Buddy says:From 1 October 2006, several provisions of the Work and Families Act 2006 will take effect. Even though the provisions come into force on 1 October 2006 they will only apply to women whose expected week of childbirth or date of adoption falls on or after 1 April 2007 and not for those who give birth or adopt beforehand.

Employer information:The provisions, which will come into force on 1 October 2006 and only apply to women whose expected week or childbirth or adoption date is after 1 April 2007 are:

• A rise from 26 weeks to 39 weeks in relation to the payment period of statutory maternity pay, statutory maternity allowance, and statutory adoption pay.
• The removal of the small employers' exemption. This now means that even employers with less than five employees can be subject to a Tribunal finding of automatic unfair dismissal if an employee returning from additional maternity leave or additional adoption leave is prohibited from returning to the same job.
• All employed women will be entitled to additional maternity leave, regardless of their length of service. At present only those with 26 weeks' service at the 14th week before the expected week of childbirth qualify for an extra six months additional maternity leave.
• All pregnant employees will have to give their employer eight weeks notice if they choose to return to work earlier than required from their addtional maternity leave or adoption leave. This is an increase from the current provision of 28 days.
• Statutory Maternity Pay or Statutory Maternity Allowance will be able to start on any day of the week, concurrently with Ordinary Maternity Leave. At present Statutory Maternity Pay or Statutory Maternity Allowance can only start on the Sunday after the pregnant employee stops working whereas Ordinary Maternity Leave can commence on any day.
• Optional "Keeping In Touch" days (KIT days) will be introduced. In short, this is where upon agreement from the employer and employee, those on maternity or adoption leave can return to work for up to 10 days during their maternity or adoption leave without losing their right to leave, statutory maternity pay, statutory adoption pay or statutory maternity allowance. Employers will also be entitled to make "reasonable contact" with employees whilst they are on maternity or adoption leave.

All pregnant employees who give birth before 1 April 2007 or adopt before this date are still subject to the current provisions. A summary of the current provisions can be found either on our employmentbuddy website or on the acas or dti websites (www.acas.co.uk, www.dti.gov.uk).