Maternity/Paternity Packages

Posted by Clare Dodd on August 9, 2016 at 4:12pm in HR Policy

Hi All,

Would anyone be prepared to share with me what their company offers in terms of an enhanced maternity / paternity package and whether they have a policy to claw it back if the employee doesn't return or leaves within a certain period of time after it has been paid?

I am currently in the midst of reviewing our benefits package and would appreciate some feedback directly, especially if the claw back clause was an issue.

Thanks
Clare

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Replies

Amy Gardiner October 14, 2016 at 1:35pm

Hi Clare

I know this post is a couple months old but I am new to the DPG and was interested reading through your thread and though you might be interested to share my Company's Maternity pay.

Weeks 1 to 6 100% Weekly Wage

Weeks 7 to 39 50 % Weekly Wage

The Company then pay a return to work bonus of 20% of employees salary three months after they return to work.

Amy

We then
- Clare Dodd > Amy Gardiner October 27, 2016 at 9:02am
  
  Hi Amy,
  
  Apologies for the delayed response to your post.
  
  I'm due to sit down next week to discuss our benefits packages so your feedback is appreciated.
  
  Clare
- Sarah Loates > Amy Gardiner October 14, 2016 at 1:41pm
  
  Hi Amy
  
  That's really interesting re the bonus where I used to work they did something similar they paid enhance Mat pay (full pay for 18 weeks) but you only received this if you came back for 3 months if not it was downgraded to SMP.
  
  The reality was that most people came back worked the 3 months and then left.
  
  I was wondering how this would now fit with Shared Parnetal Leave?? Given the recent network rail case are you offering a bonus for the partners too as appreciate its got a bit more tricky!!
  
  All the best
  
  Sarah
  - Gosia K > Sarah Loates October 26, 2016 at 8:37pm
    
    Hi Sarah,
    
    Reading the post made me think of the recent ruling regarding network rail. It will be interesting to see how it impacts future policies.
    
    All the best
    Gosia
    - Sarah Loates > Gosia K October 26, 2016 at 10:01pm
      
      Hi Gosia
      
      Yes I agree although I think the Network Rail case was always going to happen!
      
      I do hope employers take a more sensible approach than just cutting enhanced maternity pay!
      
      All the best
      
      Sarah
Michelle August 14, 2016 at 3:55pm

Hi Clare,

Here is the UK list of maternity policies.

Hope it's useful!

http://mapper.uk.com/index.php/employers/

Michelle
- Clare Dodd > Michelle August 15, 2016 at 8:22am
  
  Hi Michelle,
  
  Thanks for sending this over and I haven't come across this on line before, or nothing this indepth anyway so it is a great help.
  
  As for maternity employees returning, due a an office move within the last 18 months, this has contributed to the staff not returning so it will be interesting when we have some staff go on maternity leave that are more local.
  
  Many thanks
  Clare
- Sarah Loates > Michelle August 14, 2016 at 7:11pm
  
  Thanks Michelle for sharing really interesting I didn't know you could get this sort of info online!
  
  Thanks
  
  Sarah
Michelle August 14, 2016 at 3:48pm

Hi Clare,

This is an interesting thread that you've started!

In my experience mainly public sector organisations offer the best maternity packages. In relation to your retention post-maternity, do you know why women don't return? In my experience poor maternity pay is usually the icing on the cake rather than the real reason why they leave. As part of your maternity review will you be looking at the additional support mums would get to help them transition back into work? This is an area where ROI would make a huge difference.

Re claw back I've never heard of a situation where a company have actually pursued it. I think most women that leave, work their notice to avoid this. Having said that I could see how it'd make a work environment very tense of a company did do this.

I always encourage employers to think about their investment in their maternity (& now spl) as a long term strategy that will pay off in the years to come.

There is a blog where someone has curated some maternity rates of pay. I'll try to find it for you.

If you need anymore advice, just let me know.

Michelle
Becky Black August 11, 2016 at 10:26am

Hi Clare,

Like Olivia, I am keen to follow this as it's something I've been looking into.

We're a business of c130 and at the moment we only offer the statutory leave/pay for maternity and paternity. At last years' benefits review I proposed a slight improvement on the stat, but it wasn't open for discussion; the Board weren't interested. I'm now doing this years' benefits review and am wondering whether to put forward a proposal or not...my suggestion was going to be:

Maternity
For the first 6 weeks, topping up salary to make 100% (we pay 10% on top of statutory 90%)

Paternity
One week paid, one week SPP (rather than having to use a weeks' holiday to avoid two weeks of SPP)

A caveat to both of these would be only people with at least 3 years' service can qualify for the enhanced payment; I'm hoping increasing the entitlement will make it more appealing to the Board as 1) how many people are likely to become eligible; not enough to make it a cost concern, and 2) by further rewarding length of service we will hopefully encourage people to stay with us longer (as retention is currently an issue).

I'll be keeping an eye out for further replies to your post to see what other companies offer.

Many thanks

Becly