Our guidance on pregnancy and maternity equality at work

Last updated: 24 Jan 2024

We want all members to have the opportunity to develop themselves and achieve in their working lives, while successfully balancing home and work.

To qualify for shared parental leave, complex eligibility criteria and notification requirements must be met, which we cover in an equality briefing.

We have produced guidance for negotiators and representatives on alternative working patterns available that contribute to good work-life balance policies, including good practice checklists and examples of where the policies work well.

Our guidance on flexible working and work-life balance has been brought together into a model policy to assist negotiators and representatives.

We have made formal submissions to the government setting out our policies on work and parents. We have identified the following three priorities:

  • Enhanced maternity leave and paternity/maternity support leave with pay, enabling parents to spend valuable time with their baby. This would benefit the health and well-being of parents as well as their babies
  • Rights for both parents and carers to work reduced or flexible hours, encouraging a balance between home and work responsibilities. This should be a statutory right, since it has been shown that voluntary practices do not work
  • Paid parental leave and shared parental leave with flexible implementation, also allowing parents to balance home and work responsibilities.

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If you have further questions about this contact us for more help.