Forward to a colleague View as a webpage Add us to your white list Quick Links »   Maternity leave   Survey   Absence guidance   Occupational health   Blogs XpertHR maternity leave survey 2012 The cost of maternity leave Almost half of employers enhance maternity pay to above the statutory minimum, according to our latest research, which also finds that the average annual bill for maternity leave per organisation - including the cost of replacements - is around £125,000. How employers manage maternity leave Keeping-in-touch days are now used widely by employees on maternity leave, and are valued by HR professionals as a way to maintain engagement, XpertHR research finds. Top Take part in our research Complete our absence and labour turnover rates survey Take part in our confidential ongoing research into absence and labour turnover rates to ensure you receive the most up-to-date figures. Completing it will also mean you get a complimentary copy of the findings from last year. Top New absence guidance on XpertHR Investigating absence management Chaotic absence management is damaging welfare and productivity, according to research from insurance firm Ellipse. CEO John Ritchie reveals the findings. Case report round-up: Conflicting Employment Appeal Tribunal decisions on annual leave and sickness The latest case reports added to XpertHR include two directly conflicting decisions on whether or not employees on long-term sick leave must specifically indicate an intention to defer annual leave in order to carry it over to the next leave year. New model documents on adoption-leave cover and reintroduction into workplace New documents to complement the XpertHR Liveflo on handling an adoption leave and pay request include model policies on arranging cover for adoption leave and reintroduction into the workplace on return from adoption leave. Top Occupational health round-up › First-year review: an evaluation of the Fit for Work Service › Employees with epilepsy: good-practice guidance › Tackling presenteeism through employee wellbeing › Using data to direct employee wellbeing initiatives › How to treat panic attacks in the workplace › Occupational health contents, May 2012 Top Latest from our blogs An inheritance of perpetual austerity Rather than winding down in time for the 2015 general election, the age of austerity could have only just begun. Indeed, permanent austerity could be in prospect, at least in our lifetimes. How has the work of HR changed over the past decade? Can you remember what you were doing a decade ago? Chances are that if you were working in HR 10 years back, you were devoting significantly more of your working time to administrative work than you might be in 2012. Top 10 HR questions - April 2012 Pensions auto-enrolment remains the topic that is most exercising employers at the moment. FAQs on the upcoming changes to workplace pension rules and employers' duties towards their workers continue to feature among the most popular questions on XpertHR. Best of the HR blogs: 13 great HR blog posts from April 2012 April 2012 has been an abundant month in the world of HR blogs, which is why our usual selection of 12 of the best HR blog posts has been expanded to a baker's dozen. Top Editor's message KEEPING IN TOUCH DURING MATERNITY LEAVE Our research on maternity leave finds that employers' use of keeping-in-touch days is on the increase, with HR professionals viewing them as a genuinely useful addition to maternity leave arrangements. The majority of employers taking part in our survey have a formal keeping-in-touch policy. Although the content of these varies from organisation to organisation, most policies require managers to send infrequent emails to keep the absent employee informed of any changes connected to their role. In addition, the majority of employers send invitations to attend staff meetings or training. Our survey report also covers maternity return rates, and finds that more than half of the organisations taking part have return rates of at least 90%. However, just half of employers make arrangements to help women settle back into work after maternity leave, such as a simple briefing session. This issue includes a new report on investigating absence management and case reports relating to annual leave and sickness, as well as fresh guidance on adoption leave. Noelle Murphy Attendance and absence, XpertHR XpertHR calendar Keep up to date with all the major events and dates with our HR calendar. 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