Employment Rights Act 1996

[F157ZGRight to time off to accompany to ante-natal appointment: agency workersE+W+S

(1)An agency worker who has a qualifying relationship with a pregnant woman or her expected child is entitled to be permitted, by the temporary work agency and the hirer, to take time off during the agency worker's working hours in order that he or she may accompany the woman when she attends by appointment at any place for the purpose of receiving ante-natal care.

(2)In relation to any particular pregnancy, an agency worker is not entitled to take time off for the purpose specified in subsection (1) on more than two occasions.

(3)On each of those occasions, the maximum time off during working hours to which the agency worker is entitled is six and a half hours.

(4)An agency worker is not entitled to take time off for the purpose specified in subsection (1) unless the appointment is made on the advice of a registered medical practitioner, registered midwife or registered nurse.

(5)Where the temporary work agency or the hirer requests the agency worker to give that person a declaration signed by the agency worker, the agency worker is not entitled to take time off for the purpose specified in subsection (1) unless the agency worker gives that declaration (which may be given in electronic form).

(6)The agency worker must state in the declaration—

(a)that the agency worker has a qualifying relationship with a pregnant woman or her expected child,

(b)that the agency worker's purpose in taking time off is the purpose specified in subsection (1),

(c)that the appointment in question is made on the advice of a registered medical practitioner, registered midwife or registered nurse, and

(d)the date and time of the appointment.

(7)A person has a qualifying relationship with a pregnant woman or her expected child if—

(a)the person is the husband or civil partner of the pregnant woman,

(b)the person, being of a different sex or the same sex, lives with the woman in an enduring family relationship but is not a relative of the woman,

(c)the person is the father of the expected child,

(d)the person is a parent of the expected child by virtue of section 42 or 43 of the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act 2008, F2...

(e)the person is a potential applicant for a parental order under section 54 of the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act 2008 in respect of the expected child[F3, or

(f)the person is a potential applicant for a parental order under section 54A of the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act 2008 in respect of the expected child.]

(8)For the purposes of subsection (7) a relative of a person is the person's parent, grandparent, sister, brother, aunt or uncle.

(9)The references to relationships in subsection (8)—

(a)are to relationships of the full blood or half blood or, in the case of an adopted person, such of those relationships as would exist but for the adoption, and

(b)include the relationship of a child with the child's adoptive, or former adoptive, parents,

but do not include any other adoptive relationships.

(10)For the purposes of subsection (7)(e) a person (“A”) is a potential applicant for a parental order under section 54 of the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act 2008 in respect of an expected child only if—

(a)A intends to apply, jointly with another person (“B”), for such an order in respect of the expected child within the time allowed by section 54(3),

(b)the expected child is being carried by the pregnant woman as a result of such procedure as is described in section 54(1)(a),

(c)the requirement in section 54(1)(b) is satisfied by reference to A or B,

(d)A and B would satisfy section 54(2) if they made an application under section 54 at the time that A seeks to exercise the right under this section, and

(e)A expects that A and B will satisfy the conditions in section 54(2), (4), (5) and (8) as regards the intended application.

[F4(10A)For the purposes of subsection (7)(f) a person is a potential applicant for a parental order under section 54A of the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act 2008 in respect of an expected child only if—

(a)the person intends to apply for such an order in respect of the expected child within the time allowed by section 54A(2),

(b)the expected child is being carried by the pregnant woman as a result of such procedure as is described in section 54A(1)(a),

(c)the requirement in section 54A(1)(b) is satisfied by reference to the person, and

(d)the person expects that he or she will satisfy the conditions in section 54A(3), (4) and (7) as regards the intended application.]

(11)The references in this section to a registered nurse are references to a registered nurse—

(a) who is also registered in the Specialist Community Public Health Nurses Part of the register maintained under article 5 of the Nursing and Midwifery Order 2001 ( S.I. 2002/253), and

(b)whose entry in that Part of the register is annotated to show that the nurse holds a qualification in health visiting.

(12)For the purposes of this section the working hours of an agency worker are to be taken to be any time when, in accordance with the terms under which the agency worker works temporarily for and under the supervision and direction of the hirer, the agency worker is required to be at work.]

Textual Amendments

F1Ss. 57ZE-57ZI and cross-headings inserted (1.10.2014) by Children and Families Act 2014 (c. 6), ss. 127(1), 139(6); S.I. 2014/1640, art. 4(a)