Simply-docs Ensure Small Businesses Take More Than Just Baby-steps to Tackle Recent Changes to Maternity Leave
With new maternity laws coming into effect last year, all pregnant women who gave birth on or after April 1st 2007 are subject to new maternity leave rights. With many small businesses unsure of how to deal with pregnant employees and unaware of what a pregnancy risk assessment entails, Simply-docs have provided an up to date set of legal documents and templates dealing with everything from statutory maternity pay to the employee's rights relating to her return to work after her maternity leave. For more information on the maternity laws and to access the new documents, please visit http://www. simply-docs. co. uk/CustomPage. aspx? customPageID=28
London, UK (PRWEB) May 24, 2007
Last month saw the first wave of babies to be born whose mothers have been given extended maternity leave rights under last year's Work and Families act. With many small businesses struggling to cope with the changes highlighted in the new maternity leave laws, Simply-docs have extended their selection of legal documents for businesses to cover all the intricacies of the law. The documents vary from factual outlines of what responsibilities a company has to their pregnant worker, to sample templates of letters and forms required by both the employer and the employee.
"Keeping up with and applying the latest changes to employment law, staff pregnancy and maternity leave can be an expensive and arduous task," said Iain Mackintosh, managing director at Simply-Docs. "It can get even more expensive if you don't follow the correct procedures and documentation, though," he warned.
The main changes the law enforces relate to how much maternity leave an employee is entitled to. All pregnant women are now entitled to 52 weeks of maternity leave regardless of how long they have been with a company, where previously women needed to have completed 26 weeks' continuous service 15 weeks before the expected date of childbirth to qualify. The 52 weeks maternity leave is divided into two sections of 26 weeks each, called 'Ordinary Maternity Leave' (OML) and 'Additional Maternity Leave' (AML).
For 39 weeks, it is within the employee's maternity leave rights to receive either statutory maternity pay or maternity allowance, depending on how long she has been with her employer for. If she qualifies for statutory maternity pay, the pregnant employee will receive 90% of her wages for the first 6 weeks of her maternity leave, dropping to £112.75 per week (or maintaining 90% of the weekly wage, if that is lower) for the remaining 33 weeks.
Another area covered by the laws includes an employee's rights regarding her return to work (she is entitled to return to her existing job if only undertaking ordinary maternity leave, while entitled to a job with no less seniority or pay if taking additional maternity leave). It also deals with the pregnancy risk assessment test and the introduction of optional keeping in touch ("KIT") days. KIT days allow the employee to return to work for a maximum of 10 days for important functions or to ease herself back into routine at the end of her maternity leave. For more information on employment laws and pregnancy, visit http://www. simply-docs. co. uk/CustomPage. aspx? customPageID=28 (http://www. simply-docs. co. uk/CustomPage. aspx? customPageID=28)
Currently, a subscription to Simply-doc's employment folder, which includes all documents covering the new maternity leave laws and 120+ other UK legal documents, costs just £35 + VAT per year. With documents being constantly updated in line with new legislation, it is a good way for small businesses to keep updated and compliant with the myriad of business laws and to avoid the confusion that the new maternity laws seem to have caused.
About Simply-docs:
Simply-docs (http://www. simply-docs. co. uk (http://www. simply-docs. co. uk)) is the latest fulfilment of Simply-4-Business Limited's mission to enable small and medium enterprises and owner managers to put in place correct documentation and procedures, and then to keep pace and comply with regulatory change at an affordable cost.
The company provide over 950 business and legal documents and templates, covering all aspects of business from employment law to health and safety regulations. By providing these legal documents (with content provided by leading commercial lawyers, HR and health & safety consultants) at an affordable price, the company intends to help small businesses avoid costly breaches of regulation and legal action.
Contact:
Iain Mackintosh, Managing Director
Simply-docs
Tel: 020 8878 7236
Http://www. simply-docs. co. uk (http://www. simply-docs. co. uk)
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