Pregnancy-Maternity-Pregnancy leave
 

Hi there

I was wondering if anyone can offer me some advice please.

I work for a UK based company and therefore am governed by UK law.

I have recently had a baby and am currently on maternity leave, however my maternity leave is due to end in the next 6 months.

It is my company's policy for pregnant crew to be grounded from the time they find out on full pay (not sure if that is law or internal only, can an employer reduce one's salary while on pregnancy leave?).

What would happen if I were to fall pregnant again while on maternity leave, would my employer be obliged to put me back to on to pregnancy leave on 100% pay and then I go on to maternity leave again once the baby is born.

My company doesnt stipulate in any policy that I must first return to work after maternity leave so I was wondering if anyone has any experience or information on such matters/cases.

I would imagine your head of HR is the prime person to ask these questions to.
I can imagine however they're not going to be too pleased with you being on 100% pay while on pregnancy/maternity leave for a second time in a row.

In case they have issues with it do not hesitate to consult a lawyer. Better get one too early than too late. :)

But if it's the law then they'll have to suck it up.

Similar thing happened to a friend of mine. She went back to work after her first child and 6 months maternity leave, and 6 months unpaid maternity leave, and accrued leave (almost 57 weeks in total since she had gone off for maternity leave): within 4 weeks she found out that she was pregnant again! She took maternity leave immediately (even though she was not in an aviation industry) because she knew that her department were going to be made redundant en masse before she would have returned from maternity leave. It made sense to me, plus she got her full redundancy package!

Check with you union rep, and with HR.

I think we are more governed by EU law than UK law these days.

On the other thread:
Only 3.5% of pilots are female - surprise, surprise. Standing by for flak!

Thanks for your answers so far.

Its not so much the maternity leave I am unsure about, its whether there would be an issue of me going from the maternity leave I am currently on directly back to pregnancy leave and back onto 100% pay for the 9 months and then on to maternity leave again once the baby is born (as it is the company policy not to allow female crew to fly while pregnant).

sounds like a great way to "use" the company to me - perhaps one of the reasons why some companies are still hesitant to employ female staff.

What does it specify in your company maternity policy? They are legally required to have one.

In my own company, once grounded due to pregnancy, crew members receive 90% of their average salary over the preceeding 3 months. This lasts until commencing maternity leave, when they receive the first 6 weeks at 90% of their grounded pay and then statutory maternity pay until this is exhausted.

If a crew member were to fall pregnant again whilst on maternity leave (as in your case), then payment would be 90% of your monthly SMP until your second period of maternity commences fully and you are eligible to claim full SMP once more.

Different companies will have different policies, but in this industry, especially in the UK, I wouldn't imagine many employers will offer more than the law requires them to do.

as far as the CAA go you are of course supposed to tell as soon as you know and will be grounded for the first three months. Thereafter you are allowed to fly up untill six months and then you are grounded. Had we known for our children prior to the three month point we would of course have advised the relevant people ;)

Thanks weevil for your highly helpful and inaccurate posting.

I am not 'using' the company I work for, I am merely trying to make sure I get what I am legally entitled to, a bit like what the company gets out of me when it rosters me, when it schedules my duty and rest, when it pays me, when it holds me to account for my actions etc etc, so why am I 'using' the company when I seek only to receive what I am entitled to under the law and company policy on this matter?

I am not asking for special treatment!

I think what he is getting at is that you're receiving 100% pay for the foreseeable future without having to work for it.

Some people feel that is unfair but usually their opinions change once they have kids of their own.

You're absolutely right in demanding what is yours by law. I used to be a bit sceptical towards maternity leave myself. That is until my girlfriend got pregnant with our first daughter :)

Congratulations first.
 

I hope that Mother and Child are doing well. Miss Marple ask´s not for special treatment but.... I have a few very sensible personal questions:

Is it realy needed to have a second child? is your Company secure, is your future and the one of the Father secure? so you can afford a second Child? I just assume it is the second.... could be the third. Becoming a Parent is easy, beeing a Parent is more difficult.

I employed some Female´s 30 Years ago when I had my own enterprise and we had always put the humanity first, for both, Male and Female. But it was one of the Females who went to the Authority to ask for all the rights she has and for all the benefit´s she is entiteld for, my late Wife had treated he like her own Daughter at the time..... Result was, we got audited from the regulator and, as after all audit´s, there where some minor findings we had to correct to satisfy the Auditor, not the Females.... We did and spent more money on the Audit then on everything else with the result that we where disappointed and even a month before my Wife passed away she spoke about it again how disappointed she was.

Having right´s is important, getting them is not wrong, but how can you calculate the pay fair and equal? A male employee is getting sick for a certain amount of days per year.... theoretical. How many pregnancy´s do you calculate in a femals employee? Just asking here, I have seen both sides of the coin. A employee in a big company is a number in the statistic, easier to cope with the odd´s when he/she is not able to work for any reason. I see man calling in sick due to some exotic sports or hobbies they do and get hurt. The company and the co-workers have to cope with it and cover the time out. I rather cover a Woman when she is expecting, that is something contributing positiv to the society.

Just some food for thought I hope, again, best wishes for Mother and Child....

Fly safe and land happy ( after the leave )

NG

Hi NG

I suppose you could question how many children anyone should have, but we live in the UK and not China and would like to have two.

This will be our second child and we believe we can give two children a good life so will not plan to go for a third.

That's just our opinion, but since you asked I have furnished you with the answer.

I dont want to 'use' or take advantage of my employer as some kind weevil suggested earlier, I only want to be afforded what I am legally entitled to under law and from internal company policy.

I didnt make the rules, laws or policy, I just want to make sure I follow them to make sure I receive what I am entitled to.

I can understand the view that some will have that woman cant have it all, and there may well be something in that, however, people need to have children, some woman choose to have a career too, the laws and policies we currently have is all I can work with.

Indeed they do.
I would suggest that you quit your job, and let the company hire someone who actually might like a business career, instead of having a child or two.:rolleyes:

Maybe one way to make this fairer for the majority of the workforce is to suspend seniority accrual when the women is not on 90% maternity pay. At least that way hard working male pilots will get their commands a little sooner. My son, who lives in Sweden has a wife who has had three children, all about 2yrs apart, In Sweden I believe a women gets 90% pay for 2yrs. Imagine the cost to the state, and why the tax rate is 60%.

HA! I just can't believe some of the archaic and sexist opinions in this thread!! Seriously? How on earth can you guys sit there and try and claim authority on how many children someone can have? I can only assume all those do not to have any offspring of their own. Miss Marple isn't the first, and won't be the last. With more and more women flying I would have thought attitudes like this would be a thing of the past. It really is shocking that we have to work alongside some of you.

Thanks EGCC fo.

411A and Walnut, all I can add is that I can kind of understand why some folk , mostly men without children, might find the way females are treated with regards to pregnancy and maternity leave and pay unfair.

However, put it into context, women should have equal rights in all aspects in their job as men, right?

Obviously, it is women who have the children and that is a normal outcome of most marriages and is a requirement for the human race to continue.

So, it seems obvious to me that in order for women to have a job/career and have children they need to be afforded some kind of help and protection over and above what a man gets as he can help further the human race without having to carry and give birth to a baby.

Obviously there is abuse of this in some cases, but there is abuse of sick time etc carried out by men too, so are your views formed on the basis that women shouldn't have the same rights as a man while they fulfill their uniquely female job of having children?

I would ask, where does it end?
Having children is OK, provided the company does not have to keep open a job for you, later
IE: take all the time you desire for maternity leave, just don't expect to waltz right in and displace the person that had to be hired, while you were off, giving birth.
Equal for men/women or, if the woman deisres children, go to the back of the line, jobwise, when returning.
All this maternity leave nonsence can be carried too far, which then begins to affect other employees (have to work harder to let missy go have a baby) or...disadvantage the guy/gal who must be hired to replace missy, whilst she is on leave.
Some women game the system, and expect to be paid indefinitely while being absent.
Sorry, ain't no free lunch, somebody has to pay, and it usually is not the one missing.
One child OK, more than one...find another job.

PS: My wife agrees with me, totally, in this regard.

I respect your opinion and agree that when someone takes advantage of the system they should be stopped.

However, so long as I and other women respect the law and company policy, I don't feel that I am taking advantage of any system.

Now if you think the law needs to be changed because it is wrong, I suggest you become a politician and have a new bill passed, perhaps your wife could be your press agent as I am sure you will be receiving many letters from women who don't share your opinion.

Regarding the current law in the UK, an employer has to keep your position open for only 12 months after you have had a baby, so it is hardly, as you seem to have described, have a holiday for a couple of years and waltz back in and displace someone.

Do you also agree any man who injures himself while playing sport and has to be off work for any length of time should also have to find another job?

Finally, when did you suddenly become Chairman Mau and decide how many children people should be allowed before they have to leave a particular job?

By the way, my husband agrees with me, totally, in this regard.

MM

Of course she does, 411A. How old is she? 70 something?

Miss Marple, it's not maternity leave most are reacting to, it's just that it seems like you are trying to time it so as to make max profit from your company while you stay completely away from your job.

I simply don't understand why have a job if you aren't going to work for it. I don't argue your rights to have children - of course everyone is entitled to have children - but if you want to stay away from work and keep having them, it's simply my opinion that... you should do just that.

There is at least one person in my company who has been on maternity leave for the last 2 years or so, and it is common knowledge that nobody in the company thinks favourably of her - not so much that she is using the company (nobody really cares about that) but that the other employees feel hard done by, that they are working full time to get the same pay that the other employee is - who hasn't done any work with us for at least 2 years, not even office work.