Denmark, where women receive 28 weeks leave on 90% of salary equivalent to 22 weeks on full pay, currently ranks top in Europe, according to the latest available data. In contrast, the majority of working women in Britain qualify for a package which is equivalent to just 8 weeks leave on full pay.
According to United Nations statistics, British maternity rights are even more miserly than those in dozens of African, Asian and Latin American countries including, for example, Angola, Congo, Brazil, Peru, Afghanistan, India and Bangladesh.
Surprising consolation perhaps is the fact that pregnant women and new mothers fare even worse in the US and Australia where there is no legal right at all to paid maternity leave. In the US, working mothers (or fathers) employed by companies with 50 or more workers are entitled to take a total of only 12 weeks unpaid leave for the birth of a child. Internet chatrooms on US parenting websites are rife with the woes of new mothers forced for financial reasons to return to work within a month or so of giving birth.
In Australia, unpaid parental leave is available to all workers for 12 months, but only 17% of female workers receive paid maternity leave from their employers.
In the UK, maternity rights are a complex and confusing minefield. "Trying to understand just exactly what you can claim when you find you are pregnant is hugely complicated," says national charity Maternity Alliance, which has just published updated versions of its invaluable factsheets on maternity rights for both working and non-working women.
Working mothers
You have a range of statutory, work-related rights both before and after your baby is born. A key right is that it is against the law for your employer to treat you unfairly, dismiss you or select you for redundancy for any reason connected with pregnancy, childbirth or maternity leave.
Pregnant women are entitled to time off work for antenatal checks without loss of pay. You also have a right to alternative work or time off on full pay if your job is hazardous and you are currently pregnant, gave birth within the last six months or are still breastfeeding.
Ordinary Maternity Leave (OML)
All women employees can claim 18 weeks basic maternity leave with the right to return to exactly the same job, no matter whether you are full-time, part-time, the length of time you've worked for your current boss or whether you were pregnant when you started work. You can choose when your maternity leave begins, but the earliest it can start is 11 weeks before the expected week of childbirth (EWC). By law, OML must include at least two weeks (or four weeks if you work in a factory) after the birth to protect the health and safety of mother and baby. Forthcoming changes: From April 2003, OML will go up to 26 weeks.
Additional Maternity Leave (AML)
If you've been continuously employed by the same employer for at least one year by the eleventh week before the EWC, you qualify for AML, which starts at the end of OML and lasts for 29 weeks from the birth. Forthcoming changes: From April 2003, women with 26 weeks service by the fifteenth week before the EWC will be entitled to AML which will last for 26 weeks from the end of OML giving a maximum leave entitlement of one year.
Statutory Maternity Pay (SMP)
This is 18 weeks pay at 90% of your average pay for six weeks followed by the 'basic rate' of SMP, currently £62.20 per week, for 12 weeks. You will get SMP, whether or not you are going back to work, if you meet all the following conditions:
You've worked for the same employer for at least 26 weeks by the end of the 'qualifying week' of your pregnancy (the fifteenth week before the EWC).
You actually receive at least £72 per week before tax on average in the eight weeks (if you are paid weekly) or two months (if you are paid monthly) up to the last pay day before the end of your qualifying week.
You stop work because of pregnancy.
Forthcoming changes
From April 2002, the SMP basic rate will go up to £75 a week. SMP will last for 26 weeks and the basic rate will go up to £100 a week. The calculation period for SMP will also change, from the eight to the 26 weeks before the fifteenth week before the EWC. Adoptive parents will also be paid for adoption leave for the same period and at the same flat rate as SMP.
Maternity Allowance (MA)
If you are not entitled to SMP, you may be entitled to MA, a benefit for women who have changed jobs during pregnancy and/or are self employed or have had periods of low earnings or unemployment during their pregnancy. This is payable for 18 weeks (also going up to 26 weeks from April 2003) at two rates, depending on your average earnings during a test period. The standard rate is currently £62.20 per week (this is also going up to £100 a week from April 2003).
