In larger companies, HR will be instrumental in managing the maternity leave process. This is not always straightforward, though, as they will need to juggle the – sometimes competing – requirements of legislation, the needs of the company, fellow employees, and the individual taking maternity leave. Now, due to new legislation making maternity leave longer, it is becoming increasingly challenging to appease all parties.

To fully understand the position that HR managers are being put in, the different pressures they fall prey to must be explored. Firstly there is legislation. As of April last year, according to UK law, women are now entitled to take 52 weeks maternity leave, the first 39 of which are paid.  Also a further three months 'parental leave' can be taken.  In addition it is considered sex discrimination if a woman is dismissed or treated less favourably due to her pregnancy. 

Complying with the law and protecting a company from possible litigation is part of an HR manager’s job. However, in the case of maternity leave, while there is a need to comply there are also the needs of the company to be taken into account. This has become more important as HR has recently entered the boardroom and can see the full impact of HR decisions on the business as a whole. For smaller companies a key member of staff being away from the workplace for up to a year or more could have a major impact on their turnover and the company’s long term success. So when granting maternity leave HR needs to balance the need to comply and the need for a business to be adequately resourced.

While they may not be legally obliged to do so HR managers must also consider the welfare of the rest of the workforce. There is the practical element of ensuring that there is adequate cover for an employee on maternity leave so that the workforce is duly supported. This is the more straightforward consideration that needs to be taken in regard to other employees; there are more complex emotional issues that also need to be fielded. For example some employees would like to take a period of paid leave, perhaps to care for an elderly relative, or for other extenuating personal circumstances, but are unable to secure it. With maternity leave now available for over a year, to some employees it can seem unfair that they are not able to get the leave they need, when, to them, their personal issues may be as valid.

These feelings of unfairness felt amongst employees can extend further to things like promotion. As mentioned earlier it is against the law to treat an individual less favourably due to their pregnancy. So it is perfectly legitimate that a pregnant employee might be promoted, and then go on maternity leave. This can then cause friction with the rest of the workforce who might feel that the promotion is unjust considering that their newly promoted colleague will be away from the workplace for so long.

Finally, and perhaps most importantly, the needs of the woman who requests maternity leave must be kept in mind. When chief executive of the Equalities and Human Rights Commission Nicola Brewer commented that women are unfairly disadvantaged in the workplace, due to the biological fact that they are the ones that have children, half the reason it caused such a stir was because it was something that most women believe to be true. It is effectively becoming harder to “have it all,” and Brewer’s comments highlighted that. It should also be noted that from the research which has been carried out, women are likely to suffer financially for the lifetime of their careers by having children. So this may all lead to a woman perhaps feeling unable to take the leave she really needs due to the fact she feels unable to sever her ties from the workplace for fear of losing out. The HR manager must be able to quell these thoughts and help the employee to decide what is best for her. There are also other questions that need to be addressed, like how they can stay involved at work from a distance so they don’t totally lose touch, and in what capacity will they return to work.

These are the four major areas that put pressure on HR and which must each be considered when deliberating over maternity leave. So when viewed through the eyes of an HR manager it becomes clear that maternity leave is a highly complex issue and one which exacerbates the role of HR as protector of employer and defender of employee, as in this instance, they have to effectively be both. Seeing the different pressures in this way demonstrates that compromises must be made as HR tries to appease everyone. To this end it is crucial that we continue to debate the issue of maternity leave to ensure that while compromises are being made they do not become compromising.