To expect Christmas pressie from work when on maternity leave?

[Stilldreamingofsun]

Currently on maternity leave. My company pass around a list before Christmas with a list of gifts e.g. Vouchers, cases of wine. I seem to have been left off the email chain. WWYD? I am thinking of emailing and saying that I would like the department store voucher please!!!

Exactly- and I wonder if we would consider it more discriminatory if they left out somebody who was on sick leave?

Are you being paid on mat leave or are you just receiving SMP? I ask only because if you're not being paid then it is likely a nightmare to administer, because a Christmas present is actually a tax deductible benefit and as such it has to be processed through the payroll in order to take that into account.

For that reason alone I wouldn't be expecting to be included TBH.

Lasts - brill!

"RochelleGoyle

I'm on maternity leave too and was feeling a bit hmm that my colleagues haven't sent me a Christmas card"

Did you send cards to your team and also categorically make it clear that you wouldn't see such contact as intrusive?

Of course you should get it if it is standard.

Laiste 😏

Do you have a friendly manager you could ask?

I would find it very embarrassing to ask, of course. But equally I think if you're still an employee of the firm they should treat you the same.

If it's fully paid maternity leave, then yes. If not, no.

Don't know depends if it's just a present or if it has strings attached. We get a Xmas bonus but only if we work all our pressure weeks. So no sick days etc. I didn't get it on maternity leave as didn't work the pressure weeks. Check the small print on your contract or call hr and ask if you are eligible as pp suggests. Anybody u know at work who has been in same position? u could ask if they got it.

It's a non cash benefit. If it includes everyone and is formally organised (not manager discretion) then you're entitled to it.

What Naze said - if you're being paid, then of course you should expect the same benefits as your colleagues, and it's illegal for them not to give this to you. However, if you are on SMP then they're not obliged to give you anything, as it counts as a 'benefit in kind'.

Legally yes you are an employee and yes you should get the same Christmas bonus as everyone else.

I wouldn't be phoning or emailing and asking though as I wouldn't want to seem grabby.

Becles that's a very serious response! Actually yes, I have sent cards to some colleagues - the ones I'm closer to. But no, there was no discussion about whether I might find a Christmas card intrusive.

Of course if you ask and they see it as a bit of a can of worms, chances are they'll just stop it next year and then no-one gets one. I bet most firms are petty like that.

A bit like when men want paternity to be equivalent to maternity so firms drop their generous maternity packages and only provide the legal bare minimum.

I've been on mat leave since November and got a lovely gift from work, which they do every year for all staff (including those on long term leave). I don't think YABU to hope to be included.

What are the rules with them including you on work emails though? I thought work weren't meant to contact people on mat leave unless it was a Keeping In Touch day. I know this is about a nice thing, but still, plenty of posters on here have gone nuts about work contacting them on mat leave so I imagine the default is for employers not to include mat leavers on work mails.

Anyone on extended leave from a job disappears into the hinterland of memory.

We get bugger all - no cards, no gifts, no bonuses, no party. Actually I lie - we had a Jacobs Join in our lunch break that only admin staff bothered to attend.

I don't normally moan about stuff that like this but it's really annoyed me this year. Other departments are having full on events and our offices have no sense of Cjristmassyness or celebration. Naff.

Anyway, OP, I think they should have included you. I would email I say "I couldn't see my name on the list - please can you clarify" etc etc and see what they say. You're still an employee.

Eh? You're not there. Why on earth would you get a present when you're not there? My friend is on a sabbatical from work for 6 months travelling around South Asia, should she still get a Christmas present?

Sounds like it's discretionary- our firm has started to give gifts to staff. They don't give it to people who are on mat leave though.

If you ask them, they will probably find one for you but you risk looking grabby.

That said, they do allow staff on mat leave to attend the Christmas party but we pay for that ourselves

As has already been said, they cannot discriminate between you and an employee not on leave. I would email HR with something along the lines of...I hope this doesn't seem cheeky but I'm aware around now staff are asked what gift they would like form the company and I am on maternity leave and appear to have been missed off the email. Could I please have details sent to me?

For those saying she's not there so shouldn't expect anything...the law now protects those on mat leave and they must be treated the same as other employees, as if they were still at work. They accrue annual leave as if they were there and must continue to get any in work benefits. The only area of change that I'm aware of is now the employer can choose whether or not to pay the monthly childcare vouchers during the period of SMP (previously it was compulsory that they did). Other than being able to move them into a different but equally banded job if they take extended mat leave, everything must be treated as if they are pretty much just on a long period of annual leave.

I guess this is to not only protect women over men in general in the workplace as it tends to be women needing lengthy time off but also it protects the countries interests by not deterring people from producing enough of the next generation of workers.

A present? Ha! I've barely been contacted since giving birth wasn't invited to Xmas party, haven't been invited on nights out, nothing