Discretionary maternity pay and returning (or not) to work

[Excited85]

I had my dd early Nov and went off work in Oct. My company only offers SMP however my particular role is commission based with the majority of this income coming in around Christmas (my role involves chocolate ). As I've spent all year working on securing Christmas placement I mentioned to my boss that I felt a bit miffed I'd done all this work and would miss out, not expecting anything but thought I'd try my luck. Anyway, we came to the agreement that based on me only having a couple of months properly 'off' and returning part time in Jan he would see to it that I was 'looked after'. So instead of SMP I've been receiving my basic salary plus a small set amount of commission per month. In return I've been working part time since Jan and am always available on email/phone so nobody has needed to cover me.

I'm now due to start back full time however some big changes have happened in my work place whilst I've been off which make me nervous about the future of the company and will effect my job, making it - I believe - much harder. At the same time I've been contacted about a job elsewhere and offered an interview which I'm keen to go to.

My question is, as the additional maternity pay was discretionary, not in my contract and nothing was signed/in writing... If I was offered the other job and decided to make the move would I need to pay it back? Thanks.

[flowery]

If they want to be able to reclaim it if you leave then they need to make that clear beforehand, so no, you won't need to pay anything back.