MNHQ here: post your pregnancy & maternity work questions here for FREE legal advice from Maternity Action

[NicolaDMumsnet]

Free online advice clinic 6th March - 10th March 2022 - OPEN NOW.

A warm welcome to the first clinic of the year!

Mumsnet and Maternity Action are once again teaming up to provide an online legal clinic, offering free advice on pregnancy, maternity and parental rights at work from volunteer employment lawyers who are members of the Employment Law Association.

Whether you have a question about maternity leave, your request for flex work, your rights as a pregnant worker, or think you may be discriminated against by your employer because of being a parent, this is the place for you.

The clinic takes the form of a Q&A on this thread and will run for a week from Monday 6th to Friday 10th of March. The Maternity Action team will do their best to provide all answers during that week and at the latest by the Tuesday of the following week. More information on where to go for more help once the clinic has ended is here. All past clinics are here.

How it works:

• If you have a question about your rights at work during pregnancy, maternity or parental leave, post it here below before the 10th March. Please give as much information as possible but remember that this is an online forum and can be viewed by the public – including your colleagues and employer. Please don’t name your employer publicly if you are likely to be taking action against them in future. You can use private message to disclose information to the volunteers that you’d rather not make public.

• Please send your name and the name of your employer by private message to @MaternityActionfreeadvice so that it can be passed on to the volunteers to do a conflict of interest check. We cannot post a reply until you have sent this information by private message.

• Once your advice has been posted online, you will have an opportunity to provide feedback. This helps us to find out whether you found the advice helpful, whether it helped you to resolve your situation at work and some information about you. All survey responses are anonymous and confidential. Providing feedback will help us to see what improvements can be made in developing this type of online free legal advice clinic. Fill out the survey here.

Ts and Cs – please read
The advice provided to an individual poster is based only on the information provided by that poster. Advice on this thread is also particular to the individual who has asked for it and is likely to be specific to that person’s situation. A poster may have provided further relevant information by private message which will not appear on this thread. So please take care if you choose to apply that advice to your own situation - it is recommended that you first take legal advice from one of the sources we have suggested here.

Mumsnet, Maternity Action and Maternity Action's volunteers accept no liability for any loss suffered as a result of an individual choosing to follow advice provided to another poster's question on the thread.

The lawyers, all of whom are specialists in employment law, will be working as volunteers for Maternity Action in respect of the clinic. Any personal information collected as a result of the clinic will be held by Maternity Action and will be deleted after 18 months. If you wish to make a complaint about the service you received, you can use Maternity Action’s complaints policy here

Hi everyone,

This is the account to PM your details to. These are only used to perform a conflict check and are not recorded or logged in any other capacity. Without these details we are unable to allocate you to a volunteer.

Many thanks, Maternity Action

Hi I’m looking for some advice on the best method of handling my maternity ‘situation’.

I am 9 weeks pregnant and have been employed full time with the same employer for 5 years. My husband is in the military.

We found out we are due to be posted/relocate when I will be around 32 weeks, and will be moving over 500 miles away, so I will have to resign from my job. I will likely need to resign at 30-31 weeks (or go on maternity leave this early if I can).

I have worked so hard for this company and feel I should be entitled to what my other colleagues are, but I need to know the best way of informing my employer so I’m not left out of pocket.

In theory if I start maternity leave at 30 weeks, I will still be entitled to full SMP (having worked for over 26 weeks with current employer). Is this correct?

I then have the dilemma of informing my employer I will not be returning to work after maternity leave due to us moving. Do I tell them I will be moving before I go on maternity? Or will I lose any other benefits by resigning before maternity? Should I resign after we have moved, towards the end of my maternity leave, so I don’t miss out on accruing other maternity benefits? I feel like I can’t morally keep this information from them, but I’m worried if I resign at the same time then they might pay my SMP in one go or make things difficult for me.

I’m so worried about our finances going on maternity pay so I want to ensure I get the most I am entitled to and want to avoid losing out or being stung by my employer.

Thank you.

TUPE Law.
I have private messaged this question but don't want to risk it getting missed. I am about to TUPE into a new organisation in May and baby is due June. I'm told we are stay on our existing mat leave policy which is 12wks full pay then stat rather than transfer to the new organisations policy which is 16wks full pay and 16wks half pay. Is it fair to pay women working in the same company different maternity policies? I have a colleague who TUPEd in July 2022 and due June also so the new org can't argue timing is the issue.

I have worked at a company for three years since March 9, 20220. With a permanent contract since Nov 2020.
The company announced a redundancy process in mid-January 2023.

I have been informed that my role is at risk. The company is in a consultation process, and my part is still at risk, with a high chance of being redundant.

I'm 18 weeks pregnant. I informed the company when they told me I was at risk.
I asked the company what the package to leave is, and they offer a statutory package as they don't have any internal policy. They said they could not protect pregnant women because is discrimination.

There has been no support for me, and I want to claim a financial agreement with the company. As I will lose my maternity leave, this situation puts me under pressure, stress and labour disadvantage. With five months of pregnancy, I feel worried about my economic situation if I lose my job.

Can you advise me, please? What legal protection could I claim?

Hi – thank you for providing this service!

I am due to return to work from maternity leave in May. I work in education and I have accrued nearly 50 days of holiday during this period which I agreed to take at the end. I have just gone back on payroll and started to be paid for this.

However, I have received a job offer at another employer which I would like to accept. I have a three month notice period which my contract says applies during mat leave.

While I’m very happy about the new job, we are relying on the holiday money for this next three month period. I’m unsure whether this can be withheld once I hand in my notice, and if I will also be unable to work because of my notice.

Please could you let me know what I am entitled to here? Have I earned the holiday – so to speak – meaning they must pay me this, even if I resign? Or do I lose this if I don’t go back to work?

It's been suggested to me that I could negotiate being let out of my contract early and perhaps also keep some of the holiday pay. It seems like a very grey area.

Note that my organisation has gone through TUPE and I already know that I do not need to repay the additional maternity pay I received (there is precedent for this with another member of staff.)

Many thanks

Hi I’m currently on maternity leave I get SMP and then my employer tops the rest up to what I normally get when I work 40 hours a week. That ends in may then it goes to smp for 3 months. However I wondered if I can do self employed work on top of this without my maternity pay being stopped by them.
Thanks

Thanks for this!

I have had a few issues with my employer:

1. no risk assessment has ever been done for me. I am weeks from going on maternity leave

2. my manager was given my MATB1 form months ago but did nothing with it. HR are now making noises about if my maternity pay can be sorted in time. The way l see it then it’s not my error

3. HR want to know right now, when lm returning to work. Despite the fact l haven’t even started my maternity leave yet

Please note l have chased these things. Get told it’s under control but nothing really happens…

Good Afternoon All,

I am in a bit of a pickle and need some advice. I officially went on Maternity Leave on the 13th May 2021. I had submitted all my paperwork to my manager in February of 2021. Shortly before returning to working, which was May 2022, I realised that I was being overpaid. At this point, my manager had now changed and I have a new manager now. I then find out, that my previous manager did not submit all the paperwork necessary prior to me going on Maternity leave and during the time of my maternity leave. I am then told by my new line manager that I owe my company over £6000, this sum also includes the statutory pay.

Myself, along with my manager, contacted HR and tried to fight back and say that a large portion of that sum, HR are supposed to claim off of HMRC because it is statutory pay. We also made it very clear that the error was not in my end and that when I realised the error, I contacted management straight away and nothing was done about it. I am currently working Part time as I am a single mum with 2 children. Due to the rise in cost of living, I am now paying back this money in protest, just to avoid getting into even more trouble, but now I am unable to go back to working full time because they threatened and said if I do, they will take more money out of my salary which will leave me in a bad situation. I am already struggling as it is, my hands are completely tied, Universal Credit assists but they are always underpaying which means, every month I have to chase them, and always end up missing on bills and incurring late fees. I am now struggling with anxiety, not sleeping well and it is affecting my day to day life, including the motivation to work.

May I please get some advice on what I can do, the legalities etc.

Good evening,

I'm hoping you can give me some advice. I started my current role in August 2022 and I am currently 16 weeks pregnant.

Unfortunately the role is not as it was advertised and developments since have been that my job is potentially at risk. I am looking at another role and have spoken to the new potential employer who would be willing to take me on despite me being pregnant.

I understand that if I stay with my current employer until week ending 12th May I will qualify for SMP. My current employer does not know that I am pregnant. My notice period for my role is 2 months so my question was whether or not my notice period counts towards being in continuous service to qualify for SMP from my current employer? Or SMP is only claimable from them if I give notice during the qualifying week (15 weeks before the due date).

I'm worried that because of the risk to my role they might not ask me to work my notice and as such I would no longer be in post during the qualifying week.

Alternatively, I could serve notice during the qualifying week and try to negotiate on the leave period down from 2months but this wouldn't probably be accepted by a new employer.

Any guidance would be gratefully received!

Hi

question about time off for antenatal appointments. I work in law and have a chargeable hours target. My firm has been good at letting me go to antenatal appointments when I need to. However they say it is not their policy to reduce chargeable hours targets to take into account time spent at antenatal appointments. This effectively means that I am expected to make up the time I spend out of the office at antenatal appointments. If I didn’t do so I would be disadvantaged in terms of eligibility for bonuses and general performance management (as meeting chargeable hours is one of the expectations of the role).

can they lawfully do this?

They haven’t said that the I am asking for an unreasonable amount of time off.

I am a teacher and had submitted forms for shared parental leave during the holidays. However the payslip for Feb didn't have any extra for half term, just SMP. Can they ignore my SPL application?

Dear Violetauk

I am sorry to hear of the redundancy situation at your work. Employers can still select you for redundancy if you are pregnant or on maternity leave, however, any redundancy selection must be based on fair criteria and must not be because of your pregnancy or intention to take maternity leave.

If you are selected for redundancy and you think that it is because of your pregnancy you may have a claim for pregnancy discrimination and you should seek further legal advice. There is a time limit of three months (less one day) from the date of the act you are complaining about and you must start a claim within the time limit by contacting ACAS on 0300 123 1100. They will start early conciliation and may be able to help you negotiate a settlement with your employer. You may have a claim for automatic unfair dismissal if your redundancy is because of your pregnancy or you can claim unfair dismissal as you have more than two years' service if you think that this was not a genuine redundancy situation or your employer does not follow a proper process. You can find more information about your rights on redundancy here: www.gov.uk/redundancy-your-rights

If you are legally made redundant and you think that your pregnancy was not part of the decision (or that it will be very hard to evidence that pregnancy was part of the decision) you will be entitled to any notice pay and redundancy pay that you are entitled to by law and under your contract. You may also be able to negotiate an enhanced package during the redundancy consultation period and use this as an opportunity to press your employer to consider you for any suitable alternative roles that they might be able to offer given the difficulties you may have in finding further work in the late stages of pregnancy.

If you are made redundant during pregnancy, you may still be entitled to maternity pay. You will be eligible for SMP if you meet all three of the following even if your job is going to end:

1. You have been employed by the same employer for at least 26 weeks by the 15th week before your expected week of childbirth.

1. You are still employed in all or part of the 15th week before your expected week of childbirth (even one day counts). You are still employed during sick leave and annual leave.

1. You earned at least £123 per week in the 8 weeks (if you are paid weekly) or 2 months (if you are paid monthly) immediately before the end of the 15th week before your baby is due.

Your employment will end at the end of your notice period. If you are still employed in all or part of the 15th week before your EWC you will still be eligible for SMP and your employer must pay it to you for 39 weeks. They can pay it in a lump sum if they wish.

If your employment ends before the 15th week before your EWC and you cannot qualify for SMP, you can claim Maternity Allowance instead from the Job Centre Plus: www.gov.uk/government/publications/maternity-allowance-claim-form

You will be eligible even if you are unemployed and you can claim once you have completed 26 weeks of employment in the 66 weeks before your baby is due. Maternity Allowance is paid for 39 weeks at the standard rate of £172.48 per week from April 2023 or 90% of your average earnings if lower. Maternity Allowance will automatically start from the 11th week before your baby is due if you are unemployed or from the date your job ends if later.

You may also be eligible for Universal Credit, depending on your household income, if your job ends in pregnancy or to top up your maternity pay. You can find a benefits calculator here: www.gov.uk/benefits-calculators

We have more information about benefits during pregnancy and for your baby on the Maternity Action website: maternityaction.org.uk/advice/money-for-parents-and-babies/

I wish you all the best.

Dear Liberty1993

You can do self-employed work during your SMP period without it impacting on your SMP. You would need to be registered as self-employed with HMRC in respect of this work and you would be subject to tax and Class 2 National Insurance contributions through self-assessment in respect of any self-employed income. You can find confirmation of this in the Government guide to maternity pay, see section 3.12: www.gov.uk/government/publications/maternity-benefits-technical-guidance/maternity-benefits-technical-guidance

You would need to check your employer's maternity policy or your contract to see if self-employed work or a second job would impact on the company maternity pay that they provide on top of your Statutory Maternity Pay. This is an employment benefit that they provide and they can set their own terms and conditions in relation to the additional pay. You should also check your contract to see whether you are required to notify your employer of a second job or whether there are any restrictions on taking on other work e.g. where there may be a conflict of interest.

Dear EL8888

I'm sorry to hear of the difficulties you have been having. In relation to your health and safety concerns, your employer must still take action if there are risks that you are concerned about, even if you are close to your maternity leave.

In order to get health and safety protection at work, you must notify your employer in writing of your pregnancy if you have not already done so. You may want to send your employer this guidance from the Health and Safety Executive which sets out the adjustments an employer should make if there are risks at work: www.hse.gov.uk/mothers/

It can also be helpful to have a fit note from your GP setting out any adjustments that they consider may be needed to keep you safe at work. If there are risks at work and your employer fails to take action, you may have a claim for pregnancy discrimination if you have lost work as a result or pay or been forced onto sick leave.

If you have given your employer notice of the date you want to start your maternity leave along with your MATB1 maternity certificate, you are entitled to start your maternity leave on the date given in your notice. If your manager has delayed passing on the relevant information you may want to contact your payroll person/department (if you're able to) in order to make them aware of the date that you are starting maternity leave. If you have booked annual leave make them aware of this as well. Alternatively HR may be able to contact whoever does your payroll in order to ensure your maternity pay is processed correctly.

Once you have given notice for maternity leave and pay, your employer should assume that you are taking the full 52 weeks of leave. If you decide to return to work early you must give at least 8 weeks notice. If your employer is pressing you for an indication of when you will be returning I suggest letting them know that you plan to take the full 52 weeks of maternity leave at this stage in order to keep your options open.

I hope all goes well.

Hello,

I wondered if I could get some advice please.

I am currently on maternity leave, however I was made redundant on the 16th Dec, and wasn't told until 13th Jan.

The 2 other employees knew before I did and after messaging loads due to not getting paid in December I finally found out in January.

I have contact DWP to get my maternity pay sorted (which still hasn't been but I understand its a slow process) and have heard nothing from the liquidators.

However I have recently found out the team of 3 is still working, doing the same job, in the same office just under a different company name.

The boss has done this before back in Feb 2020, we were tuped from one company to a new one and moved offices.

I would like some advice on how I stand that I have been unfairly dismissed and not an offer of being tuped over but the two employees have, and she has hired her husband to work there too now.

To be clear I still haven't received a single penny since Nov. Nor have I received my payslips for Oct and Nov or a P45.

Thanks

KC

Many thanks for providing this service.

I'm currently 25 weeks pregnant and in a temp role which ends before my due date (17 June 2023), so I understand I won't' be eligible for any maternity pay. However, my partner has a permanent role with an employer that he has worked with for 12 years, and therefore should be eligible for paternity leave and pay, as well as shared parental leave and any pay that is attached to the SPL.

I understand that in order for my partner to get shared parental leave, I need to have been in employment for 26 weeks during the 66 weeks before the due date.

I was in a previous full-time contractor role until the end of April 2022, which covers the period from week 66 to week 58 before my due date, hence accumulating 8 of the required 26 weeks. After that I was unemployed until 6 February 2023, when I started a new full-time temp role. I'm hoping to stay in this role until the 9th of June, in order to accumulate the remaining 18 weeks so that my partner would qualify for the SPL.

However, I am miserable in this current job. I'm getting constant bad feedback and it's really affecting my self esteem and my quality of life. I would like to quit and find a part-time temp role instead (I think even a horrible job would be easier to bear if it's only part-time). However, I can't find anywhere any information on whether the 26 weeks required for my partner to get his SPL has to be in a full-time job, or would a part-time job also qualify?

Secondly - what happens if my baby is born prematurely and I can't work for as long as I'm planning to? As it stands, I will need to work until the 9th of June in order to accumulate the 26 weeks, and with a due date on 17th June, it's likely that the baby will come out sooner and I might not be able to stay in employment until I've accumulated the 26 weeks. Would this mean that my partner won't get any other paternity/parental leave other than the statutory minimum of 2 weeks paternity leave? (His company only gives him the statutory minimum, nothing on top of that.)

Thirdly - do you know which are the ministers responsible for these regulations? I would like to write to them to complain about how unfair the system is, but I don't know whom to address my letter to. If I had the names of the people in charge, I could write to them.

Many thanks again for your kind help.

I am currently on a fixed term contract that is due to end at the end of May 2023. My due date is in July. I am currently leading several projects that go beyond my fixed term contract. My manager says she cannot guarantee that my contract will be extended despite me being assigned to future projects (these were assigned to me prior to me disclosing my pregnancy). I am in my 20s and will only take 6 months off. Where do I stand legally?

Hello,

A few days after I returned from maternity leave, and while my partner is utilising shared parental leave, I was advised my role is at risk of redundancy.

There are several people in the same role and the proposal is to reduce headcount across our job role. One of the affected people is currently on maternity leave and I have been told that due to their maternity rights to return to their job that they are slotted into one of the remaining positions without having to participate in a selection process. Is this correct?
Thanks

Thank you for providing this service, really helpful.

I am currently 21 weeks pregnant and have been working at my firm for a number of years. I have been offered another job that I am considering taking. I have a 3 month notice period. Due to the timing, it would be difficult to get everything lined up to resign prior to my impending maternity leave. Therefore the most likely option would be that I look to resign during maternity leave. My company offer a good maternity policy (6 months full pay) and my understanding of the government SMP for the period after that, is that even if you resign/leave employment, provided your are eligible for SMP, the company would need to continue paying that. My question is whether my company can force me out of maternity leave to work my notice period (at the end of the 6 months), should I resign at the end of that period? I would be keen to start at the new company as soon as I could post maternity leave, however I don’t want to put myself in an unfavourable position where resigning could result in needing to come back from maternity leave earlier than I planned, should they require me to work any of my notice period. Thank you.

Dear LJamM

Thank you for your query.
I set out below:

• summary of your right to SMP and a consideration of your notice period and possible impact on SMP,

• summary of your right to SMP from your existing employer when joining another employer.

You do not provide your exact start date at work or your due date. For the purposes of SMP, you must be employed during your “qualifying week” which is the “15th week before the expected week of childbirth”. To calculate the week, find the Sunday before the day your baby is due or the due day, if that is a Sunday. Count back 15 Sundays from there. This Sunday is the start of the 15th week before the week your baby is due – known as the “qualifying week”. You indicate that this is week of 12 May but please do double check. This will be based on the due date on your MATB1 maternity certificate which your midwife will give you after 20 weeks, not the actual date of birth.

Your right to SMP
I assume you began work for your current employer no later than 31 August 2022. You are 16 weeks’ pregnant this week. You will therefore have over 26 weeks of continuous work by the end of your “qualifying week” if you remain employed with your current employer up to that week.

To be eligible for SMP you must:

1. have been employed by the same employer for at least 26 weeks by the 15th week before your expected week of childbirth.
2. still be employed by this employer in all or part of the “qualifying week”. You are considered as being employed in that week even if you only work for one day or part of a day that week. You are still employed during sick leave, annual leave and your notice period but see below.

You can therefore still qualify for SMP if you resign during the qualifying week or you resign before and your job comes to an end at any time in or after the “qualifying week” so long as you are employed in all or part of that week. In principle you can therefore give notice before the “qualifying week” so long as the notice expires during the “qualifying week”. Your two months’ notice period does count towards your “continuous employment”.

3. Earn at least £123 per week on average (April 2023 – April 2024) before tax in the eight weeks (if you are paid weekly) or two months (if you are paid monthly) up to the last pay day before the end of the 15th week before your baby is due. You are however quite right to consider how your employer may respond when you give notice. You say that you have a two months’ notice clause. Please check whether your contract also contains a clause that allows the employer to waive their right to notice and to pay you in lieu of notice? If there is such a clause, your employer may exercise this right. Depending on when they exercise this right, your employment may terminate your employment immediately or before the “qualifying week” and you will not qualify for SMP.

Even without such clause in your contract, there is still a risk that the employer will waive their right to notice and pay you in lieu. There are possible legal risks in them taking this approach and you may be able to challenge their action, However, the situation may create a lot of uncertainty that you might prefer to avoid.

You may find it less uncertain to give notice during the “qualifying week” and attempt to negotiate a reduced notice period at that point. You say that this may not be that attractive to your prospective new employer but we would recommend being open with them about your intention of negotiating a reduction in your notice period at this point. A family friendly employer will understand the issues you face and do their best to support you joining their team.

Remember that even if you do not meet the qualifying conditions for SMP or if your employment terminates before the “qualifying week” you may still qualify for Maternity Allowance. You can claim Maternity Allowance from DWP and the claim form is here: www.gov.uk/government/publications/maternity-allowance-claim-form

Maternity Allowance is paid for 39 weeks like SMP but only at the flat rate of £172.48 per week (or 90% of your average earnings if lower). You cannot get the higher rate for the first 6 weeks which is paid at 90% of your average weekly earnings if you qualify for SMP. If you are claiming Universal Credit, any SMP is treated like earnings and partially disregarded, however, if you have to claim Maternity Allowance instead, any Maternity Allowance is deducted pound for pound from Universal Credit so it may be more important for you to protect your entitlement to SMP.

Your right to SMP from current employer when joining a new employer
So long as your final date of work in your current employer is in or after the “qualifying week’, you can still get SMP from this current employer (if you meet all the qualifying conditions) even if you leave their employment.

Before the birth, you can start work for the new employer and still receive SMP from your old employer. However, once your baby is born you cannot receive SMP from your old employer if you do any work for a new employer during your SMP period, unless you were employed by the new employer in all or part of the 15th week before your baby was due. You must tell your old employer to stop paying your SMP if you do any work for the new employer after the birth.

I hope all goes well.

Hi, I've just got a couple of questions relating to Maternity Allowance (it's been confirmed that I am eligible to receive, baby is due April 10th).

1. I'm currently in dispute about my pay from the agency work that I have just completed. If successful, I could receive up to £470 in back pay. This process can take time, if I am successful and receive this pay, will this impact my MA? I'm worried it might stop my payments.
2. When receiving MA, can any extra work be completed alongside (as you can with SMP) on a self employed basis?

Your advice would be appreciated. I have called the support number on the MA letter, but after nearly an hour in a queue, the line goes dead.

Dear maternity action advice,
I work in the MHS and will be entitled to occupational maternity pay for my permanent job.
I currently work part time in the permanent job and do I atleast 1 bank shift per week in a different speciality to my permanent job.
I do not get any maternity pay for the bank work which seems reasonable as it's I don't have contracted hours (although I earn 'not less than the lower earnings limit for national insurance contributions' from my bank role and have been doing this additional work for more than a year, so meet their criteria for occupational maternity leave for a permanent role, in the bank role).
I have a separate employee number for my bank work and pay tax etc for it.
I've also been told that I cannot do any bank shifts during my maternity leave.
I am sure that HR have got it right, as they are such a big employer they really ought to know the ins and outs. Though they are certainly not approachable and have made mistakes before.
Can they really not pay me, and also refuse to allow me to work during maternity leave?
Many thanks for any insight you can give, and also for offering a service like this!

Dear Sxp842

Congratulations on your pregnancy.

You are entitled to a reasonable amount of paid time off for your antenatal appointments which your employer is providing, however, they are effectively expecting you to make up the time by continuing to meet your chargeable hours target. I agree that your target should be reduced to take into account the time that you are not at work due to your antenatal appointments especially since this impacts on your ability to earn your bonus and could lead to performance management.

If you suffer a detriment or disadvantage because of your pregnancy you may have a claim for pregnancy discrimination under the Equality Act 2010 but please bear in mind these are not easy claims to bring. You would need to show that you have suffered a detriment and that the unfavourable treatment was 'because of' your pregnancy or pregnancy-related sickness. In addition, or in the alternative, you may have a claim for indirect sex discrimination if you can show that failure to reduce chargeable hours targets to take account of time off for antenatal care disadvantages more women than men and cannot be justified.
I would usually suggest raising this informally in the first instance with your employer in order to keep a good working relationship and to encourage them to support their staff and to put better policies in place for pregnant employees. It may help to find some examples of good practice policies that you could encourage your employer to adopt.

If your employer is not willing to make any changes or you are disadvantaged as a result of their policy, you may want to raise a grievance but I would usually suggest this as a last resort and if you have been unable to resolve it more informally. A grievance is often treated as a complaint and is not always a very constructive way to resolve issues in the workplace. However, if you are considering an employment tribunal claim you will need to show that you have exhausted all avenues for trying to resolve it.

There is a time limit of three months (less one day) from the date of the act or series of acts you are complaining about if you decide to take further action. You will need to contact ACAS within the time limit on 0300 123 1100 in order to start a claim through early conciliation.