returning to work from maternity leave

PORTER790

Hi. I was wondering if anyone could give us some advice.

My partner is currently on Maternity leave after having twins. She has written to work and asked if she can return at the end of the paid period of maternity leave (ie after 9 months) but she wants to return on 2 days instead of full time.

Work have written to her saying that she can use some 'keep in touch days' for a few weeks when her pay ends but at the moment there are no positions in the business that she could work 2 days in. I thought that they had to offer you a job on returning from mat leave?

We are now not sure what to do. We get WTC but are not sure how this is affected when she goes onto unpaid leave. I work part time at the moment (since having twins) so I'm not sure if we could still claim WTC if she doesn't work.

Does anyone know about employee rights when returning to work after maternity leave? She is desperate to keep working but can't cope with full time and looking after 4 boys!!!

Thanks.

nomoneytoday

As I understand (and am not an expert) it the company has to consider your proposal fairly, but doesn't have to allow you different hours. If they don't have a 2 day job they can't offer your wife it.

However, if they did have a 2 day job available and didn't offer it to you on maternity grounds then that is a different kettle of fish

PORTER790

anybody else?

Maxjessdru

I'm afraid nomoneytoday is correct. They have to consider your wife's proposal to work part-time but are under no obligation to accept that proposal. She is entitled to return to work to the same/similar job she was doing before (ie full time). Her best bet would be to try to come up with some proposals that would make her offer more appealing to her employers, such as a job-share for the full-time position but again, they do not have to do this if they don't want to.

DaisyFlower

WTC can still be claimed for the first 39 weeks of maternity.

As for the employer having to allow her to go part time, the other posters are correct - she only has the right to request flexible working and not the automatic right to it being granted.

If she cant agree a compromise with her employers, she may choose to look for another part time vacancy or perhaps you could return to full time work whilst she stays home until school age. You need to have a play around with salaries etc to see what works best for you.