Maternity

Information about your subscriptions whilst on Maternity Leave

Federation Subscription

Before commencing your Parental leave we wanted you to be aware of the important facts concerning your payroll deductions. Only once you have gone onto NIL PAY will your Fed Subs cease (£24.31 per month) and this amount will only recommence when you return to work.

Group Insurance Scheme

Regarding your Group Insurance you must ensure continuous cover whilst on leave.  Cover is available to any member on maternity/paternity/adoption leave for 12 months from the start of the leave.  Subscriptions to the Insurance scheme must be maintained and Philip Williams & Co must be informed of all cases.  PW & Co will pay months 10 – 12 of the subscriptions if the members maternity pay ceases.  If the member returns to force immediately following the 12 month break cover will be continuous and subscriptions should be re-started from payroll.  If the member does not return after the 12 months but goes on a further break then the Core scheme can be offered.  If this is taken the cover would cease when the member returns to work and the member should re-apply for the Group Scheme.  

Actions required :

• Please contact Ruth Fox - ruth.robertson@polfed.org - before you depart for your leave so that she can update our Member’s database in the Fed Office. In addition to this please let Ruth know if you wish to continue to receive our comms newsletter from us here in the Federation and also any important information that comes out Nationally from the Federation.  If you would like to receive such information we will use your home email address for future contact.
• As you get months 10 -12 paid for you by PW , Please liaise with Ruth Fox to ensure continuation of cover is maintained when you return to work
• Please let us know when you intend to return to work so that we can send you a Federation Joining form to complete so that we can recommence your Fed Subs and instruct payroll to commence deductions again.
• A Personal Data Agreement will need to be completed again as you may wish to amend your Group Insurance beneficiary after your leave as you can have more than one beneficiary including Children.

Police Treatment Centre

In addition to this if you have been paying into the Police Treatment Centre during your leave but then go onto NIL PAY this is classed as a donation break.  As long as you commence your premium of £7.80 when you return to full pay then you will be able to access any treatments immediately and do not have to wait 12 months.

Police Children's Charity

Finally, we would like to bring to your attention the Children’s Charity and if you have not been a subscriber during your career would you consider supporting such a great Police Charity.  The trust aims to support Police Families by helping to ease the financial pressures of bringing up children in the face of life changing circumstances.  For £1.50 per month you may now feel that this charity is more applicable to you.  If interested the tick box is on the PTC joining form and I know your contribution would be greatly appreciated.

Maternity Guide & Calculator

A new maternity guide and calculator is now available for our members to ensure they get the right information about entitlements and pay.

The booklet highlights what to expect during pregnancy, maternity leave and on return to work. There are also a range of entitlements available to partners. The guide has received a new element which is the calculator. The calculator will enable officers to calculate their accurate pay by entering in certain information on dates.

The calculator also allows members to put different dates in for different scenarios i.e., longer leave premature birth or sick from pregnancy-related reasons in the weeks prior to their due date.

PFEW Equality Lead Ian Saunders said: “Maternity rules operate differently for police officers than any other woman in the country as officers receive two types of pay: Police Maternity Pay, and Statutory Maternity Pay - but only get police maternity leave and not statutory leave.

“It’s also extremely complex what happens to police officers’ pay if they are off work early and we find many forces keep getting it wrong - so in the event of pregnancy-related illness or premature labour, our calculator will be able to help those who need to know exactly what they are entitled to.”

You can find the maternity guide and calculator HERE

Below are links to useful leaflets 

• Paternity Leaflet - advice for fathers & partners
• Maternity leaflet - guide for police officers