Family leave glossary
A summary of the most common terms and abbreviations that are used in family leave schemes
Expected Week of Childbirth - the week (starting on the Sunday) in which the baby is due.
Keeping in Touch days (during maternity/adoption leave) – up to 10 days in which an employee on maternity or adoption leave can work without automatically ending their leave.
The form a GP or midwife issues after the 21st week of pregnancy which is proof you are pregnant.
Maternity Allowance - a benefit which is provided by the state at nationally set rates, which may be payable if an individual does not qualify for Statutory Maternity Pay. Individuals who are eligible apply directly to JobCentre Plus.
Refers to birth mothers in the guidance and statutory schemes (in cases of adoption the equivalent is ‘primary adopter’).
Ordinary Maternity Leave - the first 26 weeks of maternity leave.
Ordinary Paternity Leave. This is now an obsolete term referring to a previous statutory scheme which under which two kinds of Paternity leave (Ordinary and Additional Paternity Leave - OPL and APL) were available. After the introduction of Shared Parental Leave, APL was withdrawn and OPL is now referred to as simply Paternity Leave.
The one or two people who will share the main responsibility for the child’s upbringing and who may be either the mother, the father, or the mother’s partner if not the father, or adoptive parents. This is inclusive of same sex couples.
Refers to the mother’s/primary adopter’s partner, eg spouse, civil or long-term partner (including same-sex couples), but who is not a relative, such as a sibling, child, parent etc. Only one partner can be recognised for these purposes.
Leave that is available to the father, or partner of the mother (including same-sex couples) for either one or two consecutive full weeks. It cannot be taken in odd days nor can it be taken as two separate weeks at different times. The leave has to be taken within 56 days of the date on which the child is born/placed for adoption.
Refers to the designated primary parent in an adopting couple.
For statutory maternity, paternity, adoption and shared parental pay purposes, the qualifying week is the 15th week before EWC (when a woman is approx. 25 weeks' pregnant). To qualify for statutory family pay an employee must have 26 weeks continuous service with their employer at the qualifying week. Until 31 December 2019 in order to qualify for the University's contractual family leave benefits employees needed to have 26 weeks continuous service at the qualifying week. With effect from 1 January 2020 the University changed its family leave rules and this qualifying length of service criterion no longer applies to the contractual scheme. All staff who have started work with the University, have not yet started their family leave and intend to return to work after their leave, will be eligible for the contractual family leave schemes (with the exception of Shared Parental Leave which requires both parents to meet statutory scheme eligibility criteria). Details of how this applies to each scheme are available in the scheme guidance.
Statutory Adoption Pay – a benefit which is provided by the state at a nationally set rate, paid by the employer and administered through HM Revenues and Customs (HMRC).
Statutory Shared Parental Pay – a benefit which is provided by the state at a nationally set rate, paid by the employer and administered through HM Revenues and Customs (HMRC).
Statutory Maternity Pay – a benefit which is provided by the state at a nationally set rate, paid by the employer and administered through HM Revenues and Customs (HMRC).
Statutory Paternity Pay – a benefit which is provided by the state at a nationally set rate, paid by the employer and administered through HM Revenues and Customs (HMRC).
Shared Parental Leave.
Shared Parental Leave keeping in touch days – up to 20 days in which an employee on shared parental leave can work without automatically ending their leave.
