North Ayrshire Council has a number of policies in place to support employees who are expecting a baby, or have been newly matched for adoption.
Our Maternity Scheme (PDF, 231kb) and Adoption Scheme (PDF, 286kb) set out an employee’s statutory right to leave and pay, and also provide information on our Occupational Scheme.
Our HR Guide: Shared Parental Leave (PDF, 158kb) provides guidance on the new statutory right for new parents to share leave.
What are my entitlements under the Maternity/Adoption Scheme?
All employees are entitled to take up to 52 weeks leave, and you may be entitled to Statutory or Occupational pay during this period, depending on whether you satisfy the qualifying criteria as set out in the Schemes.
What is Shared Parental Leave?
Shared Parental Leave (SPL) is designed to give parents much more flexibility in how they share the care of their child in the first year following birth/adoption. Parents can share a pot of leave, and can decide to be off work at the same time and/or taking it in turns to have periods of leave to look after their child.
An employee taking SPL can split their leave into, up to, 3 separate blocks instead of taking it all in one go, even if they aren't sharing the leave with their partner. Requests for (up to 3) discontinuous blocks will be considered but may not be granted, as this decision will be made by taking into account the exigencies of the service. If both parents are taking SPL then they can take their leave at the same time as each other, or at different times. Combined time off can only reach a maximum of 50 weeks leave and 37 weeks pay.
Can I get time off to support my partner at the time of the birth/being newly matched for adoption?
Employees can take up to 2 weeks Paternity Leave in order to support the new mother/Principal Carer at the time of the birth/being matched for Adoption. This time off is paid at the statutory rate.