Madison has experience dealing with both contentious and non-contentious employment law matters. Madison advises a range of employers across various sectors on all aspects of employment law. Madison’s practice area includes advisory work and corporate transactions.
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This month's question:
Is it compulsory for an employee to give their employer 8 weeks’ notice, should they wish to return to work early from maternity leave?
In Northern Ireland, employees who take ordinary maternity leave (“OML”), comprising the first 26 weeks of statutory maternity leave, and/or additional maternity leave (“AML”), comprising the final 26 weeks have the right to return to work.
In circumstances where an employee takes the full statutory maternity leave (52 weeks), employees are not required to give a return to work notice to their employer, however it is helpful to maintain transparency throughout maternity leave.
If an employee intends to return to work earlier than the end of her AML period, the employee is required to give 8 weeks’ notice of the date she intends to return to work. Any return to work before the end of the AML period requires 8 weeks’ notice, therefore if an employee intends to return to work before the OML period, the employee is required to give 8 weeks’ notice.
If an employee attempts to return to work without complying with the statutory 8 weeks’ notice requirement, an employer is entitled to postpone the employees return to work to a date that secure the 8 weeks’ notice requirement. Employers are not entitled to postpone an employee’s return to work period to a date after the end of the AML period.
If an employee has already given notice of her return to work, or if her return has been postponed by the employer because she did not give the required eight weeks’ notice, any subsequent change to her return date also requires notification. If the employee now wants to return earlier than the original return date, she must give the employer at least eight weeks’ notice of the new date. If she wants to return later than the original return date, she must give at least eight weeks’ notice ending on the original return date. The term “original return date” means either the date the employee originally notified to the employer or the date to which her return was postponed.
Employers are required to notify an employee of the end date of her AML once they have been informed of the start of her OML. This notification must be given within 28 days of receiving the relevant information or within 28 days of the start of her OML, depending on how the employee provided notice. Once the employer has provided this notification, the employee is required to give at least eight weeks’ notice if she wishes to return to work early. However, if the employer fails to notify the employee of the end date of her AML within the statutory timeframes, the employee is not obliged to provide eight weeks’ notice before returning early.
This article was provided by Madison Bowyer, an Associate in the Employment Law Group at Arthur Cox NI.
T:+44 28 9026 5886
E: Madison.bowyer@arthurcox.com
https://www.arthurcox.com/
