14A.—(1) If, at any time—

(a) during the last 4 weeks of maternity leave whether or not part of such leave is postponed under section 14B and where, in accordance with section 14(4), an employee has, or is deemed under section 14B(3) to have, notified her employer, or caused her employer to be notified, of her intention to take additional maternity leave, or

(b) during the additional maternity leave whether or not such leave or part of it is postponed under section 14B,

an employee who is sick wishes to terminate the additional maternity leave, she may request in writing (or cause a written request to be submitted to) her employer to terminate the additional maternity leave.

(2) An employer who receives a request under subsection (1) may agree to terminate the additional maternity leave of the employee concerned and, if the employer does so, the additional maternity leave shall terminate on a date agreed by the employee and the employer that is not earlier than the date of the commencement of the employee’s sickness and not later than the date on which the additional maternity leave would have ended in accordance with the notification given by the employee to the employer under section 14(4) or 14B(8), as the case may be.

(3) An employer who receives a request under subsection (1) shall notify the employee concerned in writing of the employer’s decision in relation to the request as soon as reasonably practicable following the receipt of it.

(4) Where the additional maternity leave of an employee is terminated under this section—

(a) the absence from work of the employee due to sickness following such termination shall be treated in the same manner as any absence from work of the employee due to sickness, and

(b) the employee shall not be entitled to the additional maternity leave or the part of it not taken by her at the date of such termination.]

F27[(5) A reference in subsection (1) to the last 4 weeks of maternity leave shall, in the case of an employee who takes transferred paternity leave, be construed as a reference to the last 2 weeks of maternity leave and the period of that transferred paternity leave.]