Advising of pregnancy
Our company encourages employees to inform their manager of their pregnancy as soon as possible. However, we respect that an employee may not wish to advise us of her pregnancy earlier than the minimum notice period. We also respect an employee’s wishes regarding when it is appropriate to tell colleagues about the pregnancy.
Harassment while pregnant
Our company is committed to ensuring the safety of pregnant employees and considers harassment, bullying and discrimination to be unacceptable behaviour.
Safety at work
Our company understands pregnancy to be a healthy and normal process and recognises that women have different experiences. When an employee notifies her manager that she is pregnant, the manager will ask the employee to let them know if they experience any changes to their work capacity during the pregnancy. The employee and her manager will then discuss what is needed to keep the employee safe at work and adjustments will be made accordingly where possible.
Options to reduce hours, change of duties, light duties, rotated tasks, provision of a chair and provision of additional breaks are common ways to ensure safety at work, and will be considered on a case-by-case basis.
Transfer to a safe job
If it’s not safe (due to illness, risks or hazards) for a pregnant employee who is entitled to parental leave to continue in her usual position, she can be transferred to a ‘safe job’ with no change to terms and conditions.
The employee needs to provide the company with reasonable evidence that she is fit for work, but it would be inadvisable to continue in her present position. Our company may insist on a medical certificate.
If our company can’t transfer the employee to a safe job, she may take (or be required by our company to take) paid ‘no safe job’ leave for the time stated in the medical certificate or until the pregnancy ends (either by giving birth or otherwise).
‘No safe job’ leave is not sick leave – it is a separate paid leave type (pregnancy- no safe job). This leave will be paid at the rate specified in the award or agreement which, at a minimum, can be no lower than the employee’s base rate of pay for her ordinary hours of work. In the six weeks prior to the expected date of the birth of the child, an employer may ask an employee on safe job leave for medical certificates stating that she would be fit to perform a safe job if one were available to her.
An employee may be required to take unpaid parental leave (instead of paid no safe job leave) if she does not provide a medical certificate within seven days or if she provides a medical certificate stating she is not fit for any work.
Working until the birth
A pregnant employee may work until the expected date of birth of her child. If she wishes to continue working in the last six weeks of her pregnancy she may be requested to provide a medical certificate within seven days confirming she is fit to work.
If the medical certificate indicates the employee is not fit for work, she may be required to start parental leave or take a period of unpaid leave as soon as practicable.
Return to work
If the employee has agreed to contact during leave, then towards the end of the leave period, the manager should confirm the employee’s intention to return on the agreed date. The employee also may want to discuss any requests for flexible work arrangements at this time.
An employee must provide four weeks notice if they want to extend their leave beyond the return date that was initially advised.
The employee on parental leave has the right to return to the job they held prior to going on leave, including any promotion. If that position no longer exists, the employee will be given whichever other available position is nearest in status and remuneration to the position they held prior to going on leave.
If an employee was placed in a safe work position prior to leaving, the employee is entitled to return to the position they held immediately before the safe work position.
If the pre-parental leave position no longer exists, our company will follow its redeployment and redundancy procedures to determine if a suitable alternative position is available.