Fixed-term contracts and maternity leave
By law, employees have a legal right to 52 weeks’ maternity leave, but it’s not always clear what an employee’s maternity or parental rights are when they are on a fixed-term contract.
In this blog, our employment law solicitors explain what maternity rights a fixed-term employee has and how Statutory Maternity Pay works.
How does maternity leave work with a fixed-term contract?
If you are employed on a fixed-term contract, you are generally entitled to the same rights as permanent employees doing the same (or largely the same) job. These rights come from the Fixed Term Employees Regulations.
Eligibility rights for fixed-term employees include:
- The same pay as permanent staff
- The same or equivalent benefits package
- Information about the employer’s permanent vacancies
- Protection against dismissal
- Protection against redundancy, as long as they have worked for the same employer for two or more years
If you meet the eligibility requirements, your employer must pay you Statutory Maternity Pay (SMP).
If you are on a fixed-term contract, you are also entitled to paid time off for antenatal appointments, and your employer has a duty to ensure your job is safe for you to do while pregnant.
Being on a fixed-term contract makes no difference to your maternity or pregnancy rights.
What happens if a fixed-term contract expires during pregnancy or maternity leave?
If you meet the eligibility requirements above, your employer must pay Statutory Maternity Pay, even after your fixed-term contract expires.
If an employee is made redundant during their maternity leave, that leave will end. However, if the employee is eligible for Statutory Maternity Pay, they are entitled to receive it for the remainder of the full SMP period (39 weeks).
If an employee is made redundant before their ‘qualifying week’ (the 15th week before the expected week of childbirth), they will not qualify for SMP. In this case, the employee may be able to claim Maternity Allowance.
What’s the difference between Statutory Maternity Pay and Maternity Allowance?
Statutory Maternity Pay is the legal minimum pay you are entitled to if you meet the criteria, and is paid by your employer.
Maternity Allowance is a Government benefit payable to those who are not eligible for SMP, or if SMP is less than Maternity Allowance.
Statutory Maternity Pay ends when the employer has paid it for 39 weeks. It can stop early if, after your baby is born but before your maternity pay ends, you start working for a different employer who didn’t employ you during the qualifying week.
In this case, you may be eligible to claim Maternity Allowance from Jobcentre Plus.
Are you eligible for enhanced maternity pay on a fixed-term contract?
Enhanced maternity pay is an additional benefit provided by employers to employees on maternity leave. If offered, it pays more generously than Statutory Maternity Pay, which is mandated by law. A most common enhanced maternity pay offering is to pay employees full pay for several weeks or months, reducing to half or SMP for the remaining period.
It is up to the employer to decide whether an employee on a fixed-term contract can receive enhanced maternity pay; however, once your contract expires, this benefit will end, and you will receive SMP instead.
Some employers offer enhanced maternity pay as a day one right, but this is entirely at the employer’s discretion.
Can my contract be terminated while I’m on maternity leave?
Your employer has the right to terminate your employment contract, whether fixed-term or not, but your dismissal must be fair.
A fair dismissal means that you should not be dismissed because of your pregnancy or family-related leave (e.g. time off for antenatal appointments). This could lead to an unfair dismissal claim.
It is also possible to be made redundant while on maternity or parental leave; however, as with dismissal, your redundancy must not be a result of the pregnancy or statutory maternity leave. If you are made redundant during maternity leave, your employer has a legal duty to offer a suitable alternative job, if one is available. This applies from the time you notify your employer that you are pregnant or adopting.
Contact our maternity law solicitors
If you are concerned about your maternity or parental rights, or if you have been dismissed unfairly during pregnancy or parental leave, our employment lawyers can help. We also advise employers on issues related to maternity or paternity leave.
Call us on 0117 325 2929 or fill out our online enquiry form, and we will be in touch.