Don't want to return after maternity

[babynelly2010]

Hi, hi I work at civil services and do to return in mid march. I had additional 12 week pay at 50% on top of standard smp and I will need to repay that if I don't return for at least 12 weeks. When my maternity leave ends I will have 4 week holiday remaining. Could my holiday be used to repay that extra maternity pay. So if I had extra pay 12 weeks at 50% that is 6 weeks at full pay. Could I use 4 weeks of holiday and be left with just 2 weeks to repay. Any experience with this. What should I do? Any stories to share? What should I definitely not do? Thank you :-)

[LIZS]

What is your notice period? You need to give that ahead of your return date. Alternatively could you return and use the holiday to reduce the days you work each week while working the 12 weeks.

[babynelly2010]

My notice is 4 weeks.

[nerdsville]

I used to work in payroll for local gov and this was standard practice (and still is at my current private sector employer) - employee hands notice in, we work out how much they owe in mat pay and then how much we owe in holiday and then offset the two. The amount repayable is the remaining balance.

It would be batshit not to do it this way. It's likely your contract states that any amount owed to your employer can be deducted from your final pay, so they'll deduct as much as they can from your holiday pay and bill you for the remainder.

[babynelly2010]

Thank you nerdsville.
There is a weird note on my form that I said to receive extra 50% pay over 12 weeks. It says that is you choose to spread the payment over 12 weeks and not take it as lump sum I will not be able to reclaim any ni taxes. What is it mean? How would it affect me if I don't return.
Also one document states I have to return for 12 weeks and another says 3 months. Do you know as standard is it 12 weeks?
3 calendar months is actually one week more. I am currently considering my options and if I ended up coming back I don't want to stay a week more than I have to.

[nerdsville]

Can you quote the exact wording from the form about the lump sum?

I was local gov not civil service so couldn't say for sure on the 12 weeks/3 months. What are the documents that say different things? In theory the maternity policy should be the definitive answer but to be honest I'd check with HR to be sure.

If you're trying to be discreet about your plans until you make your decision, I would assume that civil service HR is big enough, busy enough and anonymous enough that there's virtually no chance of your manager ever finding out so I'd just phone and ask.

[TickTock10]

Do you not want to return at all?

As an option could you not request to return part time, then resign after the 12 weeks? It's not the best advice, but honestly, people do it.

Technically you only need to do that for 8 weeks? Or alternatively those 4 weeks holiday you were due to take, I assume mass to 20 days holiday, could you try and offset that against the agreed part time hours? I.e. if it's agreed you return on a 3 day work week, over 12 weeks that's 36 days, so technically you would only need to work for a few days. That's on the basis your holiday days are accrued days, else your leave would be pro rata'd

[Intelinside]

Yes, try what tick tock says. I work in HR and have seen people drop down from full time to 1 or 2 days per week (billed as a cost saving by the manager who agreed) for the 13 week period (as it is set out in our policies). Then they take annual leave for the majority of those days. Managers see this as beneficial (they'd be paying the AL in a lump sum anyway even if you didn't return at all, if there's cover they'll need to end that when you return and then get someone back in a few weeks later anyway, they'll need to induct/train you which is wasted time for them if you're leaving in a few weeks etc). It's why it's a stupid rule tbh!

If the policies have discrepancies, use it to your advantage. Always quote the 12 weeks bit when discussing with anyone and never say 3 months, in case they use that to say you've got an extra week to cover.

[Intelinside]

No, the leave she accrued as a full time staff member won't be affected. The leave she accrues while working part time will be pro rata.

[Intelinside]

That's not right Stealth. Pull them up on it. If it's accrued during a period you were full time, that's in the bank, so to speak. If you were receiving other full time benefits, why not AL? If you returned from mat leave on 1st Jan and had a reduction in hours on 1st Jan, you are full time until 31st Dec and accrue full time benefits until then. Challenge them, def.

[Intelinside]

Course they can turn it down. No one is saying she has the right to return for 1 day a week, but she has the right to ask for it. If they agree, seems like benefits for both the org and employee, but that's not to say she will of course.

If she can return, and wants to, her accrued 4 weeks can be used to offset the working weeks she needs to complete to retain her contractual mat pay.

[Jellybean2017]

Any holiday accrued prior to return date will be at original hours. Any holiday accrued after return will be at new hours.

If she had accrued 100 hours prior to return and only works 10 per week after return then it will take her 10 weeks to use it up.

[Intelinside]

Not for the leave she's already accrued. You know what accrued means, yeah.

Do you work in HR or employment law Stealth?

The proportion as a percentage of her working time is what pro rata means. This applies to what she'd accrue while part time. Not what she accrued when full time.

I can have this conversation all morning by the way 😂

[Intelinside]

Sorry, that was sarcastic which was unfair. Definitely push back if someone is telling you or your colleagues this though as it's not right and I hate to see employers manipulating the situation to benefit themselves when 1) a few weeks pay is a big deal to a woman on mat leave and 2) they are bloody entitled to it in the first place.

[Intelinside]

It confused me too! Sorry for being rude Stealth. Can I blame the early morning?

If you have accrued leave during a period of shared parental leave, that's your leave to take at a later date. So it's what me and my husband are doing and here's out example:
I take my leave/pay for 29 weeks given 10 weeks of my pay to my partner. I am full time now and will be considered full time for that 29 weeks. I will accrue my usual contracted leave for that 29 weeks and then I can take it at the end of that period.

If your leave year runs say, April to March and you are off Aug to Aug then when you come back in Aug you'll have 7 months in which to take the leave. Your employer will likely say you can't carry that leave over to another leave year, but you will be able to use it (all) in leave year you are returning in, if that makes sense.