employees?

[Trix11]

When can your employer insist you start your maternity leave - I think the law on this may have changed in the last year or so?

i think it is not until 4 wks before due date.

i think it is not until 4 wks before due date.

At the earliest opportunity,which is 29 weeks.

You can choose when to start your maternity leave. It can be at any time in, or after, the 11th week before your baby is due. However, your maternity leave will start automatically if you're off work for any reason to do with your pregnancy from the fourth week before your baby is due.

Copied from here.

Thank you everyone - I had advised someone in this position that it was 4 weeks before the baby is due but she had been told by her manager it was at 29 weeks so I was just checking.

Thanks again.

It's 4 weeks before EWC.

It depends if the sickness is pregnancy related. If it isn't then it makes no difference to when your ML starts and you choose, just as you would if you were at work.

I had a collegue who worked tirelessly thoughout her prengnacy and wanted as short a leave as poss, for financial reasons. In the last few weeks, she suffered from high blood pressure and was confined to bed, so she should have started her ML, but we put down that she had flu, so she could start it later.

I was working as a teacher and was off sick for 3 months before DS was due. My maternity leave automatically started 4 weeks before the due date as I was already off.

no it doesn't depend on whether the sickness is pg related.

no it doesn't depend on whether the sickness is pg related.

Ours regulation is that if you take any sick leave related to the pregnancy in the last four weeks of the pregnancy you will be deemed to have commenced maternity leave. If the sickness is not pregnancy related maternity leave will not be deemed to have commenced. But I can imagine it would depend on your employer? (Mine is academic)

According to that website it is only if sickness is pregnancy related. It doesn't make much sense to insist someone starts they maternity leave if they have caught a bug or something.

I'm sorry bossykate, but worrier is right. It is only if the absence in pregnancy related (wholly or partly). It's regulation 6(1)(b) of the Maternity and Parental leave regulations 1999.

oops i think i misunderstood the post i meant you can't be made to start mat leave earlier than 4 wks before ewc if your illness is pg related. i think.

apologies to all.

Ah, we meant exactly the same thing then, but opposite ways round!

Trix, the summary of all of this is that you can't be made to start leave until 4 weeks prior to your due date if you're sick in connection with the pregnancy. If the illness is not related (e.g. that nasty vomity bug) they can't make you.

The 29 weeks that your friend's manager is thinking of is when SHE can decide to start leave. If the sick pay is pants she might want to start leave even before the company can make her. If it's good, she probably won't want to.

I was off with a bad back from 24 weeks and was going to start mat leave at 29 weeks but was told by employer (NHS) that I could not start maternity leave til 34 weeks. Did not argue
Mind you that was 2002, may have changed.

If sickness is pregnancy related then they can make you start maternity leave 4 weeks before EWC. If sickness nothing to do with pregnancy then this doesn't apply and you can be on sick until you give birth