Paid leave for ante natal appointments

[ronnie1234]

Time off ante-natal

I get paid hourly, clock in / clock out. So far I haven’t said anything about not being paid for my ante-natal appointments, mainly because of snow.

1st scan – couldn’t get to work because of snow anyway. Took day off un-paid.

Midwife appointment – tried to get to work for morning before appointment but got stuck in snow, so couldn’t get to work – took day off unpaid.

Midwife appointment – clinic is 11 – 1, I explained that I work ¾ hours away & midwife agreed to see me at 10.45, went straight to work after appointment so got paid from when I got there. Midwife is going to try & see me at this time every appointment.

Next scan is on 10th Feb at 1.30-, so going to work in a.m.

I travel approx ¾ hour to & from work, get paid hourly, so how do I go about asking to get paid when visiting ante-natal appointments?

 

[kanga]

Can you not clock out when you leave for the appts, So your timesheet has you as being there and you get paid?

Otherwise, is there a HR department you can ask re mechanics of this? Your situ is quite specific

I would imagine the paid time for antenatal appts is either
(a) if you leave & come back in middle of day - you get the total time paid as if you hadnt left work, or
(b) if you go at end of day or start of day, its the time you are leaving work early/arriving late in that gets paid

If your appt is during non-working time (like 10th Feb), then there is no 'lost working time' so I guess you wouldnt get paid for that

 

[littleblonde]

its not very well explaned. All it says it reasonable time off. I took all mine as holiday as i worked an hr each way. I dont think u should be paid for travel both ways but should be paid for the appt at least. Mention it to your boss or hr department

 

[raisin]

Hi ronnie

Have you oficially informed your employer that your are pregnant? If so, then your should speak to your Manager/HR about how you will be paid for time off for antenatal care and ask them if they require proof, e.g. appointment cards.

Antenatal care can include medical examinations, appointments with your midwife, antenatal classes, relaxation and parent craft classes.

There are no specific legal rules about how much time you can take off. The amount of time taken must be reasonable in the circumstances. For example, your are entitled to take time off to travel to and from the appointment, wait for the appointment and attend the appointment or class. You may have to wait some time during busy antenatal clinics. This should all be paid leave.

Good luck!

 

[Tracy81]

I think that is rubbish. My work have been great. I work 9-5 mon to fri but don't have to clock on or off.

My midwife appointments are on thursday afternoons so I get the latest appointment I can which is usually about 3pm. Takes me about an hour to travel so work let me go about 2 and I don't go back as if I did I'd only get there about half 4. So long as I make the effort to get my appointments at either end of the day work are fine with it.

I don't think the midwives make much allowances for people who do have difficulty in work. When I phone to book appointment they will only give me the next one available even if it's 1 o'clock! So I have to phone back daily to try wait until it's booked up a bit. X

 

[Tracy81]

I think that is rubbish. My work have been great. I work 9-5 mon to fri but don't have to clock on or off.

My midwife appointments are on thursday afternoons so I get the latest appointment I can which is usually about 3pm. Takes me about an hour to travel so work let me go about 2 and I don't go back as if I did I'd only get there about half 4. So long as I make the effort to get my appointments at either end of the day work are fine with it.

I don't think the midwives make much allowances for people who do have difficulty in work. When I phone to book appointment they will only give me the next one available even if it's 1 o'clock! So I have to phone back daily to try wait until it's booked up a bit. X

 

[Florabelle]

I'm self employed so I don't get paid for any time I take off I get paid for the hours I work. Luckily I finish at 330 on Tuesday's and Thursday's so I try to schedule all my appointments for 4pm onwards on those days. So far both the midwives and ultrasound departments have been fantastic about it. My original 20 week scan was due to be on a Tuesday at 2pm at a hospital 5 minutes from home but 30 minutes from work. I phoned them and explained the situation and they changed it to the following Tuesday at 4pm at the hospital 10 minutes from work (the two hospitals work in partnership as the one near work is a huge one but the one near home is a community hospital). This is much better for both me and my Hubby.
Talk to the midwives and your employer. I keep my employer uptodate on my appointments so that she knows I have to leave bang on time on those days. You are entitled to a certain amount of paid leave but I think most of it comes down to the employers descrection.

 

[Florabelle]

Oh and my Hubby works for the civil service. They have been fantastic with him and have told him that he can claim back any appointments he comes to. He has to sign out for security reasons but they pay him in full the time when he claims it back.

 

[BECC4]

Unless you've actually spoken to your work about the situation then it may have never even occurred to them. At work I just take the appointments they give me and work have to deal with it, it is the law after all. Last Monday I was at an antenatal appointment which over ran by an hour I rang work and told them I'd be back as soon as loss and they were fine with it. Are you a member of a union? If you are they can give you advice or help you deal with your employer if the need arises. But I would def speak to them first, gibe them a chance to fix the problem first.

 

[Clo]

Where i work I have to clock on and off and there is a way that my manager can code my absence to authorised antenatal leave, I just have to let her know when my appointment are. If I have the first appointment and go before work, my manager manually amends my clock-in to so its like i started work at the time I got to my antenatal appointment. She does the same for the end of the day

I would ask for a copy of your work's HR policy to make sure u know what it says u are entitled to, then discuss it with ur manager. Xxxx

 

[excitedgal]

You are entitled to time off for all antenatal appts. I would speak to HR and find out how to claim back for any money you have lost. My work have been fab I was at midwife on Thur, my appt was 11:45, but they were running an hr behind so I text my boss and told her how late in I was going to be and she said just to take the day off (paid) This is the 2nd time she has done this. To be fair though it's probably because it takes me over an hr to get to work each way.

 

[ronnie1234]

Thank you all this has been great advice. I think they may not be aware of exactly what I am entitled to, it is a mainly male environment due to me working in the construction industry. I am the first pregnant member of staff in 28 years of operation!!

I also travel 3/4 of an hour each way, I try to get the first midwife apppt of day at 10.45. So I go in straight after that.

My next scan is at 1.30 so I will go to work in the morning, but not go back after work because of the travel etc, so I can't really be expected to be paid for all afternoon?!

Also, I because I have an underactive thyroid I require extra ante-natal appts, one in April at 2.15, so I will go to work in the morning then leave for day.

I am debating take half day holidays when I'm not there, because I'm currently in the 8 week period that my 90% maternity pay is worked out on, so these reduced hours will be affecting that!

 

[ronnie1234]

Spoke to HR and I now get paid for travel and my apppointment time.

 

[raisin]

Spoke to HR and I now get paid for travel and my apppointment time.

That's great news!