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Changes to maternity rights
 

Changes to Maternity Rights

These notes provide some basic details of the changes to employment law. It does not attempt to describe every detail, and should not be taken as an authoritative statement of the law.

Maternity rights for employees have changed. The new rights are set out in the Employment Relations Act 1999, and the Maternity and Parental Leave Regulations 1999 which come into force on 15 December 1999.

Women expecting babies on or after 30 April 2000 will benefit from the maternity leave changes.

 

What are the main changes to maternity rights?

Length of maternity leave

  • Pregnant employees are entitled to 18 weeks' ordinary maternity leave (previously 14 weeks), regardless of length of service;

  • Women who have completed one year's service with their employer (previously two years) are able to take additional maternity leave, which starts at the end of ordinary maternity leave and finishes 29 weeks after the birth (counting from the Sunday at the beginning of the week in which the baby was born).