{"id":810,"date":"2026-10-26T09:17:00","date_gmt":"2026-10-26T09:17:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/staff.nhslothian.scot\/maternitysupport\/?page_id=810"},"modified":"2026-10-26T09:18:50","modified_gmt":"2026-10-26T09:18:50","slug":"planning-leave-hints-and-tips","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/staff.nhslothian.scot\/maternitysupport\/planning-leave-hints-and-tips\/","title":{"rendered":"Planning leave"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<div class=\"wp-block-group\"><div class=\"wp-block-group__inner-container is-layout-constrained wp-block-group-is-layout-constrained\">\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">For employees<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Start thinking about what <a href=\"https:\/\/staff.nhslothian.scot\/maternitysupport\/support\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">support<\/a> you might need before, during, and after your leave. Try to let your manager know as early as you feel comfortable so they can support you.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Ensure you have your MATB1* certificate (or adoption certificate) when you start the formal process of applying for leave. <\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>You\u2019re entitled to paid time off for antenatal appointments \u2014 your manager can help you plan for these.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Keep a note of key dates like when you want your leave to start and how long you plan to be off.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Request a copy of your expected pay. Once you have submitted your leave forms to payroll via the Digital helpdesk you can raise a ticket and ask for a pay breakdown.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>NHS Lothian now offer equalised maternity pay (for the occupational pay part) &#8211; request this when you submit your leave form.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Discuss how you would like to keep in touch (or not) during your leave.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Consider how you might like childcare to look on your return &#8211; some nurseries in Edinburgh require you to sign up over a year in advance (often before the child is born)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Ask questions \u2014 it\u2019s okay not to know everything right away.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">*NB: New Scottish Government maternal pathways state that MATB1 certificates should be issued at 25 weeks. The NHSScotland maternity leave policy deadline for advising of leave is at week 25 (15 weeks before expected due date). NHS Lothian midwives are doing these appointments at week 24 because of this discrepancy. We will update this page if there are changes to the policy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><a href=\"https:\/\/staff.nhslothian.scot\/maternitysupport\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/33\/2025\/10\/Staff-members-Checklist-Planning-for-leave.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Planning leave checklist for staff<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group\"><div class=\"wp-block-group__inner-container is-layout-constrained wp-block-group-is-layout-constrained\">\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">For managers<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Ask how your team member is doing and give them space to share when they\u2019re ready.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Be clear about what they\u2019re entitled to and where to find policies \u2014 familiarise yourself with these polices and don\u2019t expect them to know it all.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Know what risk assessments you need to do and how often.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Work together on a plan that feels realistic and flexible.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Encourage early conversations about handover and keeping in touch (if they want to).<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Keep communication open and supportive \u2014 every experience is different.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Keeping in Touch (KIT) days are great opportunities to set up access to help your team member prepare for returning. You can find more information about KIT days on the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.acas.org.uk\/your-maternity-leave-pay-and-other-rights\/while-youre-on-maternity-leave\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Acas Maternity leave and pay page<\/a>.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Complete the maternity leave form in eESS as soon as possible.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><a href=\"https:\/\/staff.nhslothian.scot\/maternitysupport\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/33\/2025\/08\/Managers-Checklist-Planning-for-leave.docx\">Planning leave checklist for managers<\/a><a id=\"_msocom_1\"><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>For employees *NB: New Scottish Government maternal pathways state that MATB1 certificates should be issued at 25 weeks. The NHSScotland maternity leave policy deadline for advising of leave is at<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":27,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_searchwp_excluded":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"class_list":["post-810","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"rttpg_featured_image_url":null,"rttpg_author":{"display_name":"scottsamson","author_link":"https:\/\/staff.nhslothian.scot\/maternitysupport\/blog\/author\/scottsamson\/"},"rttpg_comment":0,"rttpg_category":false,"rttpg_excerpt":"For employees *NB: New Scottish Government maternal pathways state that MATB1 certificates should be issued at 25 weeks. The NHSScotland maternity leave policy deadline for advising of leave is at","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/staff.nhslothian.scot\/maternitysupport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/810","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/staff.nhslothian.scot\/maternitysupport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/staff.nhslothian.scot\/maternitysupport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staff.nhslothian.scot\/maternitysupport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/27"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staff.nhslothian.scot\/maternitysupport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=810"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/staff.nhslothian.scot\/maternitysupport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/810\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1078,"href":"https:\/\/staff.nhslothian.scot\/maternitysupport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/810\/revisions\/1078"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/staff.nhslothian.scot\/maternitysupport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=810"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staff.nhslothian.scot\/maternitysupport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=810"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}