No maternity pay, no annual leave? help?

AimeesMum_2

I'm not fully sure now what it says. I will need to get hold of it. Technically my SMP hasn't started yet though as I am using my 9 days annual leave as attached to my maternity pay? Seems to be a huge communication breakdown.

I can't return to work yet as I am suffering from PND and just really can't bring myself to really leave the house never mind go back to work

AimeesMum_2

OK I think I understand now. This was extremely badly communicated to me through HR. Does anyone know if the doctor would sign me off for the 4 weeks then for PND or would my work not accept that?

iamana1ias

mrsspendalot wrote: »

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.

Precisely.

mrsspendalot wrote: »

I'm going on maternity in June and have to take all my annual leave entitlement before I finish or I lose it.

That's your entitlement up to June. Most places won't let you take any future leave in case you leave before you've accrued it.

mrsspendalot wrote: »

What I accrue during maternity leave, I have to take when I come back to work after maternity leave.

That's how it normally works.

mrsspendalot wrote: »

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?

That's exactly how I'm reading it.

mrsspendalot

AimeesMum wrote: »

I'm not fully sure now what it says. I will need to get hold of it. Technically my SMP hasn't started yet though as I am using my 9 days annual leave as attached to my maternity pay? Seems to be a huge communication breakdown.

I can't return to work yet as I am suffering from PND and just really can't bring myself to really leave the house never mind go back to work

Your SMP officially starts the day your maternity leave starts, or at the latest when your baby is born. Your employer might be paying you more as a contractual perk, but part of that is made up of SMP as that is the legal minimum you can be paid for maternity. So yes, you are already on SMP if you have given birth. You just haven't had your income reduced to the SMP level yet becase your employer has been topping it up.

iamana1ias

AimeesMum wrote: »

OK I think I understand now. This was extremely badly communicated to me through HR. Does anyone know if the doctor would sign me off for the 4 weeks then for PND or would my work not accept that?

You won't be on maternity if you're off sick so that won't solve the problem either.

You CANNOT break SMP. So you need work to agree to put you back on maternity without a break.

Do you have a copy of the mat leave policy? What *exactly* does it say?

AimeesMum_2

That is what I thought and what I relayed to my manager and was not told otherwise. It's my local council I work for so I clearly shouldn't have assumed that my manager would have known the ins and outs. Damn it

AimeesMum_2

I've not got a copy just now but will get it tomorrow. ut say effectively if they won't give me the SMP without the break then I have technically returned to work and if I can get a sick line then I would just be off on the sick?

iamana1ias

AimeesMum wrote: »

That is what I thought and what I relayed to my manager and was not told otherwise. It's my local council I work for so I clearly shouldn't have assumed that my manager would have known the ins and outs. Damn it

Oh dear. ............

mrsspendalot

iamana1ias wrote: »

That's your entitlement up to June. Most places won't let you take any future leave in case you leave before you've accrued it.

Our leave year finishes end of August, and I have to take my leave for the whole year before I go on maternity because I will not have the opportunity to take it otherwise due to maternity. That's what our maternity policy says anyway. So I am padding out my maternity leave by taking my remaining 3 weeks annual leave for this leave year before my maternity leave starts, meaning I can finish at 35 weeks but not start maternity leave until 38 weeks.

rising_from_the_ashes

In our company, you accrue your annual leave whilst on your maternity leave and you will be given a date you have to return to work.

If you were due to return on 1st Feb but had 10 days to take, you "officially return" on the 1st but are on leave and "physically return" on the 11th.

If you were wanting to take more than the accrued leave (ie your full years' annual leave) this would have to be discussed with your manager and the normal approval process for leave would apply (which may be a problem if someone is covering your post as the employer obviously wouldn't normally have someone there - & therefore be paying them - while you're on your holidays).

You would obviously be entitled to the remainder of your leave for that year once you return to work (providing the 21 days have been repaid).