For the purposes of leave arrangements, a distinction is drawn between the investigation phase (for example, determining whether there is a disease affecting fertility), and the treatment itself:
Please consult HR’s Guidance note on Leave for Fertility Treatment, available from: https://workspace.imperial.ac.uk/hr/Public/Procedures/Family/Leave%20for%20Fertility%20Treatment.pdf, which sets out leave entitlement and eligibility criteria.
The start of Maternity Leave must be no earlier than the 11th week before your expected week of childbirth. Your GP or midwife will confirm your expected week of childbirth by issuing a MAT B1 certificate which is normally issued no earlier than 20 weeks before your expected week of childbirth. This certificate must be sent to your Senior HR Administrator, as soon as you of staff receives it, so that Maternity Leave and Pay entitlements can be confirmed.
If you are absent from work during the 4 weeks before your expected week of childbirth due to pregnancy-related illness, your maternity leave period starts automatically, even if the birth takes place before the start of the 11th week before the birth was originally expected. Information on sickness absence prior to maternity leave can be found in the Maternity Leave FAQs.
No. You may take as much, or as little of your unpaid entitlement as you wish. Alternatively, you may choose not to take any unpaid leave following your paid maternity leave.
The only stipulation is that you must take a minimum of 2 weeks’ Compulsory Maternity Leave immediately after the date of childbirth.
Please view our ‘Leave for Fertility Treatment – Guidance for staff and managers’ document, available from: https://workspace.imperial.ac.uk/hr/Public/Procedures/Family/Leave%20for%20Fertility%20Treatment.pdf
In the case of a premature birth, maternity leave and pay will starts on the day after the date of birth. Managers should be notified as soon as possible after the birth. This notification should also be copied to the Senior HR Administrator.
The Court Service will provide you with a Loss of Earnings form. Your line manager will need to check your daily pay rate with Payroll Team and complete the form for the appropriate amount. You will receive payment and a remittance advice from the court for the amount you are being reimbursed. You will then need to make a personal cheque payable to Imperial College and send this, with your remittance advice from the court, to the Payroll Team.
Once you notify your line manager and HR of the date you wish to start your leave, you can change this date provided you notify your manager and HR of the new start date by whichever is the earlier of:
or
Where it is not reasonably practicable for you to give this much notice (for example, in the case of maternity if the baby is born early and you have to start your leave straight away) then you do not have to give this notice. In these circumstances you should inform the College of the revised date as soon as is practicable.
Once a member of staff has notified her line manager and HR, in writing, of the intended start date of maternity leave, the Senior HR Administrator will, within 28 days, write to the member of staff to notify her of her rights and of the date on which her maternity leave will end.
If your partner is attending appointments for ante-natal care and you wish to accompany them to these appointments, you are encouraged to discuss this with your line manager to establish if it is feasible for you to work flexibly on or immediately prior or after the day of the appointments you wish to attend with your partner.
You must give your line manager as much notice as possible of these appointments. The decision to allow you to accompany your partner to an appointment is at your line manager’s discretion, therefore if your request is not granted by your line manager there is no avenue for appealing against this decision.