Stephanie Costford explains: the new provisions and law from a HR perspective
Amendment 8 to the Employment (Jersey) Law 2003 came into force on 1 September 2015. It came in at the same time as the sex (and related characteristics) anti-discrimination regulations and, as a result, employers are faced with a big piece of new legislation with which they need to comply.
As a young female, this amendment has given me some new rights, such as maternity leave and the right to my previous role after maternity leave. Below is a brief summary of Amendment No. 8:
- Expectant mothers will be entitled to two weeks of compulsory maternity leave, which will be paid.
- If an employee has been working for the employer for less than 15 months, beginning with the expected week of childbirth, they will receive an additional six weeks ordinary maternity leave, giving a total of eight weeks maternity leave.
- Conversely, if an employee has been working for the employer for more than 15 months, beginning with the expected week of childbirth, they will receive an additional 16 weeks ordinary maternity leave, giving a total of 18 weeks maternity leave.
- All expectant mothers are entitled to attend ante-natal appointments, and should be paid.
- As of 1 September 2015, all employees will also have a right to two weeks unpaid parental leave.
- Parental leave can be taken as two consecutive weeks or as two separate weeks – so long as it is taken within an eight-week period of the birth.
- Finally, employees will also have access to statutory adoption leave, which is similar to the maternity provisions, although all leave is without pay.
As with all statute provisions, employers may decide to use their discretion and provide more benefits over and above the law.
There are various processes which employers and employees need to be mindful of to comply with legislation.
There are also new flexible working provisions which came in on the 1 September 2015, which we will cover in another blog post.
With so much coming in, I think most employers will start to panic, so LAW is doing all it can to help our clients understand the implications and work through the necessary changes. We also provide training to all staff so they are familiar with their legal obligations.
If you are an employer and you need our advice, please do not hesitate to get in contact.
For assistance or more information, please email: enquiry@lawatworkci.com
