The employee's maternity leave period generally commences with the
date she has notified as the date on which she intends her maternity absence to
commence. However, the employee's maternity leave will commence automatically on
the day following the first day on which she is absent from work wholly or
partly because of pregnancy after the beginning of the fourth week before the
expected week of childbirth (EWC). For example, if the employee's maternity
leave was due to start one week before her EWC but she is off sick for a
pregnancy-related reason in the third week before her EWC, her maternity leave
and statutory maternity pay will start automatically on the day after the first
day of her illness, so sick pay will cease at this point. The employee must
notify her employer that she is absent from work wholly or partly because of
pregnancy and of the date on which her absence for that reason began as soon as
is reasonably practicable. Odd days of pregnancy-related illness may be
disregarded at the employer's discretion if the employee wishes to defer the
start of her maternity leave period. These statutory provisions do not apply to
sickness absence that is unrelated to the employee's pregnancy, in which case
the employee can remain on sick leave and receive sick pay right up to the date
she notified as the date on which she intends her maternity leave to start.
If the employee is off sick when her maternity leave is due to
start and the maternity leave start date is before the beginning of the fourth
week before the EWC, the maternity leave will still start on the date the
employee notified as the commencement date, regardless of the fact that she is
off sick or the reason for the sickness absence. As the statutory maternity pay
period can start on any day of the week to coincide with the date that the
employee commences her maternity leave, sick pay will cease as maternity leave
and pay start.