{"id":810,"date":"2025-10-13T13:26:00","date_gmt":"2025-10-13T12:26:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/staff.nhslothian.scot\/maternitysupport\/?page_id=810"},"modified":"2025-10-13T13:34:42","modified_gmt":"2025-10-13T12:34:42","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>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>Start thinking about what support you might need before, during, and after your leave.<\/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 E-health 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. &nbsp;<\/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><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><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 Planning leave checklist for staff For managers Planning leave checklist for managers<\/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_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-05-06 08:26:45","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"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 Planning leave checklist for staff For managers Planning leave checklist for managers","_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":5,"href":"https:\/\/staff.nhslothian.scot\/maternitysupport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/810\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":981,"href":"https:\/\/staff.nhslothian.scot\/maternitysupport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/810\/revisions\/981"}],"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}]}}