Changes to maternity leave policy.

racso1975

The job that my wife works in has decided to change their policy. They had previously paid full wage for all of the leave. They will now be making no contribution. Would my wife be required to sign a new contract or can the policy be just changed?

Eoin

Unless it's specifically mentioned in her contract, then I'd imagine they can do that.

From this page:

Contractual terms and work practices

Legally there is a distinction between the terms in your contract of employment and work practices.

Contractual terms include pay, hours of work, sick pay and pension scheme. All of your contractual terms may not be in the written statement of your terms and conditions of employment. Some of your contractual terms could be in your staff handbook, a pension scheme booklet or a collective agreement. You can read more about contractual terms in our document on contract of employment. Changes to these terms must be agreed between you and your employer.

Work practices can include breaks and rostering, for example. Details of these may also be in your staff handbook and your employer may change these work practices without your consent. It is considered reasonable for an employer to update work practices or processes to save money or increase efficiency.

Jellab

This happened in a company I use to work in and I looked into it.
If your wife is already pregnant and she has let them know then they have to stick to the benefit for her. If she's not then she like the rest in of the people in the company lose out.
Maternity Leave being paid by a company is a benefit that some companies provide and some companies don't. It is up to them.