Or would you expect a pay rise on mat leave?

[Dinglewoop]

Hello. I am currently on maternity leave but will be going back to work early in 2024. I have been at the company for 8 years and have always received a yearly pay rise at the end of December. I'm wondering if I should be expecting a pay rise this year at I'm on maternity leave? I am hoping I will as to not get one will effectively be a pay cut in terms of spending power due to inflation. What are other people's experiences? Would love to get the general opinion on this in case I'm being unreasonable in which case I won't query it if I don't get a pay rise. For reference, the company is doing financially well this year.

AIBU - don't expect pay rise

AINBU - do expect pay rise

You should expect a pay rise.

You should get a rise if others do - as in Alabaster.

is it an annual CoL rise, or an annual increment?

If its CoL then I woukd expect to get it.

I got one. My bonus was pro rated because of mat leave.

You should not be disadvantaged through being on mat leave
But is it a cost of living increase applied universally? Or an individual performance related increase?

I got my annual payrise whilst on maternity leave

Yes, if it's a regular annual rise (i.e. an annual inflationary increase or a pay scale where you automatically move to the next point each year), you should expect it.

Hmmm it's never really been defined what the pay rise is based on. For instance I know people who have had poor performance reviews and did not get one. Another example would be post COVID we had a really bad year financially (just broke even) and everyone my grade were given a blanket 3% rise (normally it's more like 7% but varies).

Absolutely expect it

I think it depends. If it is a cost of living pay increase then yes absolutely. If it’s performance related, maybe not as you haven’t been at work.

https://workingfamilies.org.uk/articles/a-mothers-rights-during-maternity-leave/#:~:text=The%20law%20around%20the%20effect,subject%20to%E2%80%9D%20the%20pay%20rise.

You should get a payrise. Our company also give a "welcome back" payrise (ok, bribe) to all mothers returning fulltime after maternity leave.

If other people get it and it’s not linked to performance you should get it too.

if other people get it and it is linked to performance, your most recent performance rating should be used. The assumption is that you would have got at least that good a rating again if you had not been on mat leave - unless you had been formally advised of genuine issues with your performance requiring improvement before you went on mat leave.

if some people get it and some don’t then ask what criteria they are using.

Not awarding, or reducing any pay increase due to maternity leave is discriminatory.

Also - Any pay rise awarded during your maternity leave must be backdated to the start of your maternity. So if the pay rise is in effect from January 2024, but you went on maternity leave in June 2023 they need to backdate it to June 2023 (due to the Alabaster ruling).

Thanks! I'm a little confused on one point. Why would they back date it to June 2023 - as if I was working I would get the pay rise in Dec 2023 and it would take effect from Jan 2024 so it seems like I'd end up getting more money being on mat leave?

Yep, you should absolutely still get the pay rise as normal, assuming everyone else is.

As someone who works in HR, we’ve always included those on mat leave for annual increases. You shouldn’t be at a detriment just because you’re on mat leave otherwise it may be discrimination.

@Dinglewoop

It sounds made up, but it’s not. This site explains it well. If you have an HR department they will be aware and process it automatically. It would impact on any contractual maternity pay you receive as well as the statutory 90% paid in the first 6 weeks of maternity pay.

https://www.peninsulagrouplimited.com/resource-hub/leave-absence/alabaster-ruling-statutory-maternity-pay/

It’s not just for col payrises either. If you got a promotion with a pay rise for example that would be backdated too. I work in HR and have seen some pretty impressive backpay applied due to promotions while on maternity leave.

That post about Alabaster isn’t correct.

in fact it requires the recalculation of the earnings used for SMP, but only if the rise occurs or would have occurred during absence - that’s the backdated bit, not the entire rise.

Unless I’ve misread or misunderstood it then the pay rise will be in effect while OP is on maternity leave.

I work in HR and employees on mat leave where I work, are treated the same as all employees and will absolutely receive the annual salary increase. I’d be very surprised if you didn’t, I’d reach out to HR/ manager and ask though.

I didn’t receive a pay rise when on mat leave (while all my colleagues did and I had received one every other year), challenged it and was told no. Once back and I’d used all the annual leave I’d accrued while off, I started job hunting and landed my dream job at dream company straight away. So long fuckers!
(Yes, you should get one.)

Do you mind sharing what reasoning they used to not give you one? Or did they not say. Congratulations on the new job!

@happyshineyperson I would be very interested in hearing their reasons for that ‘no’, and would have challenged it a second time via an employment lawyer.

I suspect they may then have changed their response.

Well done on landing the better role though!

They cannot discriminate against you for being on Mat leave. In bigger companies you are often measured on the performance from the year before (as no current data) and if that falls within the range you will get a pay rise. Usually when you return though - you will not receive more maternity benefits.

So it's a small company which is why the HR isn't as tight as perhaps it should be. I have always had positive yearly reviews in the past, my last one was Jan 2022 (I just missed my 2023 one because of mat leave). I have monthly catch ups with my line manager though to discuss my performance and nothing negative has been raised so I can't imagine they'd have a reason not to give me one based on performance.