to keep quiet about new job until after maternity leave?

[justabigdisco]

I am in a job which I dislike. I am due to go on Mat leave in a few months, and was planning to have 6 months off and then go back (although have said to them that 6 months is not definite, I have said I am coming back)

however in the last few days I have been approached (very early stages) about another job, which wouldn't actually come about until next year at the earliest. They know I am pregnant and they are happy to wait for me. It could be described as my 'dream job'. Don't want to go into any more details in case I am recognisable.

AIBU to keep quiet, take my mat leave, and then resign from current job as soon as I go back, seeing out my notice and then leaving? If I resign during mat leave then I will have to pay back the mat pay.

Or could I tell them while I'm on mat leave that I have found another job, but am happy to come back and work the notice period to 'pay back' the mat pay? Perhaps this is better than telling them when I go back, as gives them more notice?

I know I need to look out for myself and our new baby but it feels a bit sly to not say anything for so long.
Thoughts please?

Firstly: Do not say anything till you have the new job & a definate start date

Do you have to work for the original company for 3 or 6 months first before handing in your notice, to keep your Maternity pay (this is quite normal if it is anything above statuary)?

Is the pay better at your new company and how much better?

Would the better pay at the new job cancel out the enhanced maternity package?

How much happier would you be at not going back to the original company - is it worth the financial cost?

How long would the new company be willing to wait?

Meanwhile try to save all/most of the enhanced maternity pay, so that if you decide not to return, it can be paid back.

id keep quiet and hand my notice in after mat leave. make sure you have a signed contract on the new job in the mean time

I'd keep quiet until after maternity leave. No need for them to know anything until you def have the other job.

If you receive just statutory maternity pay, you won't have to pay it back. But as soon as you start work with another employer, any statutory maternity pay will end.

If you receive enhanced maternity pay, whether you have to pay it back will depend on your company's policy.

You can give notice while you're on your maternity leave - you don't need to physically go back to work and work your notice period.

I don't think that you are being unreasonable to give notice either during or at the end of yor maternity leave. If I were you (and didn't have to pay back any enhanced maternity pay), I would give notice during my maternity leave and start the new job with the new employer.

Hope it all works out for you!

A post with illustrates perfectly why so many small firms get thoroughly disillusioned with HR law and - for good reason - are very reticient about employing women of a child-bearing age.

tough bollocks to them maurice, doing business has costs and ML is one of them. Suck it up.

Great attitude MsPlaced. Behave without any decency or integrity and fuck everybody else, even those decent enough to employ you. Even if it means, in the OP's case, women of her age may justifiably viewed with suspicion and looked on unfavourably in the future.

maurice - op sounds like she has great integrity - she's trying to figure out the decent thing. women and men change jobs all the time. companies want workers who want to be there.

'justifiably viewed with suspicion' maurice i hope you get flamed for that

I would keep quiet about your new job, go back to current job after your mat leave for a couple of weeks then hand in your notice, just incase of having to pay back any mat pay entitlement. But thats just what I would do.

Like it or not: if OP acts as she is considering acting her employers may not be keen to employ another applicant with functioning ovaries. It's always possible to find a good reason why another applicant was preferable; so while it is wrong they will probably get away with it.

it is illegal to 'not be so keen to employ people with functioning ovaries' as you put it.

she can work where she wants! she decides what to do that is best for her and her family. if it wasnt for 'fuctioning ovaries' there wouldnt be any men about to work

very true and just like the business people who will look after their baby as a matter of priority op will look after her interests. thats the way the world works

WhipMeIndiana I know that. But the fact is that employers can get away with it at a time when there are many applicants for every job and there will always be one good one who is male or older. Selection is not an exact science and it is very difficult to prove discrimination in appointment cases - easier in promotion cases. That is how the world is.

And she can't work where she wants. She can apply to.

I dont think op's work will be making the hex sign at any female applicants! ladies have babies> everyone has always known it. no point solemnly commenting that she is minimising the chances for other women.
If a company did take the line of avoiding women in that way, maybe the women in question would have a lucky escape if that kind of attitude is prevalent

On the other hand of course, assuming they get someone in to replace her while she's on ML handing in her notice just before she is due to return to work could be ideal for the employer as they already have someone in pst who knows the role.

Set the ML aside - the situation is that you have a job offer, to start in (say) 9 months time. Under normal circumstances, would you be telling your current employer at this point? No of course you wouldn't, you would wait and give your notice at the correct points - eg. 3 months before you want to start the new job if your notice is 3 months.

Agree, Bramshott. So the OP is behaving rationally. Likewise, if you own or run a business and somebody goes on maternity leave for six months, returns and then immediately quits - quite possibly leaving you in the lurch - you would be worried about the same thing happening again in the future with another female member of staff, would you not? And you may well think, fuck it, I will only employ males or older females and save myself the hassle in the future.

And probably get away with it.

basically, the new job is in very early stages and start date would not be before summer 2012 at the earliest, mat leave or no mat leave.

those who thing I am acting irresponsibly, what do you suggest I do instead? tell current job that I might not come back at all, even though new job isnt definite? and risk losing my maternity pay, which I have rights to?

thanks to others for helpful suggestions

"Decent enough to employ me?" What fresh twattery is this? I get employed because my skills are useful to a company or organisation and I am the best person for the job, ovaries or not. There is no decency involved.

ML doesn't even feature in this decision IMO. Go on ML, come back and see about the new job then. It's called life, and anyone with any business sense factors in the life of their employees.

You shouldn't say anything until you have a signed contract with the new company as until then that could fall through at any point.

disco - smile sweetly and keep schtum. you have no contract and nothing firmed up. protect yourself. do not worry about anything else.