Pregnancy maternity and adoption leave

For members in Lloyds Banking Group.

We’ve negotiated family friendly policies with Lloyds Banking Group and while we can't provide every answer here, let's take a look at some of the frequently asked questions about pregnancy, maternity, and shared parental leave - and don't forget you may be eligible to get a subscription free period from the union too.

Last updated: 05/09/2023

At Lloyds Banking Group in the UK, Occupational Maternity Pay (OMP) and Occupational Adoption Pay (OAP) is available from your first day at work, so there isn’t a minimum period you need to have worked, or a minimum period between being back at work before you can go off on a subsequent period of leave. You just need to give the right notice and provide your MatB1.

You’ll get 26 weeks' pay based on 100% of your relevant weekly earnings. After that you're entitled to Statutory Maternity Pay (SMP) for 13 weeks (if you're eligible). 

If you're not entitled to SMP, you may need to claim Maternity Allowance (MA). If this affects you, your payroll team should write and tell you once you’ve submitted your MatB1. Let the bank how much MA you can get and the bank will pay the difference so that you also get 100% of your relevant weekly earnings for the first 26 weeks.

You're entitled to take up to 52 weeks of leave and must take a minimum of 2 weeks immediately after the birth of your baby. You may also take off up to an additional 11 weeks before your baby is born.

No matter how much time you take off, the business provides 26 weeks of full pay and a further 13 weeks at the statutory rate (if you qualify for it). Maternity pay was increased from 20 to 26 weeks on the 1st of September 2023, but also applies retrospectively to babies born/children placed on or after 1st January 2023.

So that you can enjoy the paid time at home you had planned, if baby arrives early – between weeks 24-37 of pregnancy – the business will top up your full pay. Every week early in this period is another week of full pay - this is deducted from the remaining weeks of Statutory Maternity Pay as the maximum number of weeks of pay you can receive in total is 39.

For example, if your baby is born at week 35, instead of receiving 26 weeks at full pay, you will receive 28 weeks at full pay and 11 weeks at the statutory rate.

A partner that works for the business can also have these weeks as paid leave after they have used Paternity Leave. For example, if baby arrives at week 35, that is 2 extra weeks of paid leave to follow Paternity Leave.

If you're the main carer of your adoptive child you can take adoption leave. You'll be entitled to take up to 52 weeks of leave. You may also take off up to an additional 2 weeks before your child starts living with you. You can't access adoption leave if you are arranging a private adoption, becoming a special guardian or kinship carer or adopting a stepchild.

You’ll get 26 weeks' pay based on 100% of your relevant weekly earnings. After that you're entitled to Statutory Adoption Pay (SAP) for 13 weeks (if you're eligible).

No matter how much time you take off, the business provides 26 weeks of full pay and a further 13 weeks at the statutory rate (if you qualify for it).

Kinship care

Kinship care is where you take on a new primary caring responsibility for a child who is a relative or close family friend on what is expected to be a permanent basis because neither of the child’s birth parents are able to care for them, for the remainder of their childhood.

You will receive Occupational adoption leave and pay for 26 weeks based on 100% of your relevant weekly earnings – and the remainder is paid at the equivalent of the statutory rate for 13 weeks

To ensure you remain eligible for your maternity pay and leave, you must notify your manager by the end of the 25th week of pregnancy, although it’s best to do so sooner. The same notification is required if you’re a surrogate mother. For adoption, you should notify your manager no later than 7 days after being matched with a child.

During your pregnancy if you’re ill and can’t work either as a direct result of pregnancy or indirectly (such as being unable to take medication you would normally take) this should be recorded as a 'pregnancy related absence'. You’ll be paid at the sick pay rate available to you, but the absence will not be used for the purposes of the bank's wellbeing prompts in the health wellbeing and attendance policy.

In summary, you shouldn’t be penalised for your absence. You should still follow the normal absence reporting procedures for your part of the business, and the absence should be recorded on Workday.

If you’re unable to work due to a pregnancy related illness during the last 4 weeks before your baby is due, this normally triggers the start of your maternity leave.

There are times when things don't go according to plan and you're faced with the loss or bereavement of your child (such as through miscarriage or other pregnancy-related or parental loss).

If you're affected by this, you'll be granted paid compassionate leave. Bereavement and loss can affect everyone differently, so if you need more time, you manager will work with you to agree the best approach to take. Lloyds Banking Group has committed to helping you through this difficult time.

Still birth or late-term loss

This can be one of the most devastating experiences to go through, and the body and mind are geared up towards being a parent. Birthing parents are entitled to take a full period of maternity/shared parental leave (when in qualifying employment). Co-parents are also entitled to take parental leave or bereavement leave too. This applies after the 24th week of pregnancy.

• Tommy's provide information and support for anyone who has experienced the loss of a baby, including miscarriage, stillbirth, neonatal death, or other reasons.
• The Miscarriage Association offer lots of support, information and details on the support you should expect if you experience pregnancy loss.
• The NHS offer information and support on miscarriages, stillbirths and other pregnancy related loss.

Any holiday you've accrued before your leave starts can either be paid to you, or you can take that time off. Holiday continues to accrue while on leave, and you can decide how to use it closer to the time of your return. Options can include extending your leave or using it to go back to work on a phased basis.

You may decide you want to extend your maternity leave to give you as much time with your new baby as possible before returning to work. Here are some options:

• Taking holiday accrued during your maternity leave - you'll need to agree with your manager how much you wish to take.
• Parental leave - you can take up to 18 weeks (26 weeks for a child with a disability) of unpaid leave up until the child's 18th birthday.
• Sabbatical - this is a 1-12-month period of unpaid leave from the business. This option secures your role with a guaranteed right to return.
  
• Career break - this is a 6-month to 6-year period away from the business. You’re required to resign, and re-employment isn’t guaranteed. But should you find another role your periods of service will be linked.

Each option requires sufficient notice, and there are eligibility terms you may need to meet. You’ll find these in the specific policies on the banks intranet. Got questions? Chat to us and we’ll help you work through your options.

You may decide to have a further child while you're on leave, and this might mean you want to take periods of leave straight after each other. We've got some useful information on what happens, and how pay works in this scenario.

The first thing to know is that Lloyds Banking Group gives you a few different options you can consider if you don't wish to return in-between periods of leave.

• If the dates work, there might be little you need to do. You can take up to 52 weeks maternity leave following the birth of the first child in this scenario, and you can start the second period of leave up to 11 weeks before your due date.
• You can bridge gaps by extending your leave using your available holiday entitlement in-between the two periods of leave.
• For larger gaps, you can request a period of unpaid Parental Leave. This can also be combined with holiday entitlement as noted above.

We would recommend having a discussion with your manager as soon as possible to make sure you have time to make the choices that are right for you and your family.

Regardless of whether you return to work between period of leave, you'll be entitled to receive maternity leave and pay. Your maternity pay will be calculated on your basic salary at the point that your next period of leave begins using the Relevant Weekly Earnings calculation. Your basic salary will include an increase in pay you may be due as part of pay reviews that may have occurred during leave. As a result, your pay entitlements should be similar across periods of leave.

We often get asked what rights you have if you're pregnant or on maternity leave, so this section is dedicated to answering some of those frequently asked questions.

There is a ‘protected period’ from the start of pregnancy to the end of maternity leave. This doesn't mean that an employer can't make you redundant, but it means they must follow strict rules.

• You can't be made redundant because you're pregnant or on maternity leave.
• You can still be made redundant if there is a genuine redundancy, and the reason you've been selected is for another reason not linked to your pregnancy or maternity leave.
• If you're on maternity leave, you have extra protection should a genuine redundancy arise. An employer must provide you with suitable alternative work, if there is some, and give you priority for placement ahead of other employees. This protection ends when maternity leave ends, meaning you're not protected during extended leave periods after your maternity leave has ended (for example taking your accrued holidays or other periods of leave).

Find out more in our interactive eBite guidance.

You can share your entitlement to maternity or adoption leave and pay with your partner. You decide how much of your leave you want to take and notify the business that you're ending your leave early so you can share the remainder with your partner.

Sharing your leave can look quite complicated, but here are a couple of things to note:

• You may share as much or as little of your maternity or adoption leave and pay with your partner. For maternity leave, this is subject to you taking the minimum of 2 weeks paid leave immediately after the birth of your baby.
  
• Where both you and your partner work for the bank, there is a maximum of 26 weeks of full pay available to each of you. This includes your partner’s right to 6 weeks paid leave (so, for example, you could share up to 14 weeks of your paid leave with your partner).
  
• If your partner works for another organisation, then the rate of pay they’ll be entitled to is whatever their employer offers and not what you're entitled to.
  
• If the partner works for the bank, and the mother does not, 26 weeks of full pay are available inclusive of the entitlement to 6 weeks paternity leave (paternity leave can be taken and spread over the first 12 months from the birth of the baby).
• Adoption leave applies to the main carer only, but leave can still be shared with a partner.

The government has launched online tools to help expectant parents and their employers to navigate Shared Parental Leave & Pay statutory entitlements. Check out our article on shared parental leave and pay for further information and support.

You are entitled to 10 keeping in touch days without ending your maternity, adoption or shared leave. These are paid days and could be used for attending team meetings, completing training or even as part of your transition back into work. You should confirm with your manager how and when you want to use these days, but you don't have to planned them out in advance. You'll be paid a full day, regardless of how many hours you attend work for on a given day.

We recommend speaking to your manager around 8 weeks before your agreed return to work date to discuss your plans, and if you're wanting to return earlier you should also give your manager 8 weeks' notice. You may also want to discuss a phased return to work which would involve using some of your accrued holidays, or you might want to consider a change to your working pattern.

If you fall ill at the point of your return, you'll receive sick pay once your period of leave has ended.

If you decide not to return to work at the end of your maternity, adoption or shared leave, you will not be required to pay back any of the occupational pay you may have received. You need toresign from your employment in the normal way, giving the correct period of notice - that's it.

If you need further support or guidance, contact your local Accord officer to discuss further, feel free to chat to us through our online chat (available Monday-Thursday 8:30-17:30 & Friday 08:30-17:00), or drop us an email to [email protected].