Maternity leave, notice period

BelowTheLine

I am currently on maternity leave and due back in September 2019. I have been offered a new job with a direct competitor which will start as soon as I can join. I have a 3 month notice period. Maternity leave was 6 months full pay, SMP for 3 months and then nothing after that. So I am currently on nil pay until the end of my maternity.

I'm just waiting for the formal offer following which I will submit my resignation letter.

If I was at work, I would be put on Gardening Leave on full pay for 3 months as that is the usual practice in this scenario. However, given that I've been on maternity for a good few months, that is unlikely but could happen.

1. Ideally, it would be best if my current employer waived my notice period (or at least shortened it significantly) so I can start my new role as soon as possible and start earning again.

2. The next best scenario would be that the employer placed me on gardening leave so I will be paid until I am allowed to start my new job.

3. The worst case scenario is that the employer enforces a 3 month notice period, leaving me on no pay for the next 3 months while unable to start my new role and get paid for that.

I have a very good relationship with the HR head but my manager is very temperamental so it's hard to predict what approach he will take given (punitive or conciliatory) that I'm moving to a direct competitor.

A. Any tips on how I should go about landing scenario 1 as opposed to 3?
B. Does anyone know what the legal view would be?
C. Are there any sources where I can get free or cheap (less than £100) legal advice on how my current employment situation?

KatrinaWaves

Does your contract have anything about needing to return for a set amount of time to keep your contractual maternity?

Comms69

You can get advice here, but without reading your contract it's impossible to say for sure.


Can they claw back the enhanced pay element?

BelowTheLine

- There is no mention of Maternity leave or pay in the contract

- We don't have a published Maternity policy (at least not when I left)

- The letter specifying my maternity leave and pay issued by HR does not mention the possibility of clawback

It's a relatively new organisation and I am the first person to go on maternity, which explains some of the above.

getmore4less

When was the cut off date to change the return to work date?
How much accrued unused holiday do you have?

BelowTheLine

Accrued holiday currently is around 10 days.

There's no return to work date yet. I can say that I want to return with 8 weeks notice.

getmore4less wrote: »

When was the cut off date to change the return to work date?
How much accrued unused holiday do you have?

getmore4less

you are into the 13 weeks last 3 months maternity.

One option is give the return to work now that leaves 5 weeks of the 13weeks notice they can either

have you work and pay you
garden leave and pay you
Let you terminate early and not pay you.

worst case is they say you can leave 3 weeks early without pay but have to use up the 2weeks holiday paid.

BelowTheLine

Thanks, that hadn't crossed my mind! If it comes to it, I'll have to do that. It might come across as a bit cheap unfortunately but I'll only do it if they make my departure unnecessarily difficult.

There is no way they will let me in back to work once I tell them where I'm moving to (which I'm obligated to do as per my contract once I've accepted an offer), absolutely no chance of that. If I did give notice to return to work, they will most likely allow me a reduced notice period or put me on paid gardening leave for the last few weeks.

How do I know what their intention is though? In the email communicating my formal resignation (after having informally told the HR head/manager over phone), my plan was to request that they waive my notice period in light of the fact that I haven't been involved for a good few months and asking for them to let me know what my last date would be. Hopefully they will reply to my queries and not just ignore it.

getmore4less wrote: »

you are into the 13 weeks last 3 months maternity.

One option is give the return to work now that leaves 5 weeks of the 13weeks notice they can either

have you work and pay you
garden leave and pay you
Let you terminate early and not pay you.

worst case is they say you can leave 3 weeks early without pay but have to use up the 2weeks holiday paid.

TELLIT01

BelowTheLine wrote: »

Thanks, that hadn't crossed my mind! If it comes to it, I'll have to do that. It might come across as a bit cheap unfortunately but I'll only do it if they make my departure unnecessarily difficult.

Enforcing their standard notice requirements, and tying that in with your current maternity absence rules, is not 'making my departure unncessarily difficult'. You are clearly looking for a solution which will give you the best financial outcome - naturally. They will be looking for a outcome which has the least financial income on them, just as naturally.

BelowTheLine

Unnecessarily difficult from my perspective - naturally. There, hope that's clearer

TELLIT01 wrote: »

Enforcing their standard notice requirements, and tying that in with your current maternity absence rules, is not 'making my departure unnecessarily difficult'. You are clearly looking for a solution which will give you the best financial outcome - naturally. They will be looking for a outcome which has the least financial income on them, just as naturally.

Takeaway_Addict

Negotiate with them- offer to pay back some of the maternity pay (which no doubt they will reduce to SMP for anyone else once you move) in return for a shortened notice period