Quitting job before maternity leave

Savvy_Sue

livalicious wrote: »

Its a very small firm so there is no HR and not part of a union, I did ask my colleague though if she would be willing to go to a tribunal if we didnt get the bonus and she was more than willing.

I'd do some careful research before going down that road. Do you have in writing that the bonus was for X? If not, he'll just say "they misunderstood", won't he?

Sambucus_Nigra

livalicious wrote: »

Its a very small firm so there is no HR and not part of a union, I did ask my colleague though if she would be willing to go to a tribunal if we didnt get the bonus and she was more than willing.

The bonus is for extra work done, we still get paid our normal wage

Ok - so unfortunately you have no proof that you were promised a bonus. It will be very hard to prove this at tribunal. Let alone doing it whilst trying to have a baby.

Kiboko

nice boss! gets employees to work over and above duties etc and rather than pay overtime promises bonus'!! Personally speaking I would put the issues down on paper as plainly as possible and request a meeting on a specific date in writing. If he ignores or evades the issue/meeting then you have some ammunition should you want to take it further. Other than that, head down, finish your time and walk away head high with the salary and maternity you are due. You can pursue a claim when you are ready to if you chose to once on leave. Don't give him ammunition to use against you by walking out, you will only damage you, he won't care.

rpc

Do you have anything at all in writing about this? An email? He says she says won't get very far but if he's written this down then you are in a much stronger position.

livalicious

Unfortunately, we dont. At the time, I knew it would be better to have it on paper, however as I said before, my boss never does anything by the book, and it would have been like drawing blood from a stone. An example of his dont-care attitude, he has actually caused previous employees to lose out on jobs because he couldnt be bothered to respond to reference calls/letters.

londonsurrey

Well, in that case, agree with your colleague that neither of you fall for it again, and you both make it a mission to ensure that this particular trick is common knowledge so it is removed from his repertoire.

livalicious

Just a quick update to those who responded before and still interested.... True to form my boss screwed us over once again. Had the meeting finally last friday and after battling it out with him, he still wont accept the terms we agreed on in January, so basically rather than getting a £1500 bonus which is what we expected and worked our butts off for. No, instead we getting £500....taxed. Im past angry right now, he actually told me at 17.15 today "oh by the way, new person starts tomorrow so you can start training first thing"... Erm no. I think not. I shall be at the doctors getting signed off im afraid. Toodles.

So just a word of advice, always get any bonus proposals etc in writing, dont be naive like me and believe that agreements made are honoured and that hard work would be rewarded regardless . And thank you again to everyone who responded for all your sage advice. Im just going to focus on my little one now and put this whole sorry business down as experience and a lesson learnt.

sharloid

You've got to be careful that if you decide to stay with the company throughout your maternity leave (and receive OMP) and then don't return. The company may well be within their right to claim the money back.

I work in payroll for the NHS and know that if someone doesn't return from maternity leave then they get an overpayment letter stating to pay back all the OMP.

livalicious

Excuse my ignorance but what is OMP? Im aware that if I get SMP then i dont have to pay it back if I decide to leave the company at the end of my leave. So im not really sure what you mean, I know of Ordinary Maternity leave and also if your company paid maternity in addition to SMP that they could claim the money back if you dont return to work for a set number of weeks. My employer does not offer this sort of package just the basic SMP

SqueekyMouse

"if your company paid maternity in addition to SMP that they could claim the money back if you dont return to work for a set number of weeks" - You've just described OMP

I believe OMP stands for occupational maternity pay (so anything that the company chooses to pay you during your leave - often 90% of your salary for x number of weeks, then 50% for y number of weeks)

Since your company doesn't offer it, don't worry about it. You'll get your SMP and then you are not under any obligation to return to work after your maternity leave and won't have to pay anything back should you choose to resign