Samaritans
Samaritans is a registered charity aimed at providing emotional support to anyone in emotional distress, struggling to cope, or at risk of suicide throughout Great Britain and Ireland, often through their telephone helpline.
Updated
9 Apr 2024
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CIVIC & SOCIAL ORGANIZATION
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Enhanced Maternity Policy
Enhanced Maternity Policy
Enhanced Maternity Policy
Enhanced Maternity Policy
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Policy Details
Samaritans offer enhanced Maternity pay for employees with 26 weeks of continuous service by the 15th week before EWC). Our enhanced maternity pay provision is as follows:
• 8 weeks full pay, inclusive of SMP, paid monthly via payroll
• 18 weeks at half-pay, inclusive of SMP, to be paid monthly via payroll
• 13 weeks SMP at the lower rate, using the current rate of SMP set out by legislation
• An additional payment equal to 6 weeks half-pay will be paid after completion of four weeks return to work, and calculated pro rata in the case of part-time employees, or those returning to reduced hours
How long do you have to work at the company to qualify?
26 weeks of continuous service by the 15th week before EWC
If you decide to cease employment whilst on leave what is the clawback policy?
If you do not return to work after maternity leave for a period of six months, the difference between Samaritans enhanced Maternity pay and the statutory payments paid to you will be owed to the organisation. You are required to make these payments within two months of your resignation date. This repayment does not apply if you are made redundant during this period
Policy Details
Samaritans employees who are partners of new mothers are entitled to take up to two weeks paid paternity leave for the purposes of supporting their partner and caring for a new baby. You will not receive statutory pay in addition to this entitlement.
Paternity leave also applies to any employee who is formally adopting a child but cannot be taken in addition to adoption leave. Should a couple jointly adopt a child then the employee will need to choose whether they wish to take Paternity leave or Adoption Leave as this leave entitlement is provided
regardless of the gender you identify with.
You must have been employed by Samaritans for at least 26 weeks continuous service by the 15th week before the week the child is due to be born or by the week in which an approved adoption match with the child is made, to be eligible for Paternity leave. The leave will be at full pay for qualifying employees (prorata for part-time employees). If you don’t qualify, you have the option of taking unpaid leave as agreed with your line manager or annual leave allowance.
How long do you have to work at the company to qualify?
At least 26 weeks continuous service by the 15th week before the week the child is due to be born or by the week in which an approved adoption match with the child is made, to be eligible for Paternity leave
If you decide to cease employment whilst on leave what is the clawback policy?
It isn't explicitly addressed in the policy. I would presume this means no? (tentatively)
Policy Details
7.1 Provision of Shared Parental Leave (SPL)
SPL allows the mother/adopter and her partner to share the maternity/adoption leave. You can opt to take SPL when you (or your partner) has ended, or given notice to end, Statutory Maternity or Adoption Leave.
Your SPL can be split in a ‘continuous’ way. This means that one partner takes a period of leave, and then the other partner takes the remainder of the leave. Alternatively, the leave can be ‘discontinuous’. This means that one partner takes some leave, then the other, and then the first partner takes some more
leave, etc. It could also mean that the two partners take some leave at the same time.
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The leave taken by the two partners when added together must not total more than 52 weeks, and must be taken in minimum units of one week.
Qualifying mothers and adopters continue to be entitled to maternity and adoption rights, but they may also be able to choose to end this early and exchange it for SPL and pay. Two weeks of paid paternity leave continues to be available to qualifying fathers and the partner of a mother or adopter.
7.2 Entitlement to SPL
To be eligible to take SPL, you must be eligible to take Ordinary Adoption Leave or Ordinary Maternity Leave or be entitled to Statutory Maternity Pay (SMP), Statutory Paternity Pay (SPP), Statutory Adoption Pay (SAP) or Maternity Allowance (MA). In addition, the mother or adopter must share responsibility for raising the child with the child’s father or her partner. In addition to these requirements, there is a ‘continuity test’ which is applied to determine
eligibility:
• One parent of the two who are applying to take SPL must have worked for the same employer for at least 26 weeks by the end of the 15th week before the week in which the child is due to be born (referred to as the Expected Week of Confinement – EWC), or the week in which the adopter is notified of being matched with a child. The parent must still be employed in the first week that SPL is to be taken.
• The other parent must have worked for 26 weeks in the 66 weeks leading up to the date the baby is due/placed, and must have earned above the Maternity Allowance threshold in 13 of those 66 weeks.
7.3 SPL Pay (ShPP)
Shared Parental Pay (ShPP) is identical to SMP and SAP. The amount is paid to whichever partner is taking the leave. As with SMP and SAP, it is payable for 39 weeks, even though the total leave can be up to 52 weeks. To be eligible for Shared Parental Pay (ShPP) you must pass the continuity test above, and have
earned an average of the lower earnings limit, or more, for the eight weeks prior to the 15th week before the EWC/week that the adopter is notified of the placement.
7.4 Notifying the organisation of your intention to take SPL
You are required to provide Samaritans with at least 8 weeks’ notice that you intend to take SPL. As long as there is some outstanding OML or OAL the employee can opt to take SPL at any time. If the request is to take a continuous period of SPL, we guarantee to support this request. However, we may need to reject a request to take a discontinuous period of SPL and ask for the leave to be taken as a continuous period of absence. You cannot make more than three requests for a block of leave.
You should provide the following information to Samaritans:
• how much leave is available
• how much leave you are entitled to take
• how much leave your partner is taking
• how you would like to take the leave
• your partner’s name, and confirmation that you are sharing childcare responsibility for the child
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• a signed declaration from the partner stating their name, address and NI number, that they satisfy the requirements for SPL and ShPP and that they agree to the employee taking SPL and ShPP.
Once this information has been provided, we may require the following supporting documentation:
• a copy of the child’s birth certificate
• the name and address of the partner’s employer or a declaration that the partner has no employer
You can change your mind later about how much SPL or ShPP you plan to take and when you want to take it, however you must give notice of any changes at least eight weeks before the start of any leave.
7.5 Commencing SPL
If you are considering taking SPL, pleases contact the HR team to arrange an informal discussion as early as possible regarding your potential entitlement and plans. Once the HR department receives the leave booking notice a response will be provided no later than the 14th day after the leave request was made. All notices for continuous leave will be confirmed in writing.
The mother, or person on adoption leave, must either:
• return to work, thus ending any maternity or adoption leave
• Give their employer ‘binding notice’ of the date when they plan to end their leave (you cannot normally change the date you give binding notice)
The employee can start SPL while their partner is still on maternity leave as long as they have given binding notice to end it. You cannot restart maternity or adoption pay once you have decided to end it. If the mother or adopter does not receive maternity or adoption leave, they must end any maternity pay, adoption pay or Maternity Allowance so that they or their partner can receive SPL.
The mother must take a minimum of two weeks maternity leave following the birth, which is a legal requirement. Adoptive parents on OAL must take at least two weeks adoption leave. They can take it from the day of the placement, or up to 14 days before the placement starts.
7.6 Changing your plans regarding SPL
The mother/adopter can withdraw from the decision to end maternity of adoption leave early, if both:
• the planned end date of SML/SAL has not yet arrived
• they have not returned to work.
In addition, one of the following must apply:
• the employee has discovered during the eight week notice period that neither of the couple is eligible for SPL or ShPP
• the mother/adopter’s partner has died
• the mother tells her employer that she is withdrawing from SPL less than six weeks after the birth (this presumes that she gave notice of her intention to take SPL prior to the birth.
7.7 Keeping in touch during Shared Parental Leave
In addition to KIT days provision as part of maternity and adoption leave, each partner taking SPL will be entitled to take up to 20 ‘Shared parental leave in touch’ (SPLIT) days without triggering a ‘return to work’. These days are optional, and you will receive your usual basic salary for working each day.
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7.8 Accruing benefits whilst on SPL
During the period of SPL, you will continue to receive all your contractual benefits, except salary. Any benefits in kind (use of company car, laptop, mobile phone) will continue. You will continue to accrue annual leave whilst on SPL. Employees on SPL who, as a result, are unable to take all of their annual leave entitlement in a particular year are allowed to carry forward any untaken
annual leave to the following leave year. Prior to starting SPL it is recommended that you discuss arrangements for using annual leave with your line manager.
Annual leave cannot be taken during a period of SPL. It must be taken either prior to, or following, SPL. Employer pension contributions will continue to be made during any period when the employee is receiving ShPP but not during any period of unpaid SPL. You can continue to make your employee contributions.
7.9 Returning to work following SPL
If you would like to return early from SPL, or extend the period of your SPL, you must notify the organisation at least eight weeks before both the original end date and the new end date.
If you are returning from SPL that totalled leave of 26 weeks or less, you have the right to return to the job in which you were employed before your absence.
If you are returning from leave totalling more than 26 weeks of SPL, you have the right to return to the job in which you were employed before your absence, or, if this is not possible, to a job of the same status and with the same terms and conditions of employment as your old job.
How long do you have to work at the company to qualify?
To be eligible to take SPL, you must be eligible to take Ordinary Adoption Leave or Ordinary Maternity Leave or be entitled to Statutory Maternity Pay (SMP), Statutory Paternity Pay (SPP), Statutory Adoption Pay (SAP) or Maternity Allowance (MA).
In addition, the mother or adopter must share responsibility for raising the child with the child’s father or her partner. In addition to these requirements, there is a ‘continuity test’ which is applied to determine eligibility:
• One parent of the two who are applying to take SPL must have worked for the same employer for at least 26 weeks by the end of the 15th week before the week in which the child is due to be born (referred to as the Expected Week of Confinement – EWC), or the week in which the adopter is notified of being matched with a child. The parent must still be employed in the first week that SPL is to be taken.
• The other parent must have worked for 26 weeks in the 66 weeks leading up to the date the baby is due/placed, and must have earned above the Maternity Allowance threshold in 13 of those 66 weeks.
If you decide to cease employment whilst on leave what is the clawback policy?
This isn't explicitly mentioned in this section of the policy
Policy Details
Samaritans have Enhanced Adoption Pay in alignment with our maternity policy, as follows:
• 8 weeks at full pay, including Statutory Adoption Pay, (equivalent to as Statutory Maternity Pay)
• 18 weeks at half pay, including Statutory Adoption Pay, to be paid monthly via payroll.
• An additional payment equal to six weeks half pay will be paid after completion of four weeks of fulltime return to work (calculated pro rata in the case of part-time employees)
How long do you have to work at the company to qualify?
You must have been employed by Samaritans for at least 26 weeks continuous service in the week in which you are notified of being matched with a child for adoption to be eligible for adoption leave. Adoption leave is for up to 52 weeks, consisting of ‘Ordinary Adoption Leave’ (OAL) and ‘Additional Adoption Leave’ (AAL).
If you decide to cease employment whilst on leave what is the clawback policy?
If you fail to return to work after adoption leave, the difference between Samaritans enhanced adoption pay and the statutory payments eligible to you should be refunded to Samaritan. (the policy doesn't give a specific amount of time for clawback)
Additional benefits
4. Surrogacy Leave
Surrogacy is when someone else carries and gives birth to a baby for the intended parents. If you use a surrogate, the surrogate will be the child’s legal parent at birth. You must apply to become the legal parent within 6 months of the child’s birth to get surrogacy rights, leave and pay. You must apply for:
• a parental order – if you or your partner are genetically related to the child
• an adoption order – if you or your partner are not genetically related to the child. If you are a birth mother in a legal surrogacy arrangement you have the same maternity rights as any other pregnant employee, irrespective of what happens after the child is born and you should follow the guidance
outlined in our maternity policy above.
If you are an employee who is adopting a baby through a legal surrogacy arrangement, you should follow the guidance outlined in our adoption policy above. Where the baby is the subject of a Parental Order following a legal surrogacy arrangement, Samaritans will provide surrogate parents with the equivalent entitlements as those which apply to adoptive parents. We
require the following to support this process:
• A copy of the MATB1 prior to the birth of the baby, and
• A copy of the parental order no later than six months after the commencement of adoptive leave
You should inform your line manager and the HR team of your intention to take adoption leave under a
surrogacy arrangement at least 28 days before you intend to commence leave, unless this is not reasonably
practicable. Please confirm the following details at this stage:
• When the baby is due to be born, and
• When you want the surrogacy leave period to start
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You can choose to start your surrogacy leave on the date of the baby’s birth or a pre-determined date from 14 days before the baby’s due date. For employees in surrogacy arrangements, adoption pay cannot commence until the baby is born.
Samaritans retains the right to reclaim any payment made if the member of staff fails to provide a copy of the Parental Order within six months of leave and pay commencing.
Eligible parents who have a child through a legal surrogacy arrangement are permitted to take paternity leave and pay, and shared parental leave and pay, in alignment with the policies that follow below.
5. Support for employees undergoing IVF and fertility treatment
We recognise that fertility treatment is often a very stressful and emotionally demanding experience. If you are undergoing fertility treatment, we typically support up to eight days paid leave per year for appointments and treatment. These days may be taken in whichever way best supports you. We have
increased the typical leave number from five days to eight days because we recognise that sometimes appointments can run over a series of times and days. We will provide further unpaid leave as required, and will also work with you to determine how our flexible working policy can support you.
This entitlement is provided to you regardless of the length of time you have been with the organisation.
Please speak with your line manager or the HR team in confidence if you are receiving fertility treatment. A letter from the hospital/clinic where you are being treated should be provided to the HR team.
Your partner may be undergoing fertility treatment, and we will also be as flexible as possible to support you to attend their medical appointments with them.
8. Pregnancy Loss
We want to support you if you experience pregnancy loss whilst working for Samaritans. The Parental Leave & Pay Act (2018) provides for paid leave if you experience pregnancy loss following the 24th week of pregnancy. We want to support you to take paid time off work for any pregnancy loss, including but not
limited to stillbirth, miscarriage and abortion. You are entitled to a total of 10 days’ additional paid leave in addition to your annual leave entitlement. This should usually be taken in a two-week block or as two separate one-week blocks.
You do not need to be with the organisation for a certain time period to be entitled to this. We support you from day one. Pregnancy loss does not only affect the person carrying the child, and therefore we offer the same leave
provision to partners and surrogate mothers.