Managing maternity leave | Contact

Before your employee starts her maternity leave it is good practice to discuss:

• How much contact you will have.
• What form the contacts will take, for example by email, access to the intranet, letter or telephone call.
• What the contacts should cover, for example about staff leaving, new staff who have joined, training events, social activities.
• Whether your employee wants to receive news bulletins. 
• When an appraisal will be held, if it is due during her maternity leave.
• If she wants to take part in any training.
• Keeping In Touch days and the pay for such days.
• Other information that the employee would like to receive.

It is good practice to explain to the employee that:

• There will be times when you are legally required to contact her, for example if there is a redundancy situation or where there are developments that affect her job, promotion possibilities, new job opportunities.
• She is not under any obligation to work during maternity leave.
• If she wants to attend training, you will provide details of any training taking place and she should say what training she can attend.
• What she will be paid for any days worked.
• Apart from times when you must contact the employee, you will provide as much, or little, contact as agreed.

You can ask an employee to work, but you cannot require an employee on maternity leave to work .You must not treat her unfavourably if she does not want to work. Working during maternity leave is voluntary for both employer and employee.

You are not legally required to pay for Keeping In Touch days. However, if an employee is working it would be good practice to pay her for the day she works. You can offset any contractual pay against statutory maternity pay.