Antenatal paid time off

It’s definitely the law, you aren’t allowed to discriminate against women for having children !!

As above, its the law that you have to be given paid time off for antenatal appointments.

Ohh.. I didn't know this. This is uk based, right? I've had a few appointments since March & I'm sure I haven't been paid for them.

Definitely the law!! How awful of them

Thank you ladies. I literally just off of the phone with the corporate HR, who have confirmed I should always get the time paid. My manager told me this morning that the time will be coming out of my annual leave or my maternity leave days allowance. Thankfully I’ve been sent a reference letter from HR also

Is this the same for part time employees? I’ve overtaken holiday as I wasn’t told how much holiday I have on part time hours. My employer wants to deduct 5 days holiday from my pay just before I go on maternity leave. I usually make the time up, including antenatal appointments. But they’ve hired a full time admin to cover me while I’m on maternity leave, increased her hours and will be increasing her hours again next month. But said I cannot make the time up as I usually do because the other admin covering me is increasing her hours. I plan to go on maternity leave mid July.

Hey hun I work in HR! Your paid antenatal appointments should absolutely NOT be coming out of any holiday entitlement you have or maternity leave. It is separate and the law that they must pay you for any time off for antenatal appointments. This is for both full time and part time employees. As long as your employer is aware of your pregnancy and the appointments are for antenatal purposes they cannot refuse the time off or paying you, you’re protected under the 9 protected characteristics of the equality act 2010. Please see below link for further guidance and raise a grievance dispute if your employer force you to use any holiday entitlement not maternity leave entitlement, as it is illegal. Employers all follow ACAS guidance and they’re the middle persons between employers, employees and employment tribunal 🙂 https://www.acas.org.uk/your-maternity-leave-pay-and-other-rights/time-off-for-pregnancy-appointments

You can also contact ACAS for free and impartial advice on any employment issues

@Olivia you shouldn’t have to make any time up if you’re employer is aware of your pregnancy/ the antenatal appointments. If you need to time off for them, they should be paid as full days regardless of how long the appointments last and you also do not need to provide proof of the length of the appointments. You should never have been asked to make back up any time at all. Antenatal appointments also include any recommended antenatal class as from your midwives etc. if you’ve overtaken holiday which is even as a result of your employer’s negligence for not informing you, that repayment should be agreed with you on how you plan to repay/ how much you can afford to repay back. It can essentially be completely separate from your usual pay as well. You could also argue repaying back via a grievance, as it’s a fault of your employer not you.

Doesn’t matter what hours you work you are entitled to the time off for appointments. And this most definitely should not be coming out of your holiday or maternity leave.

@Andriana where can I read up about being paid the full day? I just sent my employer an email. I've had 4 appointments this year, she asked the duration, I said roughly an hour each, she said she'll pay me 30 mins travel time each way, so I'm bring paid for 8 hours in total & I was grateful (LOL) not knowing I can be paid for the whole day. I'd love to read more so I can send it to them. They really should be teaching shit like this cuz soo many people are unaware. Thank you for your insightful knowledge girl 👐🏾💜

@Andriana thank you so much!!!

@Dani✨ so there isn’t any specific written guidance around being paid for the full day/ length of your appointment. The idea behind this is because appointments can last a lot longer than planned, especially if via nhs. Someone may go in for a routine midwife app that may usually take 20 mins but delays always happen with appointments because clinics never run on time. I had this experience literally yesterday where my clinic was running 2 hours behind. There is no law that states you have to prove the length of time of your appointments so your employer have to take your word for it. Of course if your appointment doesn’t run over then you’re expected to return to work or work from home if the commute back to work would cause further delays etc that’s presuming you can do your job from home etc. the guidance only states it’s a good idea to talk to your employer about how long your app may take but it is not mandatory and shouldn’t be forced by them

@Dani✨ the only proof your employer can ask you for is just confirmation of the actual antenatal appointments but not the duration of them because like I said, things may not always go to plan and delays happen. To be honest all of this information is usually in your policies at work but employees never read all the jargon because it is very long to read through in all honesty 😂🙈 no worries at all hun 🙂 x

Is this for every state? How do I know if I’m eligible? I work at a corporate owned fast food restaurant.

@Kristina this is relating to UK law hun, not sure about US employment law, that’s a whole other ball lol although I am planning on studying US law after maternity, some employers over here have stores/ organisations based in the US so would be good to have that under my belt😝

@Andriana ohh that's good to know & makes sense tbh I'll definitely keep that in mind in future 😄.. I asked my employer last week for a copy of their policy & she said its embarrassing but they don't have one & directed me to the gov site 🤦🏾‍♀️😂..

@Dani✨ yeah don’t give them anymore information than they legally have to know 🙂. Also, have they don’t a risk assessment for you since you notified them of your pregnancy?.. and wow serious? Is this a small company? Wow even as a small company (if it is) they should have policies they follow, and there are certainly 3 policies that they must have UK law wise depending on how many employees they have. For example if there’s more than 5 employees they legally have to have a health and safety policy 🙈. They’re very silly if they don’t lol I’d be happily taking them to tribunal in the event I ever sustained injury at work 😂

@Andriana 😂 no, I'm quite private about my pregnancy, only give them surface level information. They're quite big, so yes it is strange they don't have a maternity policy in place, especially as there's so many women who've gone on maternity leave & there's 3 this year alone that I know of still to go 🤦🏾‍♀️don't think the other girls cared to ask as they seemed surprised with me asking 😂 can't wait to not return after maternity tbh. Counting down the days!

Yes it’s the law! I was taking my own annual leave for ages for my appointments (which now looking back I’m so annoyed about because I could have used to it to go on Mat leave earlier!) as I was wrongly advised by my boss to. I re read my contract and it states I should have paid time off for appointments. Now I just go to my appointments without saying anything and fill my timesheet in as normal 😂

@Dani✨ the legally have to do a risk assessment once you notify them of your pregnancy hun, you don’t have a choice with that or at least shouldn’t have🙈 it’s for your own safety and you can get reasonable adjustments with it, so things like later start or earlier finish times at work if you’re feeling tired during your pregnancy, specialist equipment like chairs, desks or other things that might help if you’re experiencing body pains etc, more regular breaks if you need to have breaks and they’re paid too.. risk assessments are basically for YOUR benefit not the company, and it’s there to give you anything you need during your pregnancy that will help you stay at work. In that case I’m very surprised they don’t have policies, did you ask HR themselves because your manager may have just been fobbing you off🙈🙈

@erin it’s just so annoying more than anything that these companies think they can get away with such things.

@erin you could raise a grievance with your employer to get your holiday entitlement back btw it’s not too late, as essentially it should have never been used. Raise a grievance with HR hun, I am confident they will give back that entitlement, works out to be the same because you’d be paid either way, so I would be very surprised if they do not uphold your grievance and if they don’t, I would advise you to go through ACAS as a dispute. They will want to settle long before it reaches tribunal to avoid the high costs in fees😂. You can raise a dispute with ACAS even whilst still fully employed 🙂

@Andriana Ah I don’t mind as much as I’m off onto mat leave next week anyways! And to be honest I think it was a genuine mistake on his end as I’m the first member of the team they’ve dealt with being pregnant so we were all trying to figure things out at the same time! But i think this is really great advice if there’s a next time or for anyone in a similar situation so thank you for all the info! It’s very useful and you’ve really helped a lot of ladies here 💕

@erin awww that’s a shame hun honestly because it should have never happened. A lot of women don’t speak up and that’s why employers never learn and the same thing goes on to happen to many others. Mistakes happen yes, but he should have double checked with HR before confirming to you because really if you wanted to, you would easily have a case against them irrespective of the genuine mistake on his part🙈 seems a shame to have used your holiday allowance for no reason but I completely understand you not wanting to bother. No worries at all, glad to help, im very passionate about employee rights even though im from an employer stance 🥰💗

@Andriana ohh sorry, I meant no in regards to giving them more information than they're entitled to. I've had 1 risk assessment done. I'm a carer, work in people's homes, so there isn't much that they can do really to make my day easier unfortunately. I just can't wait to stop working haha 😂.. Wish it was a work from home job as I've been struggling to get out of bed in the mornings. Really resenting my role🙈 lol

@Andriana Just want to give a shout out to Andriana as, although I'm not effected by the issues in this thread, reading through and seeing how she's been using her skills and knowledge to help other women is motivating to see! ^^this is women lifting women up and if we all do this we are a force to be reckoned with! I've seen some comments Andriana has made on other threads over the last few months and basically girl, you're a gem! Hope all you ladies continue to fight and get stuff sorted at work and good luck with the rest of your pregnancies and trimester 4. Xx

@Andriana hiya lovely, I had to leave early from work last week due to reduced movements, and the midwife telling me to go to triage asap, I left have a day and manager telling me it’ll either be unpaid or take is as half a days holiday ? Is this correct ?

@Lisa Andriana really is a gem! 💎💎💎

@Dani✨ what about requesting a later start time? Aww must be difficult, I honestly commend all health care workers becayse they’re not easy jobs at all 🥺. Don’t kill your self at work though, if it is truly becoming too much you can be signed off work for pregnancy related sickness (tiredness) on full pay and it cannot be used as any trigger points with employment policies relating ti work performance etc

@Lisa awww thank you so much lovely, really appreciate the kind words 🥰. Honestly just trying to help where I can.. too many women have been failed in the employment system🥺. I really hope the ladies do fight their corners even though I know it’s daunting to speak up but it’s honestly worth it. 💗

@Britney hey hun, this would still be classed as an antenatal appointment and should be paid. You were advised by a midwife to go in for an emergency appointment which is still covered under “pregnancy health checks”. Speak with HR and advise them what your manager is doing, they will correct management and if they don’t, raise a grievance with them and ACAS.

@Andriana I would absolutely love to take time off but they've said that the way they calculate the maternity leave pay is by how many hours I've worked in the months leading up. One of the girls worked up until 2 weeks before her due date, duno if that was the reason or if its cuz she wants longer with her baby but I ain't doing that. I'm tired n hanging on for dear life already 😂

@Dani✨ are you an agency worker or permanent employee sorry? Sorry it’s not funny but it’s the way you’re saying it 😂🤣 honestly I don’t blame you. I’m currently on sick leave and won’t be returning before maternity.. not about to Jill myself at work with the stresses of cases.. the tiredness in third trimester is worse than the first 🙈

@Andriana 😂 no, I'm a permanent employee. I wish I knew more about my rights n entitlements cuz my work really doesn't say shit unless it's brought to their attention. I'm jealous of you girl. I wake up every day dreading the day ahead n counting down until my next day off. Is this life? 🤔😂

I had something similar, have a look at these 2 links it s all the information you need. Good luck, you've got this 😉 https://www.acas.org.uk/your-maternity-leave-pay-and-other-rights/time-off-for-pregnancy-appointments https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/work/maternity-and-parental-rights/check-your-maternity-and-parental-rights/rights-while-pregnant-or-on-maternity-leave/rights-while-youre-pregnant-at-work/#:~:text=While%20you're%20pregnant%20you,re%20entitled%20to%20maternity%20leave.

It’s definitely paid by law but my work were exactly the same and refused

@Em was it refused by your line manager or HR? Does your company have a maternity policy ?

They physically made me go into the policy and re type it from paid to unpaid 🫣This was the company owner

@Em 😳😳😳 omg! Is it possible to go to citizens advice. To see what steps you can take. As paid antenatal care is in the law, it isn’t discretionary like sick pay for example.

I’m now off sick. So it doesn’t matter. Can’t be bothered with facing an argument etc with them. As had a lot going on x