Hr query return from maternity leave

[purplejungle]

Sorry if this is the wrong section - let me know if there's somewhere it would sit better.

Asking about leave accrued during maternity leave.

Previously I worked full time so my understanding is that I have accrued full time annual leave and the 8 paid bank holidays whilst I have been off for a year.

I am going back 18.5 hours (so half time) and will therefore get half pay/ annual leave/ bank holidays etc going forward.

My manager is happy for me to tag all my accrued leave onto the end of my maternity leave.

My question is - when my maternity leave ends I will be on a half time contract. So my accrued annual leave and bank holiday days will last twice as long (because I will only be using them for 2.5 days each week) - is that right?

Example:

• Say I have accrued 25 days leave and 8 days of bank holiday when on a full time contract.
• Then from say 1st April my maternity leave ends and I am on a part time contract.
• I then only work 2.5 days a week, so only need to use 2.5 days of my accrued leave to have the whole week off
• so my 25 leave days and 8 bh days will mean I can tag 13 and a bit weeks onto the end of my maternity leave.

I can't see how else it would work, and from (eg) 1st April I'll only be paid half- it just seems a lot of leave!

I don't know if I've explained that very well- let me know if not- tia!

Correct but might be easier to start your part time hours when you’ve taken your hols at full time and extra pay, but the time you’re holiday you’ll earn hols based on full time hours then revert to part time. Depends what you want - more time off or more pay before going part time?

Thanks that's helpful- have already agreed to date to change hours but yes good point.

I’m taking the annual leave (37 days) straight after Mat leave then dropping hours after that. Otherwise will take forever to use the days up 😂

Yes. I had so many hols but didn't quite realise so when I went back to work part time from full time I think I worked about 20 days from sept to December
It was crazy and shit actually because time went so fast I couldn't get my fingers in to work really.

I took the holiday days 'full time' then dropped the hours once I'd taken my previous years allowance. Otherwise I'd have had months and months more off.

You don't accrue bank holiday- you just get paid them outside your normal maternity allowance (so full time rate). In theory your Mat leave ends and you return to work, so you could take all the extra time... but probably best to use it up then drop the hours officially

Yes, I did that, took me 3 months to use up my leave and in the mean time had accrued 1/4 years worth more leave on part time hours. I went back to work 15 weeks after my mat leave finished. And then started my next mat leave 10 weeks later 🤦‍♀️

I wanted to take as much time as possible off work, so I did exactly what you're proposing OP. I thought my employer might insist that I take the annual leave I'd accrued as a full time worker on a full time pattern, but they didn't.

I think it depends if you are contracted by hour vs by salary. Although your day mught be half the hours if it has been accrued in days then you might lose out. Your HR should advise.
As pp said it would be easier to take the days as full time rate and delay the part time start date.

Accruing Bank Holidays depends on how many days you get. UK legal min holidays is 28 days which can include bank hols. I get 20 days + bank hols, so I will accrue all of these on my leave.
If I had 25 + bank hols then they would only have to give me 3 days of bank hol. You might get more depending on the company policy.

Thanks all.

@whistleinthewind are you always paid for bank holidays instead of it accruing like leave? Or does it depend on the employer?

Given that my whole maternity leave has been in lockdown I'm keen to eek it out as much as possible so would rather (if I got the choice which I probably don't) take the bank holiday days as extra rather than be paid for them.

I was able to tag the 8 bank holiday days I'd accrued onto the end of my maternity leave too, which on my new part time pattern equated to 2.5 weeks! I think (but don't quote me) that it's more common to take them than be paid out for them, but it should be an easy one for your HR folks to advise on.

We accrue BH as additional leave. With my first, I returned on a full time contract but took 2 days a week per week until my leave ran out. But if you will be being paid part time, your leave will stretch much further. Make the most of it!

You can definitely accrue the BH as leave and tag them on. No need to get them paid out. I did this.

Great thanks all

Just remember that if you take your accrued leave as a PT worker, you’ll be off for longer but be paid less than if you took it as full time. Eg if you get paid £100 per day and have 25 days leave, as a 0.5 PT you’d use up 2.5 days per week for 10 weeks, being paid £250 per week. As a FT you’d get paid £500 for 5 weeks then go onto PT.
Obviously its the same amount of money, but spread out differently.