Maternity, Paternity & Adoption - during leave and upon return

Questions related to the treatement of employees on maternity/paternity/adoption leave and on their return to work.

Other than pay, what rights does a woman have during maternity leave?
I need to get some information to my employee on maternity leave. Am I allowed to contact her?
We have a training course running that is relevant to an employee on maternity leave.
Do holidays continue to accrue during maternity leave?
What is the situation if it is not possible for a woman on maternity leave to take all of her holidays in the current holiday year?
Can I return an employee to a different job or on a different set of conditions after her maternity leave?
In most cases, no. In exceptional cases where a redundancy situation has arisen it may be possible to return the employee to a different available job, but terms and conditions should be no less favourable and a consultation process should have taken place with her during her maternity leave regarding the redundancy. In limited circumstances a woman may be offered an alternative job after AML (Additional Maternity Leave), but only on the grounds that returning to the same job is genuinely impractical. Even then, employment terms must be no less favourable. As a rule of thumb, ensure all women returning from either OML or AML return to the same job on no worse terms than before.
Is it true that very small employers (with less than 5 people) do not have to accept a woman back after additional maternity leave if it is not practical to do so?
A temporary worker/another worker has been doing the job of an employee on maternity leave and is very good. Can I keep the worker in the job and find an alternative position for my employee returning to work after maternity?
Do I have to agree to allow my employee to return part-time after maternity leave?
Can I refuse to grant maternity /paternity leave?
Can paternity leave be taken in odd days?