Extending maternity leave!!

[Waaaproblems]

Sorry to post here but I could really do with the traffic...

I’m due to return to work from maternity leave in 3 weeks (I’ve taken 7 months so far).

My childcare arrangements have fallen through - I’ve managed to secure a nursery but any son can’t start there until mid October.

I don’t have the option to provide 8 weeks notice to my employer - can I still extend my maternity leave? Is the 8 week rule due to eligibility for SMP?

Help!

Employers should assume that you are taking the full 12 months unless you tell them otherwise - and if you want to return earlier than 12 months 8 weeks notice is normal.

Did you actually tell them you were coming back to work?

Thanks for the quick response. I arranged my dates before I went on leave and they confirmed in writing.

Is your employer likely to be difficult about it? Tbh the 8 weeks I have always thought is to allow for planning and giving notice to any staff employed to cover.
Alternatively, have got accrued leave you could take?

I'd see if you have accrued enough holiday to take, or you could ask them to extend the leave. Do you think they would refuse to extend because they won't have 8 weeks notice?

If you've confirmed your return date to them then yes, you are meant to give them 8 weeks' notice to change it, as they have planned around you being there from then, potentially lined up projects or given your maternity cover notice, etc. I'm not sure what the consequences are if you request a change/extension at very short notice - presumably they're under no obligation to grant it and could consider you AWOL if you didn't turn up at work then.

Hopefully if they value you something can be negotiated - have you used your accrued annual leave? Can you manage on unpaid leave as emergency carers leave?

You are required to give the notice so they can put plans in place, such as letting go your temp replacement with a bit of notice etc... but there's no harm in asking as it's really common for women returning to have changed their mind or for things to have come up!

Just know your work are entitled to say no, so I'd go prepared with evidence of how you genuinely had things lined up but they fell through. Even if they don't ask for it, it just adds to the trust that you are planning on coming back and not delaying until you find something else (which is also very common). It depends on your workplace whether they will have actually used the 8 weeks to put anything in place or not and how big an impact it will make to them having less notice.

The alternative is to ask to use some of your accrued holidays to bridge the gap?

Hopefully you have a reasonable manager