Appraising staff on maternity leave

Understand your legal responsibilities for performance managing teachers on maternity leave, and get tips on how to schedule meetings and set appraisal targets.

Last reviewed on 24 February 2022
School types: All · School phases: All
Ref: 9469
Contents
  1. Your requirements 
  2. Include teachers on maternity leave in your appraisal process
  3. Consider holding appraisals before your teacher goes on leave
  4. Reassess appraisal targets to make them achievable

Your requirements 

You must treat staff who are pregnant or on maternity leave equally with other staff (Equality Act 2010, chapter 2, section 17 to 18) and avoid:

  • Direct discrimination - for example, by denying pay progression because a teacher was not appraised due to maternity leave
  • Indirect discrimination - for example, by failing to take into account illness associated with pregnancy

Include teachers on maternity leave in your appraisal process

When a member of staff is on maternity leave, you should:

  • Take a practical and flexible approach to conducting appraisals and making pay decisions
  • Not make them use keeping in touch (KIT) days for the purposes of appraisals

When they return, you must give them any pay increase they would have received, following an appraisal, if they had not been away.

This is made clear in the DfE's guidance on implementing your school’s

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