Accrued annual leave during maternity leave and termination of employment

[Guendaline]

I'm due to return from extended maternity leave (12 months) on 1st February but I have successfully applied for a different job just before Christmas and so won't be returning to my old company anymore.
I'm planning to give my current employer 4 weeks notice on 2nd January. Does anyone know what happens to the annual leave that i've accrued during maternity leave and whether I'm due a payment in lieu upon termination of employment?
Can someone give me a link to some authoritative source on the web should I need to quote it?
Many many thanks in advance and Happy New Year to everyone

[Rockchick1984]

On phone so can't link but go on gov.uk maternity policies and it should be on there. You are entitled to accrue holidays while on maternity leave in the same way as if you had been in work. Of course, if your employer is being funny with you about it you could always offer to use your holidays rather than the last month of unpaid maternity leave :)

Don't forget that if you received enhanced maternity pay you may be required to pay it back as you're not returning to work, however you won't have to pay anything back from SMP.

[IDontDoIroning]

I agree with poster above. You will have to pay back any enhanced maternity pay that you have received as you will note be returning to work for the required 3 month period.

However you will be entitled to be paid for any accrued annual leave that you haven't taken plus any bank holidays.


If you have had enhanced maternity pay I suspect you will owe them more then they owe you.

[Rockchick1984]

Idont it depends on her company re paying back maternity pay - my company allowed staff to keep their enhanced pay but that was clear in the maternity policy. 3 months is simply a common thing that companies use, but they can insist on longer or shorter as they see fit :)

[Ellypoo]

OP may not have received any enhanced maternity pay anyway.

Annual leave could be paid in lieu at the end of your employment (depending on the wording in your contract, they may only pay you up to the statutory minimum annual leave entitlement pro rated to your end date, not any company leave over and above this), however as an alternative, as Rockchick said, you could ask to use up this accrued leave through your notice period, rather than the unpaid maternity leave.

[Guendaline]

Thanks for your replies! I have my basic statutory rights so no enhanced maternity pay. I handed in my notice yesterday and I gave them 4 weeks notice as I was sue back from maternity leave on 1st Feb. I asked for my p45, final payslip and holiday pay "in due course". I have a feeling I'll have to threaten them with legal action

[Guendaline]

Bit of an update.
She's agreed to pay my annual leave but the reference was a basic one with just job title and job description.
I'm fuming because my new employer is not satisfied and has asked me to provide yet another reference otherwise they can't proceed!
I spoke to my former boss and she says it's their policy to only give general reference and nothing personal. Is that so? I feel I'm in such a pickle and am feeling very worried

[Jinsei]

Some employers do have policies about giving factual references only, so that may well be true, but even if it isn't, you can't insist on anything more. Have you got no other referees you could use instead?

[Guendaline]

Yes and one has already done a detailed reference which was very good apparently. Most of my previous employers had a policy of factual reference only so I don't really understand how the job offer can be in jeopardy because they have only one detailed reference? I'm quite worried about this tbh.

[Jinsei]

I don't really understand that either, if it genuinely is the policy of your current employer to give factual references only. Could it be that your new employer doesn't believe that to be true? E.g. If they have had other more detailed references for people moving across from the same company?

Is there any reason why your boss might want to give you a poor reference? At my organisation, we can write personsl references but I have once supplied a very basic factual reference for an employee who wasn't good at her job. We are not allowed to say anything negative in references (in case we get sued!) and so I wrote I wrote the bare minimum and left the prospective employer to read between the lines. Were you confident that you would get a good reference from your boss, or have there been issues?

I would contact your prospective employer to talk it through if I were you. If it is correct that your current company policy only allows factual references, could they talk to someone in HR to confirm that. Maybe ask them if you could get a reference from a colleague or client instead?

[Guendaline]

The trouble is, that's what it looks like, doesn't it? It looks like I was rubbish and therefore I only get a factual reference. WRONG!! Quite the opposite, my manager was gutted that I was leaving and she's been very unprofessional in the past to people leaving so I know that this must be pay back. If not pay back, let's say that she's doing the barest minimum for me.
I have written to her and explained I may lose the job as a result. I can provide a detailed reference from someone else but I'm not sure that it will be accepted. They need a satisfactory reference from my current employer.
I am very anxious about this situation and I am getting quite desperate really. To become unemployed as a result would be a disaster. I don't know what to do. Yesterday I've left a message in my new manager's voicemail asking her for a call back but I haven't heard from her. Shall i phone the hr department of my new job and ask them to clarify what's going on? I'm really going out if my mind here!