yourjobrights.co.uk

There is now a great deal of legislation surrounding maternity leave and the rights that women have during and after pregnancy. A pregnant employee probably has more employment protection than any other worker.

Additional rights to parental leave (which apply to both parents) were introduced in December 1999 and further changes come into effect on a fairly regular basis.

Women in the UK have the right to take maternity leave and to have their jobs held open for them for certain time periods. A pregnant woman can rely upon her unique condition to demonstrate direct or indirect sex discrimination. Under the Employment Relations Act a woman also now has the right not to be victimised on grounds of pregnancy, childbirth or maternity leave. Some forms of employment protection also continue whilst a woman continues to breast feed her baby.

You amay be entitled to new rights and benefits. These include:

Eventually you will be able to transfer some of your untaken maternity leave to a partner, in the form of additional paternity leave. This came into force in April 2010 but the scheme does not start until April 2011.

You are also be obliged to give your employer at least 8 weeks notice if you wish to change your return date and go back to work earlier than you originally said when you started your leave. This is up from the 4 weeks notice required prior to April 2007.

The maternity rights that all women have at present are summarised below. You qualify for some of these from your first day at work, effectively, no matter how many hours you work. You do need to be an Employee, with a contract of Employment. Casual staff do not qualify for maternity rights.

Rights that Apply to all Pregnant Women Irrespective of Hours Worked or Length of Service.

As soon as you are pregnant you are entitled to benefit in some way from the following:- (It does not matter how long you have been with your employer or how many hours you work.)

The right to time off work, with pay, to attend antenatal appointments.

The right to certain health and safety considerations.

The right not to be dismissed (or selected for redundancy) because of the pregnancy.

The right to have certain contractual benefits maintained during the ordinary maternity leave period.

The right to take maternity leave of up to 52 weeks.

The right to some form of maternity pay or maternity allowance.

The right to return to work.

Your rights if unable to return on time.

Note: If you are a Part- time worker you are entitled to the same benefits as a full timer, on a pro-rata basis, unless your Employer gives you a good business reason for not doing so.If you are not given access to benefits and you think this is because you work part-time, contact our advice line.

Soon after informing the company that you are pregnant, you are likely to consider taking antenatal leave. This right applies to all women irrespective of the length of service or the hours worked. Therefore even if you have just started work you are still entitled to this leave. You should be paid your normal pay when you take this time off.

Your employer is entitled to proof that you are pregnant. This can be provided by a medical confirmation from a Doctor or a Midwife. Employers are also entitled to see your appointment card. Officially this can only be insisted upon for the first appointment. In reality most employees will have no objection to producing their appointment card for subsequent antenatal appointments.

There are no rules which set out specifically how much time off you can have. This is down to whatever is felt to be "reasonable". If there is a disagreement about what is reasonable, attempts should be made to resolve this within the company. Put your complaint in writing and use the grievance procedure if your company has one. If this cannot be resolved it can be referred to your union rep, if there is one, or finally to an Employment tribunal. www.employmenttribunals.gov.uk/

The definition of "time off" also means that your employer cannot insist that you make the time up at some future date. If you choose to make the time up by, for example, having a shorter lunch break, or working late, then this is fine.

Risk Assessments

All employers are required to carry out risk assessments. The purpose of this is to identify any potential risk that the employees or workers may face whilst carrying out their employment. Your employer must then take steps to reduce or eliminate any risks identified. Employers are specifically required to identify any risks to a pregnant woman. This risk assessment should be carried out whenever there are women of child bearing age in the workforce. When you tell your employer that you are pregnant, ask if there are any Health and Safety issues you need to be aware of. Your Employer should have considered the risks associated with your job and can advise you .If there is a Trade union, talk to your Health and Safety rep.

If your job involves, for example, heavy lifting or exposure to heat and vibration, discuss this with your employer and if necessary your Doctor.

Where any risks to you have been identified, your employer should offer you alternative work or suspend you on full pay if no suitable alternative work can be found. The alternative work should be on broadly the same terms and conditions of employment, including pay. If you unreasonably refuse to carry out suitable alternative work, you may lose the right to be paid.

Your Health and Safety rights last for 6 months after you have given birth, or longer if you are still breastfeeding your child. There is no time limit on the protection you enjoy whilst continuing to breast feed. Whilst your employer is not obliged to allow you to breast feed whilst at work, most employers will consider a reasonable request. You are entitled to suitable rest facilities at your place of work. If this is refused, call our advice line.

The use of display screen equipment during pregnancy is not a recognised health hazard. However if you have concerns you should talk to your Manager about the nature of the work you do. If you still have concerns you should consider taking medical advice. If possible the matter could be referred to a Company medical advisor.

You are not allowed to return to work for at least two weeks from the date that you have given birth. This is called compulsory leave and includes the day of the birth itself. In fact your employer may be committing a criminal offence by requiring you to work. This includes work at home.

In some industries, the compulsory leave period can be longer (if your work involves heavy/hazardous working conditions) and lasts for 4 weeks. If your employer requires you to work, even from home during this period, you should refuse. If any action is taken against you for refusing to work, contact our Advice Line for further assistance.

If, on medical grounds, you are not able to continue to do your normal job, or some parts of your normal job, inform your employer immediately. Your employer is required to try and find you suitable alternative work. If no suitable alternative work can be found for you, you are entitled to a medical suspension on your normal rate of pay. If you refuse to consider suitable alternative work, you may well lose the right to paid suspension. If you are still away from work, for a reason connected with the pregnancy, 4 weeks before the baby is due, your Employer may decide that your Maternity Leave period has started. Your Employer must inform you of this decision.

All women, irrespective of their length of service or the hours they work, have the right to take ordinary maternity leave. This was increased to 26 weeks in April 2003. For any information on your pay, refer to the Section - Maternity Payments

Since April 2007 you can also opt to take additional leave, even with no qualifying service with your Employer.

Additional leave means that you can opt to take a further twenty six weeks leave - immediately following the end of your Ordinary leave period, which is also 26 weeks. This gives you a total of 52 weeks leave. If you have 6 months service with your Employer, the first 26 weeks of this is paid as Statutory Maternity Pay (SMP)

You will need to put your request in writing to your Employer. It is important to think this through before committing yourself on a return to work. For assistance on informing your Employer - Contact our advice line.

To qualify for ordinary maternity leave you must notify your employer, in writing, of the fact that you are pregnant and also provide the date that you intend to commence your maternity leave. This should also be in writing. The notification to take leave must be supported by a certificate from a medical practitioner or a midwife, confirming pregnancy. This certificate must also state the estimated week of childbirth. This can usually be obtained in the form MAT B1 from the Doctor or Midwife.

You must provide this notification to your employer at least 28 days (4 weeks) before the date on which you wish to start your maternity leave.

Unless you are unwell, or the baby is premature, the earliest that you can commence your Ordinary maternity leave is the eleventh week prior to the estimated week of childbirth. You can choose when to start your leave, providing you give the correct notice to your employer.If you remain healthy you can decide to carry on working until nearer the due date.

Ordinary Maternity Leave is up to 26 weeks (You do not have to take it all if you do not want to!). If you leave at the earliest opportunity (ie.11 weeks before the expected date of birth), you have 15 weeks left to take after the birth. If you leave work 2 weeks before the due date, you will have 24 weeks left to take after the birth.

You do not have to inform your Employer of the return date if you intend to take the full 26 weeks Ordinary Leave, but your Employer is entitled to ask you about your plans. Once you have agreed a return to work date, you must give your Employer 8 weeks notice if you intend to change that date.

If you are off work due to illness, which is connected with the pregnancy, your employer can decide that your maternity leave has started. This can only happen if your sickness absence is within 4 weeks of the estimated date of birth. If you fall ill within this period your employer may inform you that your absence has triggered the start of your maternity leave. If your illness is not connected with your pregnancy, inform your employer if you do not wish to start your maternity leave yet. If you have any dispute with your employer over this, call our Advice Line.

ISince April 2007, with no service requirement, you have the right to take an additional period of maternity leave. This allows you to return to work up to 26 weeks after the end of your 26 weeks Ordinary leave.

You are therefore entitled to a total of 52 weeks leave.

You should have received a letter from your Employer - before starting your leave - which confirmed your agreed return to work date. If you intend to return on this date, you do not have to notify your Employer in advance of your return.

If you wish to return to your job earlier or later than planned, you can do so. You must give your Employer at least 8 weeks notice, in writing, of your decision to return earlier than originally planned.This all still applies if you work part-time.

When commencing your maternity leave, you do not have to make any decision about your additional maternity leave at that point. Your employer should assume that you will take ordinary leave (26 weeks) unless you tell them differently. You retain the right to take additional maternity leave. If you choose to inform your employer that you do wish to take additional leave at this point you can if you wish. Whatever decision you make, your entitlement to Statutory Maternity Pay is not affected.Your right to return to work is not affected by these decisions either.

You can delay starting your maternity leave for as long as you want, although medical advice would normally mean you finish work at least a couple of weeks before the baby is due. In theory you can work right up to the expected date of birth if you wish to and you are medically fit to do so. Your employer may ask for medical advice if there are concerns about your health. Any concerns should be discussed with you as your Employer has a legal duty to have regard to your health and welfare.

Where possible, you should give your employer 28 days notice of the date you wish to start your leave. This should be confirmed in writing. It should be noted that weekends and bank holidays are included when calculating whether 28 days notice has been given. In other words this is not 28 working days.

NOTE: You can change the start date of your leave if you wish, by giving your Employer at least 28 days notice of the new date.

(If the baby arrives prematurely or you develop problems, and it has not been possible to give your employer 28 days notice, do not worry, you do not lose any rights or entitlements - providing it was not reasonably practicable for you to give the required notice.)

Your Employer will clearly want to know how much leave you wish to take. Your Employer should reply to your letter within 28 days, setting out the date that Ordinary Leave expires and also letting you know whether you are entitled to Additional Leave.

If you take the 26 weeks Ordinary Leave you do not have to notify your Employer of your return. You must give 8 weeks notice if you wish to return earlier.

If you do not correctly notify the company about your maternity intentions you do not lose the right to return. However your employer may delay your return if you have not given the minimum (8 weeks) notice. It is also possible that an employer will consider disciplinary action against an employee who, without good reason, has failed to communicate with the employer in the required time periods.

Your employer must pay you Statutory Maternity Pay if you qualify for this. To qualify for statutory maternity pay you need to have 26 weeks continuous service by the end of the qualifying week. The qualifying week for statutory maternity pay is the 15th week before the estimated week of childbirth. There are also a number of other qualification factors. Briefly these are;

- you have to be pregnant!

- you have reached the 11th. week before the due date, or had your baby before that date

- you have normal weekly earnings above the lower earnings limit for national insurance contributions. This is amended each year. Check with our advice line for the latest figure.

- you are not in prison or remanded in custody

- you are residing in a country with whom the UK has an agreement to cover these payments (If you need further advice here call our advice line

- you have stopped working wholly or partly because of your pregnancy or childbirth

Your Employer will pay you SMP (and can then reclaim a proportion of this back from the state.)

If you meet the above conditions,you are entitled to receive 90% of your "normal" wage or salary for the first 6 weeks of maternity leave. Your "normal" salary, for the calculation of SMP, is worked out by adding together your gross pay for the 8 weeks (or 2 months if you are monthly paid) leading up to a "qualifying week". This qualifying week is the 15th week before the estimated date of birth - a different qualifying week from the one that is used to decide how much leave you can take. All pay you receive in this 8 week period counts towards calculating your Maternity pay. This means that overtime, and even bonuses, are included and will increase your Maternity pay where relevant.

Following a Court decision, from April 2005 you may also be entitled to the benefit of any pay rise your Employer has awarded to staff since you went on maternity leave. If any pay rises have ben awarded ask your Employer if this affects your Maternity pay calculations.

If you have any concerns about your Maternity Pay do ring our advice line.

From April 2007 following this initial 6 weeks,a further 33 weeks is payable at a rate fixed by the Government, reviewed annually. This went up to £124.88 per week in April 2010. SMP is payable for 39 weeks in total. This 39 weeks is your Statutory entitlement.

Some Employers pay more then the Statutory limits - ask your employer, union representative or look at your Company handbook to see if you are entitled to more than the statutory payments or time off.

You are not entitled to receive your normal salary whilst you are on maternity leave unless this is specifically allowed for in your contract of employment. Your normal salary will be replaced by Statutory Maternity pay, see above.

If you are not entitled to SMP, you may be able to obtain Maternity Allowance from the State. Contact the DSS for further information on Maternity Allowance or call our Advice Line.

During the ordinary period of maternity leave all of your employment rights remain in force - in fact you should be treated as if you were actually still at work. Your contract of employment continues and is not suspended. The only exception to this is pay as SMP will replace your normal pay. You should continue to accumulate holiday pay, retain a company car and other normal company benefits for this first 26 weeks.( If you are not receiving these benefits, raise this with your employer or call our Advice Line for help.)

From 5 October 2008, during the Additional period of maternity leave all of your employment rights remain in force - in fact you should be treated as if you were actually still at work. Your contract of employment continues and is not suspended. The only exception to this is pay as SMP will replace your normal pay. You should continue to accumulate holiday pay, retain a company car, mobile phone, gym membership and other normal company benefits for this second 26 weeks.( If you are not receiving these benefits, raise this with your employer or call our Advice Line for help.)

Every woman who takes maternity leave has some rights to return to work. If you are entitled to ordinary maternity leave you have the right to return to the job which you left. When you return from ordinary leave there is no flexibility for your employer to offer you an alternative position, unless your job has been declared redundant. Ordinary leave lasts for up to 26 weeks and employers are therefore required to retain your job for you. If you have opted for Additional Leave you are still entitled to your old job back, or a suitable alternative. If you have any problems over returning to work call our Advice Line.

It is possible that your job has disappeared, through a genuine redundancy situation. You should be offered suitable alternative employment wherever possible. In fact you are entitled to "preferential treatment" if you are away on maternity leave when your job is redundant.

For more information on this call our Advice Line.

For more on Redundancy, look at the Section called "Your Dismissal Rights"

If you are selected for redundancy, it must be clear that your absence on maternity leave and your pregnancy have in no way influenced the decision to make you redundant. Whilst on maternity leave you should still be informed of suitable alternative vacancies that arise with your employer.

Whatever the circumstances, you are entitled to appeal against your selection for Redundancy. If you are not offered the chance to appeal, or if you think that your Maternity has influenced a decision to make your job redundant, call our Advice Line.

If you are returning from additional maternity leave you should also normally be offered a return to the same job you left. However, in this situation your employer has a little more flexibility. Where it is not reasonably practicable to offer you a return to your original job, alternative employment may be offered. The alternative work offered to you must be suitable and appropriate. In other words, the alternative work must be of a similar nature, same location, of the same status and offering the same pay and benefits. All in all, the new conditions must be no less favourable than the job that you left. If you are not happy with the alternative, talk to your Employer or ask for help from our Advice Line.

If you left a full time position and you would like to return from maternity leave on a part-time basis you should discuss this at the earliest opportunity with your employer. In fact you have no automatic right to demand a part time job, if the job you left was full time. You are entitled to request a change to your employment terms. However, if your employer refuses to consider a return on a part time basis, this may be indirect sex discrimination. Since April 2003 you also have the right to request flexible working, not just part-time. For more information on this, refer to the Flexible Working section.

Your employer must justify the decision to refuse you a part-time job or other changes to your employment terms. Of course they may be able to do this, by pointing out that the part-time move will cause the business to suffer in some way. Your employer would be expected to put forward reasonable arguments to demonstrate that the job could not be done part time or on a job share basis.

If you feel that your employer has unreasonably refused your request to resume work on a part time or job share basis, you can take the issue to Tribunal. Ask for help from our Advice Line.

Ideally your Employer should consider a part time return on a trial basis. If, for any reason, this does not work out, at least your employer can point to the fact they were prepared to give it a try. Put your request for flexible working in writing to your employer and it would help your case if you could say how you think it could work.

You have the right to take up to 26 weeks ordinary maternity leave. You must be allowed to return to your old job when that leave expires - or earlier if you wish, as the 26 weeks is the maximum. You do not have to provide your employer with advanced notice if you intend to return to work immediately after the end of your ordinary maternity leave (currently 26weeks). Because this is a fixed period, the date of your return can easily be worked out by your employer before you start your leave.

If you are not allowed to return to work from your maternity leave, this could be treated as a dismissal unless it can be justified, for example, by a genuine redundancy situation.If this happens, ask for help from our Advice Line.

If you would like to return to work before the end of your 26 weeks of ordinary maternity you are quite entitled to do so.You must give your employer at least 8 weeks advanced notice. (This same notice period is also required when a woman wants to return early from additional maternity leave.)

Employers should not reject any request to return on a part time basis without full consideration.

Additional maternity leave lasts for up to 26 weeks after Ordinary Leave, in other words 52 weeks total leave.

If you wish to return to work earlier than this you can, but you must provide at least 8 weeks notice to your employer.

Your employer cannot delay your return if you have given proper notice of your intentions.If this happens ask for help from our Advice Line.

A woman returning from additional maternity leave is entitled to return to her old job and wherever possible must be allowed to do so. If it is genuinely not practicable for you to have your old job back, suitable alternative employment must be offered to you. This would normally mean the same or better general terms, conditions, location and status. There may be situations, for example a genuine redundancy situation, which prevent your return to work. Employers must take great care to ensure that you have not been selected for redundancy for any reason connected with your pregnancy, childbirth or taking leave. If this happens ask for help from our Advice Line.

Your employer must be clear that you have not been selected for redundancy for any reason connected with your pregnancy, childbirth or for taking maternity leave. You can appeal against being selected for redundancy. For further information, refer to the section on Redundancy, under Your Dismissal Rights or ask for help from our Advice Line.

If you are not able to return to work at the end of additional leave, do inform your employer as soon as you know this.

If you are ill and unable to return to work, obtain a medical certificate and send this to your employer. You are now entitled to sick pay or sick leave, details of this should be in your terms of employment or a Company handbook. You are still an employee and you are entitled to claim sick pay. If you have any problems on this ask for help from our Advice Line.

If you are not ill, but you are unable to return for some other reason connected with caring for your child, you should request some Annual Holiday or Parental Leave. For further details of this go to Parental Leave. This would apply if your child is ill or you have problems in arranging childcare for example. You could be entitled to a further 4 weeks leave, although this is unpaid. You must give your Employer notice of the fact you will not be returning on the date expected.

In April 2007 a new concept was introduced. You or your Employer can request up to 10 days which have been called "keep in touch" days (KIT). The idea of these is to make it easier to do a couple of days work whilst still officially on maternity leave - without all the hassle of breaking your maternity leave or pay situation.

Up to 10 of these are available during your leave, but note that they do not increase your maternity leave by 10 days, you still have to return on the due date. They are optional. Your Employer does not have to grant these, nor can your Employer insist that you go in to work.

They may be useful if you want to attend an important meeting or training course towards the end of your leave perhaps. Or maybe you want to have a few trial runs to take baby to nursery or creche then going on to work - before the full return to work day. The rules do not state how much you should be paid, so ask your Employer about this. If you are attending work or training you should really be paid your normal salary. If you are still getting maternity pay this will be made up to your normal pay level - you do not get both!

Parental leave was introduced on 15th December 1999 as part of the Government's family friendly approach to employment policies. The introduction of some form of parental leave was required to comply with the European Parental Leave Directive. As a result of the introduction of these regulations employees (male and female) now enjoy two statutory rights:-

You have the right to take time off work to look after a young child when you have completed at least one year's continuous service with your current or a previous employer.

You must, of course, also have parental responsibility for the child.

Parental responsibility is defined as follows:-

From April 2003, certain Employees are entitled to two weeks' paid paternity leave. This is known as Statutory Paternity Pay.

You need to have 26 weeks' service with the same employer (by the 15th week before the Expected week of confinement) to qualify.

You need to provide evidence that you have a relationship with the mother and that you are prepared to care for the child. This information is contained on a form, claiming Statutory Paternity Pay, which should be available from your Employer. If you have any problems claiming this contact our Advice Line.

This right is not restricted to the child's father, and is available to women. If you have a relationship with the Mother (and you are not a family member),and you undertake to care for the child, you could qualify.

SPP is paid for 2 weeks, and in April 2010 was set at £124.88 per week, or 90% of your pay if this is less. Check your contract of employment to see if you are entitled to any more than this.Some Employers pay normal pay for some Paternity Leave.

You must take the leave as a single week or 2 weeks together. You cannot split the leave up into shorter breaks. The leave must be taken within 56 days (8 weeks) of the birth of the child. You should give your Employer 4 weeks notice of the fact that you wish to take leave, and provide the expected date of birth.

You are entitled to return to your job with no changes to your contract.

These rights are in addition to the right to 13 weeks' parental leave (See Parental Leave for more details)

Employees have the right to complain to an employment tribunal if their employer unreasonably prevents or attempts to prevent them from taking parental leave. Any employee who takes parental leave is also protected against victimisation, including dismissal, for taking their entitlement ask for help from our Advice Line.

From April 2003 couples who adopt a child became entitled to a wider range of benefits. You now have similar rights to Maternity and Paternity pay and leave. This right exists for adoption up to the age of 18 years.

Adoptive parents have a right to opt for either paid adoption leave or 2 weeks paid Paternity Leave. The rights are basically the same as Maternity and Paternity leave and pay. The major difference is that you can decide which of you takes the Adoption Leave and which takes the Paternity Leave - it is your choice.

Ordinary Adoption Leave is for a period of up to 26 weeks, with a right to a further period of additional adoption leave of 26 weeks, giving a total of up to one year's leave. To qualify for Adoption leave you need at least 26 weeks' continuous service with the same employer by the week in which an adoption is approved. Your right to adoption leave is in addition to the existing right to 13 weeks' parental leave. (For more information, see section on Parental Leave).

The Paternity option is exactly the same as Paternity Leave - refer to that section for more detail.

As with statutory maternity and paternity leave, there is the right to return to the same job following absence on ordinary adoption leave, and you are protected from suffering any detriment or from being unfairly dismissed for reasons relating to the taking of adoption leave.

Statutory adoption pay (SAP) is available for a period of up to 39 weeks (from April 2007) for parents who adopt after 6 April 2003 and the current rate is the lesser of £124.88 per week or 90% of your average weekly earnings. You will need at least 26 weeks' service and be earning at least at the lower earnings limit for National Insurance purposes. Note that you are making a claim for a Statutory benefit, some of which your Employer can recover from the State.

If you have any problems concerning Adoption rights, leave or pay - contact our Advice Line.

From April 2008 you have a statutory right (if you have parental responsibility for a child up to and including 16 years of age (18 if the child disabled - ie the family qualify for a state disability living allowance) to request flexible working and for your employer to seriously consider it. Please note that it is not a statutory right to be given flexible working, only a right to request it.

Flexible working is not defined and could mean a range of things, from working part-time; working from home; term time work; annualised hours etc. You do need to have at least 26 weeks continuous service with your employer.

To request Flexible working you must write to your Employer setting out what changes you would like to make to your work pattern. You should also state when you would like this to come into effect. Note that this will be a permanent change to your Employment Contract unless agreed otherwise with your Employer.

Under the Regulations you can only make one request each year. The final chance you have to make a flexible working request is before your child is 17 (or 18 if the child has a disability).

The Regulations require your Employer to give your request serious consideration and then reply to you. Obviously if the changes are agreed, there are no problems. Your Employer, or you, may suggest a trial period if it is not clear whether your request can be accommodated.

However if your Employer does not agree to your request, a meeting must take place with you within 28 days of your request. You have the right to have someone with you at this meeting if you wish - a colleague or your Trade Union Rep. At the meeting your Employer may produce good business reasons for saying that your request cannot be granted. You can appeal this original decision, and your appeal should be heard by a different Manager this time. Again you have the right to have someone with you. All of this should take place within a short time period - the actual time scales are set down in the Regulations.

If your Employer does not take your request seriously, is slow in dealing with your request, refuses to have a meeting or refuses your request without a good business reason, contact our Advice Line.

In April 2007 the above right to request flexible working was extended. It now applies to employees with at least 6 months service and who have responsibility for looking after an adult dependent. Note that this does not cover looking after a child over the age of 6, unless the child has a disability.

•is married to, or the partner or civil partner of the employee; or

•is a 'near relative' of the employee;

•falls into neither category but lives at the same address as the employee.

The 'near relative' definition includes parents, parent-in-law, adult child, adopted adult child, siblings (including those who are in-laws), uncles, aunts or grandparents and step-relatives.”

The Parental Leave Directive also contains a right to reasonable time off to deal with family emergencies. This has been incorporated into the Employment Relations Act of 1999 and came into effect on 15th December 1999.

You are entitled to take a reasonable amount of time off during your normal working hours in order to take action concerning the care of a dependant.

You will be entitled to take a reasonable amount of time off during your normal working hours in the following types of circumstance:-

A dependant is defined as the employee's wife, husband, child, parent or someone who lives in the same household as the employee but who is not his or her employee, tenant, lodger or boarder.

In addition, a dependant includes any person who reasonably relies on the employee for assistance if they should fall ill, become injured or are assaulted. So a dependent does not have to be a relative. Furthermore when the time off relates to an unexpected disruption or termination of arrangements for the care of a dependant, then a dependant will also include any person who reasonably relies on the employee to make arrangements for the provision of care. This last category may cover a situation when the employee is the primary carer or is the only person who can help in an emergency situation.