No maternity pay, no annual leave? help?

AimeesMum_2

Can someone please help me with this.

I went on maternity leave on the 18th October 2010. I was elegible for 14 weeks full pay and 25 weeks SMP. My full pay finished on the 24th January and I had accrued (up until that point) 9 days annual leave out of my 30 days a year entitlement.

I notified my employer at the time that I was taking all my entitlement (full 30 days) after my maternity leave. I was paid this month and my wages were short and after phoning HR it was because I was removed from the payroll as I was now on SMP. I explained that I should have been put on annual leave and this would cover me until the 3rd of March and that I was aware that I would have to return to work in July and have no holidays remaining - I would take my leave from flexi-time or unpaid.

My employer has come back to me today and said that no, I am only entitled to 9 days leave and I can take the rest when I come back. I have also been told that as my manager had to fill in a form to say that I had returned to work but was on annual leave that from the 9th February I no longer qualify for SMP either. So as of tomorrow I am getting nothing! No maternity pay, no annual leave! Nothing.

I am so scared I can't stop thinking about it! Please help? And if there is anything that is unclear, please ask? xx

iamana1ias

Makes sense to me. You can either take leave at the start or end of maternity leave. You can't take it in the middle. So if you want to take leave now you have to return to work, or you can take the SMP and then take the leave you have accrued (not a whole year's worth) on full pay before you return in July.

You have been receiving SMP as part of your full pay. You can't take a break from it to be on normal leave.

McKneff

Surely you have to ask for holidays, not just inform your boss that you are taking them.

If you are only entitled to 9 days Im sure he would be within his rights just to allow those because that is all yu had accrued.

What happens if you couldnt actually return to work, wuld you be in a position to repay all the 21 days pay you had had.

You cant really expect to take time off later on after you get back, even if it is unpaid.
You seem to presume a lot. You are working for this company, they are a business, not just there
at yur convenience.

AimeesMum_2

I asked what was best and was told that I should take my annual leave either at the start or end of my full pay as I would still be on the payroll then. As soon as you go on SMP you are taking off the payroll therefore I was told to take my leave either before or after my full pay. It wouldn't have mattered whether I did it at the start or the end...I should have been paid annual leave. I accrue holidays up until my maternity pay is over...so I would be entitled to almost all of the 30 days.

iamana1ias

AimeesMum wrote: »

I asked what was best and was told that I should take my annual leave either at the start or end of my full pay as I would still be on the payroll then. As soon as you go on SMP you are taking off the payroll therefore I was told to take my leave either before or after my full pay. It wouldn't have mattered whether I did it at the start or the end...I should have been paid annual leave. I accrue holidays up until my maternity pay is over...so I would be entitled to almost all of the 30 days.

What does your company's maternity policy say?

The way you've worded your OP the employer is in the right. Who told you you could take your leave (including that which you had not yet accrued) after your full pay?

Oldernotwiser

You say that you notified your employer that you were taking this leave; did you receive anything back to say that this arrangement was acceptable to them?

Who told you that you "should take my annual leave either at the start or end of my full pay as I would still be on the payroll then." and were you told this in writing?

AimeesMum_2

The policy says annual leave is accrued while on maternity leave. For the ease of payroll purposes this should be taken before your maternity pays starts or before your entitlement to SMP starts. I told my manager before I left that I was taking annual leave after my full pay and was not told I couldn't do this otherwise I would have done it at the beginning. HR have confirmed to me on the phone that it is at my managers discretion to give me my full entitlement as long as we are both aware that any leave after I come back will be unpaid. She has said she is absolutely fine for this but HR are saying to her that she is only allowed to give me accrued holidays so far.

My manager was told in order to fix my wages that she needed to fill in a change of circumstances form to say that I am on annual leave and not SMP yet but this has mucked everything up because now I have lost my entitlement to SMP! Oh god, I'm so worried

iamana1ias

The SMP system does not allow for a break in the middle, so I don't see how your employer could advise you to take annual leave in the middle of your maternity leave. Clearly their system doesn't allow what you've asked for as you can't be on the payroll or off it to make it work.

Are you *sure* that's what the policy says? It doesn't say at the end of *paid* maternity leave (which would be after SMP runs out)?

AimeesMum_2

McKneff wrote: »

Surely you have to ask for holidays, not just inform your boss that you are taking them.

If you are only entitled to 9 days Im sure he would be within his rights just to allow those because that is all yu had accrued.

What happens if you couldnt actually return to work, wuld you be in a position to repay all the 21 days pay you had had.

You cant really expect to take time off later on after you get back, even if it is unpaid.
You seem to presume a lot. You are working for this company, they are a business, not just there
at yur convenience.

So I shouldn't take the leave now and I should get it after I return coz I have been off for 8 months? This post confuses me

mrsspendalot

I would have thought that by taking x number of weeks of maternity leave and then reverting to paid annual leave, you are effectively returning to work - hence why they are saying your entitlement to SMP has finished.

I'm going on maternity in June and have to take all my annual leave entitlement before I finish or I lose it. What I accrue during maternity leave, I have to take when I come back to work after maternity leave.

If I understand your post correctly, are you saying you thought you were having x number of weeks full pay, followed by some full pay annual leave, followed by the rest of your SMP & maternity leave?

mrsspendalot

AimeesMum wrote: »

So I shouldn't take the leave now and I should get it after I return coz I have been off for 8 months? This post confuses me

Yes, because by taking it now you are effectively returning to work from your maternity leave, hence why they are saying you are no longer entitled to SMP