Law at work 2020 - the trade union guide to employment law (July 2020)

Chapter 9

Statutory maternity leave start date

[ch 9: page 318]

A woman can start her statutory maternity leave any time from 11 weeks before the start of the week the baby is due. If she is off work because of pregnancy in the four weeks before her maternity leave is due to start, the employer can require her to start her leave early. Sometimes employers agree to overlook odd days of pregnancy-related absence during this period.


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