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All pregnant employees, regardless of their hours of work or length of service, are entitled to 52 weeks' maternity leave; 26 weeks of Ordinary Maternity Leave (OML) and 26 weeks of Additional Maternity Leave (AML) – making one year in total. Provided the employee meets the notification requirements, she can take this leave regardless of how long she has been with the employer, how many hours she works or how much she is paid.
The employee must, in or before the 15th week before the expected week of confinement (EWC), or as soon as is practicable, notify her employer of her pregnancy, her EWC and the date she expects her OML to start. The notification must be in writing.
The earliest week she can start maternity leave is 11 weeks prior to the EWC. She can vary the date she intends to commence OML, providing she gives 28 days' notice before the original date notified, or 28 days before the new date she intends to commence OML, whichever is the earliest.
The employer must then write to the employee, confirming the date when she is expected to return and what she must do if she wants to vary the date she intends to return. See the example letter produced in the FPB's Employment Guide, or visit www.dti.gov.uk. Commencement of Ordinary Maternity Leave
Maternity leave commences:
EITHER
on the date the pregnant employee has notified her employer that she intends OML to commence;
OR
on the day after the first day of absence if the employee is absent from work due to a pregnancy-related reason after the beginning of the fourth week before the expected week of childbirth;
OR
On the day on which the child is born. If this is before the date she has notified, the maternity leave period begins automatically.
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