Childcare Counsel - payslips and ante-natal appointments

Q I’ve heard there will be changes in April affecting who gets a payslip and what information it contains…

A New legislation from 6 April requires all employers to provide itemised payslips to both employees and workers (who often include casual, seasonal and zero hours workers); it does not only apply to staff with typical employment status.

Payslips must show additional information where pay varies with the number of hours worked. For example, a worker with a fixed monthly salary may occasionally work overtime at a higher rate of pay. Their payslip must show the number of hours worked at a different rate of pay to their fixed pay.

It will be up to the nursery to decide whether to show these hours as a single total figure or to break them down into separate figures for different types of work or rates of pay; for example, where a worker receives one rate of pay for overtime on weekday evenings and another for weekends.

Q An employee is pregnant and has asked for time off to attend an antenatal appointment. Can we ask her to make up the time?

A Pregnant employees are entitled to paid time off (at their normal hourly rate) to receive antenatal care, including travel and waiting time.

As a matter of good practice, pregnant employees should inform the nursery of the date and time of their appointment. Except for the first appointment, the nursery can ask to see the appointment card (or other relevant document) and a certificate confirming their pregnancy.

Pregnant employees should not be asked to arrange their appointments outside of working hours, or to make up any time. However, in limited cases a request can be refused where this would be reasonable, such as if cover cannot be arranged at short notice.

Care should be taken not to unreasonably refuse a request, as to do so could constitute pregnancy and maternity discrimination.

Send your questions to hannah.crown@markallengroup.com