What is Additional Maternity Leave (AML)?

The second 26 weeks of maternity leave and it starts on the day after the Ordinary Maternity Leave period finishes.

However, your rights to return after a period of Additional Maternity Leave are slightly different than your rights would have been had you returned after Ordinary Maternity Leave.

During additional maternity leave the only contractual rights which continue are your notice periods, your right to redundancy pay if you are made redundant, the procedures your employer has for grievances or disciplinary hearings and the terms which prohibit you from working for competing organizations or disclosing confidential information about your employer’s business.

This means that your employer can suspend all other contractual rights and benefits including pensions and paid holidays (although you may continue to receive statutory annual leave entitlement).

Additionally, your employer must not discriminate against you while you are on any part of your maternity leave.

Unions often negotiate with employers for contractual rights and benefits to continue as if a woman on Additional Maternity Leave were still at work, so check what the policy is in your workplace. If you feel that you have been discriminated while on maternity leave, you may have protection under the law and you are strongly advised to seek advice from your union or a legal specialist in such cases.