press releases

Planning for maternity leave

24 March 2010

Many businesses, particularly small businesses, fear the prospect of staff taking maternity and paternity leave, but it needn’t be too problematic. The key is to be organised and plan for it, according to Tony Reynolds, head of business support at Cassons chartered accountants and business advisers.

He says: “When advised of a pregnancy some employers are inclined go into denial and to stick their heads in the sand. However, this is the time to start to deal with it.”

The first thing to consider is what will happen to the role and how it will be handled during the employee’s absence. It is extremely important to ensure that systems are in place so that the job can be driven by someone else. Effectively you need to move the dependence from the person to the role.

You need to consider whether any other members of staff could take on the role for a limited period, bearing in mind that there is plenty of time for training them. Failing this, you may decide you need to bring in temporary staff to fill the role.

Another option to consider is outsourcing the work, says Tony. “Here at Cassons, for example, we provide an outsourcing service for all payroll and back office accounts support which is ideal for providing maternity cover and means that you only pay for what you need.”

Maternity leave can be expensive so Tony advises business owners to start to save for it as soon as they are notified about a pregnancy. However, a business would never have a separate savings pot just to cover maternity/paternity leave – it is unlikely cash flow would allow for so much money to be put to one side. It would fall within general contingencies.

Tony recommends utilising “Keeping in touch” (KIT) days when the employee is away on maternity leave to help her keep in touch with the workplace and her colleagues, and ease her eventual return to work. These could, for example, be used to attend training courses or appraisal interviews. An employee is entitled to up to 10 KIT days during their maternity pay period without affecting their Statutory Maternity Pay.

Finally, parents have the right to ask for flexible working. “We certainly advise that it is better to be flexible and thereby retain a good member of staff, even when it means they will return to work part-time,” adds Tony.