A recent case heard in The European Court of Justice ruled that employers, when calculating statutory maternity pay, must take into account any pay rise that a woman would have received, had she not been on maternity leave.
The changes come into effect on April 6th. Stuart McKellar, Director of Honiton based human resource specialists HR Advantage, commented "Businesses may find it difficult to deal with these complicated new rules, which will entail recalculating pay given to women currently on maternity leave, and contacting those who have left their employment to make sure that they have been correctly paid. However," continued Mr McKellar "it is up to employers to make a plan to live within the new rules. They may find that compliance is not an in-house task but one that can be better handled by out sourcing to HR specialists, leaving senior managers to concentrate on operating their business successfully."
The changes will affect women on maternity leave on April 6th and women taking leave after that date. Women who do not return to work after their maternity leave also qualify under the new rules.
Stuart McKellar
continued "Proposals recently announced by the
Government to extend paid maternity leave from six to nine months and to make
maternity leave transferable between partners make sense as part of a wider
strategy to improve childcare. The proposals could also help combat
discrimination and create a more productive workforce and a supportive family
environment. The Government now needs to ensure this works in practice without
creating an unnecessary administrative burden."
