Teachers and accruing holiday on maternity leave

[bubbablubber]

Does anyone know how this works? I can't seem to find the answer anywhere

Thanks

[BranchingOut]

No, doesn't happen that way in teaching.

However, what you can do is 'return to work' on the first day of a holiday. So if you have a September birth you are laughing.

[cazzybabs]

yep ... tough luck. don't have a june/july baby

[cece]

Not possible to accrue holiday if you are a teacher. Best to go for a Sept baby. You can start ML on 1st Sept then

[Littlefish]

It doesn't happen. You are not entitled to accrue holidays.

[hobnob57]

Not necessarily true. New EU regulations passed a year or so ago ruled that teachers should be able to accrue holidays the same as everyone else. When I returned to work in August, local authorities were catching on to this and, if an individual brought it up with their LA, were granted accrual of holidays. My school did this so I actually started getting holiday pay in June, effectively getting full pay 2 months early. You could play it 2 ways: go back to work as planned but use your accrued holidays before your return to work and receive full pay early, or tag your accrued holidays onto the end of your ML and get extra ML on full pay. Some friends did this and got a year's ML for the price of 9 months, so to speak. Unions sent an email round in September/Oct time asking members who weren't granted this option to get in touch. The all the cuts hit, so I don't honestly know what the situation is now. It's an expensive business for schools. I'm in Scotland.

[bubbablubber]

Thanks seems a bit rubbish that everyone else can supplement ML with holiday and teachers can't I am due to start mat leave 4th March so no chance of useful September baby!

[allatsea1]

Not being funny - and I will get flamed for this I presume - but teachers really shouldn't play the 'not fair' card when it comes to hollies!! I mean come on! Maybe if they made it so you could supplement with 25 days in line with the private sector but no way should teachers be able to save up every half term etc. Just my thoughts...

[SparklyVulva]

aalatsea - Teachers aren't paid for holidays. The pay is averaged out so that we do get a pay day every month.

[jenandberry]

I am soon to go on maternity leave, hoping the baby will behave and allow me to see students off for their exams first!

I agree that we should not be able to store up holiday but as sparkly said we are not paid for our holidays.

[allatsea1]

I wonder why they won't let you do it then. Hmmm...

[jenandberry]

Why don't you tell us allatsea rather than doing the Hmm... thing?

[allatsea1]

My personal opinion is that it would clearly be outrageous. 25 dayd or so in line with private sector, yes. Months accrued through half term, summer hols etc no.

[allatsea1]

• days

[jenandberry]

I don't know if I would use the term outrageous but I agree we should not be able to accrue extra days.

[Danilou22]

I think a little bit would be nice bearing in mind most teachers still work in the holidays and as I have just spent tues night wed night and thurs night ( yesterday was at school 7.30am till 8.30pm) at school for parents evening a little would be nice!

[allatsea1]

So you don't get paid for holidays but are still are expected to work through them? That doesn't seem exactly fair. I wouldn't be working through paid hols never mind unpaid ones.

[captainbarnacle]

and teachers can't take holidays or days off when needed or desired - you are stuck with what you've got. When I was teaching I used to travel 60mile round trips in the holidays to run revision classes or sort my classroom out or take books home to mark or plan lessons.

[summerpixie]

I looked this up a while ago and found this www.lge.gov.uk/lge/aio/707500
Maybe it will explain it a bit better as to why teachers don't get accrued holidays.

[vj32]

I am just about to have this argument with HR - I think basically you can accrue holiday but only up to the standard 28 days in one year. Annoying as I will have worked half the year, but being the first half I get considerably less than half the holiday!

[SarahScot]

allatsea, the reality for teachers is that if we don't work a bit during our holidays we can't do our jobs properly. I probably work at least 2 full weeks of my holidays a year and can't say I know any other teachers that don't do the same. Teaching is not the 9 - 3 job many assume it is!

Also, it's true that we don't get paid for our holidays, our salaries are just averaged out over the year. Given that, how can it possibly be outrageous for us to expect the same conditions as non-teachers, i.e. be able to accrue some holidays? Stop trying to start an arguement.

I'm in Scotland too and new rules have recently come in to put our maternity benefits in line with other sectors - we now can accrue holidays. However, they have cocked up. They intended it to be only 40 days per year you can accrue, which is more than fair imo. What has actually happened though is we can accrue all our holidays. I started my maternity leave as of yesterday and by going back in August I can get paid for the 8 WEEKS before that as I'll be on leave over the easter and summer holidays. Yes, this is more than others may get but I'd be a fool to say 'no thanks, I'll just stick to the SMP.' I think as of April the are changing the rules to the 40 days though, I've just been fortunate in when my mat leave has landed.

[allatsea1]

SarahScot. I'm not trying to start an argument!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Just saying that I think it would be entirely fair for teachers to accrue 28 days or so, in line with other jobs. Are you suggesting teachers should be allowed to accrue more?

[Panzee]

I got told that I get my statutory holidays but as I had already had 28 days (half terms, Christmas etc) before I'd gone on ML I couldn't get any more.

[TiggieWiggle]

I'm due to go on mat leave at May half-term and have been researching this. The way I understand it is that teachers are entitled to 24 days but this is not additional to periods of school closure (i.e. half-terms etc)and during maternity leave are ofset against school holidays.

SO if you go on maternity leave in May (for example) you will not get anything because the holidays you have had since Sept equal more than 24 days. If I then go back in March next year again I will not get anything because I will get the summer holidays in 2012. I hope that makes sense.

I am a primary teacher and find it annoying when people think we get lots of time off. I work most evenings and some days in the holidays and my husband (who has a 'normal'job gets much more 'leisure' time than I do). I am not moaning though because I love my job and would never want to do anything else

[BUnderTheBonnet]

NUT advice (Jan 2011):

4.9 ACCRUAL OF STATUTORY ANNUAL LEAVE DURING MATERNITY LEAVE

The position is complex but yes, this is true, but only in certain rather limited circumstances. The majority of women teachers returning from annual leave will not be entitled to annual leave on their return.

Teachers are entitled to 28 days statutory annual leave under the Working Time Regulations and they must be allowed to take this leave outside of their maternity leave. Teachers will accrue their statutory annual leave during their maternity absence. The situation is complex because the Working Time Regulations also state that employers can determine when the statutory leave is taken and teacher employers have advised that the statutory leave should be offset against periods of school closure. The annual leave year as far as teachers are concerned usually runs from 1st September ? 31st August. In most cases, therefore, periods of school closure before and after the maternity leave period will more than equal the 28 day annual leave entitlement.

In addition, where the return from annual leave is so close to the end of the leave year that there is not enough time to take the annual leave, a teacher must be allowed to carry this balance forward to the following leave year. The teacher can then be required to take this during the remaining periods of school closure after the 28 days annual leave for that leave year has been accommodated.

Teachers who resign and do not, therefore, return at the end of their maternity leave period may, in some cases, be entitled to additional payment in lieu of their accrued annual leave entitlement. In the case of teachers who resign, any additional payment will help off-set any occupational maternity pay that has to be re-paid following a failure to return to work for 13 weeks.

[BUnderTheBonnet]

Boring but definitive!