Maternity Leave and Accrued Holiday

sam010185

Hi, not sure if this is the correct place to be posting but here goes....

I'm currently on maternity leave from a job which I hate. I am aware that whilst on maternity leave I am still accruing holiday and I have a letter from my employer stating that because of my maternity leave, any unused holiday from last year is being allowed to be carried over to this year. So, if I were to return at the beginning of March (when my maternity leave ends) I will have accrued around a month and a half's worth of holiday.

However, I have no intention of returning to work as I want to bring my son up so my question is am I still entitled to this holiday pay? Before going on maternity leave I was not required to state whether or not I would be returning - who could possibly know what I would be feeling a year later?

Does anyone know what the answer is? Or where I can find advice? I have tried speaking to the CAB but there were useless!!

Thanks in advance

Sam x

Liz_the_Whizz

Hi Sam,

First of all, congrats on your baby - enjoy your time with him! It whizzes by, can't believe my DS is 7yo now.

If you have been off for a year, I am assuming that your employer has some sort of enhanced occupational maternity scheme. The reason the CAB have been unable to advise you is that the way these operate is specific to each employer.

You really need to contact your HR department to find out more about how your employer's scheme operates.

One thing to watch for (it may not apply where you work) - under my employer's scheme, you have to return to work for 12 weeks otherwise you have to repay any amount paid by the employer over and above SSP. This is not uncommon with enhanced occupational maternity schemes.

If people don't want to come back after maternity, they tend to make some temporary childcare arrangement (family or whatever) to get through the 12 weeks, give notice on their return to work, then get paid for untaken holiday when they leave.

Best thing is to ring HR to ask to talk through your options in a factual, non-committal way before making any decisions.

Also keep an eye out in case there are any redundancies in the offing - can be a great way to boost the finances if you are thinking of giving up work anyway and only need to hang on for a few months;) .

Good luck,

Liz

apples1

I would say yes you are entitled to the paid holiday. Ask to take it at the end of your maternity leave and you would then get it paid in the relevant month(s) payslip.

I don't believe this is a scheme specific to your employer. This is your right!

You should not lose this just because you decide not to return. You accrued it whilst still employed.

Liz_the_Whizz

apples1 wrote: »

I would say yes you are entitled to the paid holiday. Ask to take it at the end of your maternity leave and you would then get it paid in the relevant month(s) payslip.

I don't believe this is a scheme specific to your employer. This is your right!

You should not lose this just because you decide not to return. You accrued it whilst still employed.

apples,

I agree insofar as statutory entitlements go, but Sam says she has been off for a year which is beyond statutory 26 weeks.

So accrual may or may not apply in the weeks beyond 26 - some employers will roll back accrual if the employee does not return to work.

That's why it's important to check where you stand with HR and the possible financial consequences of not returning.

sam010185

I know that I won't owe them anything as I wasn't actually receiving maternity pay as I hadn't been working for them for long enough so I was receiving maternity allowance from DWP.

Now I know that this is going to sound silly but before I speak to work I really need to know what my rights are as they are the type of employer to try and wriggle out of anything, they were trying to find ways to terminate my contract when I told them I was pregnant so I wouldn't put anything past them!

The option of going back for 12 weeks is a good one however I do not live near my or DH's family (DH is in the Army) so the only way I'd be able to do this would be to put DS into nursery which would pretty much cancel out the majority of my earnings so it wouldn't be worth it!

kat1982

being on maternity leave and accruing holiday is essentially like you're still at work- you have the option at the end of your leave to either get paid it, or take it and the end of your leave. as with any holiday, if it is not the end of the holiday period, they cannot force you to take it paid, or force you to take the holiday! you have the option of one or the other. (i only found this out today, my brain overwhelms me sometimes!):)

sam010185

So essentially, does that mean that if I hand in my notice in the normal way i.e. 4 weeks before my maternity leave if due to end, I am entitled to my holiday pay?

Sorry if I'm being really thick, just want to get this straight in my head before I approach them!

Thanks again

smk77

sam010185 wrote: »

So essentially, does that mean that if I hand in my notice in the normal way i.e. 4 weeks before my maternity leave if due to end, I am entitled to my holiday pay?

Sorry if I'm being really thick, just want to get this straight in my head before I approach them!

Thanks again

Being on maternity shouldn't make any difference to handing in your notice. If your employer needs 4 weeks then just hand in your notice 4 weeks before the end of your holiday entitlement ends.

If I was to hand in my notice and had, say, 1 week of annual leave built up then I'd hand in my notice 3 weeks before I wanted to quit and take the 1 week leave for the final week of my notice period.

sam010185

The thing is I don't think they will let me take all of the holiday in one go since it is about 6 week's worth so if my Maternity Leave is due to end on 3 March I was planning to hand my notice in 4 weeks previous to this so my last 'working' day is 3 March. I will have still accrued the holiday so would surely be entitled to the pay even though I would cease to be an employee on 3 March.

Tiggergirl

You are entitled to all the holiday pay that you have accrued, right up to the end of your notice period.

sam010185

Cool, thank you all so much for your help. I was sure this was the case but wanted to make sure before I approach them as I know they will try to wriggle out of it - they're solicitors, the worst kind of employer!!