February 16, 2011
By Staff Reporter
The company has highlighted four potential traps for small businesses. They are as follows.
Women have the right to start maternity leave at the beginning of the 11th week before the birth of their child.
If a woman is absent from work because of a pregnancy-related illness after the beginning of the fourth week before the expected birth, she is able to automatically start maternity leave.
Employers must notify employees about the date when their maternity leave will end within 28 days of being told of the start of the maternity date leave. Employees must tell employers that they are pregnant no later than the end of the 15th week before the expected childbirth.
Asocia Employment Service’s legal team have pointed out that: “Companies should be aware of these changing laws or they may find themselves unknowingly denying an employee her rights and paying for it in a tribunal.”
“Such is the ferocity of the lucrative ‘no win, no fee’ legal market, that a disgruntled, pregnant employee can be expected to have several practices competing to give her legal advice.”