Maternity Leave Query

[MummifiedTo3]

Hi all,

Not really sure where to post this but posting here for traffic as more likely to get some form of response, hopefully.

I work in retail and am 33 weeks pregnant. I submitted my dates for maternity leave back mid May to begin from 20th July- 28th Jan. Upon this request it was mutually agreed that I would move 3 and a half weeks of annual leave (that were scheduled through the period of mat leave that I'd ultimately miss out on) to the beginning of my leave dates requested. So these holidays were approved and started this Monday just gone (24th). I've had no further updates about the July-Jan dates requested but did get advice before I left last week that everything was okay and I'd just drop off the rota come 20th July, when mat pay would begin.

However I've recieved the rota schedule for the week of the 22nd July and have been put in for 4 shifts which I'm very confused and beginning to panic about, as it doesn't seem to be noted anywhere on my side of the system that I will ultimately be off for maternity from present. I'm also concerned that now the rota schedule is showing that I'm due on shift that week that my maternity pay and the rest of the admin this entails hasn't actually been processed at all and will mean I may end up with everything that was planned and agreed being messed up.

The only way I can contact someone to speak to will be to call the store and speak to a manager on shift to clarify or to go in in person.

Does anyone have experience of this? I've never been in a maternity request situation so I don't know if this process is right and I'm worrying about nothing or if I need to chase this up now to make sure I don't end up with nothing come the pay period that includes my mat pay (which will fall around my due date)

Also if you were in this situation would you call to speak to someone or go in person to get this sorted? I'm cautious that I may actually need this documented in writing as it just seems like I may end up screwed.

(This isnt the first issue I've had in my pregnancy with work)

Is it a large company? If so, I would contact HR to confirm everything has gone through properly.
If you don't have the details you could ring the head office number to be put through and then ask them to put everything in writing.
Then you could just let the store know your maternity leave will be starting.

@GFB I am unsure of there is a HR department or anything like that, its just a general supermarket that I work in.

Just call them and remind them so that they can amend the rota

May be best to go into store to speak to the manager and also ask them to help you with HR so you can check it's all been processed correctly.
It might just be human error by the person doing the shift but if you haven't had confirmation of your maternity leave and pay in writing then, if it was me, I would have want to make sure everything has been processed properly.

@PickledPurplePickle just to clarify, I did get confirmation of pay and leave entitlements around April time which acknowledged that I was requesting this. I just hadn't provided my dates then but those were provided a couple of weeks later in writing to my manager within the legally stated time frame to qualify. So it's just the specific maternity leave dates and pay period that I've had no further acknowledgement of.

It's odd though because my (expected) last shift last week they had a sort of low key send off for me with gifts and goodbyes, see you in january, chat etc. But within the space 5 days they've updated a rota to include me on.

I'm thinking it might be best for me to call the store to speak to the store manager whos been dealing with all of this tomorrow when hes on shift to check and ask if they can put it in writing to confirm the process either in letter form for me to collect or email! Or to see who I need to speak to about all of this.

The only number/details I've been provided with since they've been notified of my pregnancy is Payroll who I believe will be dealing with the entitlement to pay. Would it be worth also calling them to confirm Maternity pay is in place pending to begin from 20th July just in case?

It sounds like a genuine, small, human error

A quick call or text, preferably email, would resolve the(ir) confusion

Stop fretting and enjoy your mat leave!

From your update it just sounds like mistake by whoever did the rota.
So a quick call as PP to remind them you're on mat leave will fix it.

Enjoy your mat leave!

Thank you everyone. I know I'm probably panicking over nothing

Probably just an error: just give them a call and say "I thought I should point out that you've still got me on the rota for July when I'm on maternity leave."
The only other possibility is that they're recruiting someone new as maternity cover, and your shifts are there as a placeholder for them - but that seems relatively unlikely in a supermarket.

As others have said, sounds like a mistake. I would call or email your manager and say “theres seems to have been a mistake, I have just received a rote for July and my name is down to work although I am on maternity leave”

Did you know you didn’t have to provide a return date and they shouldn’t ask? Now if you change your mind I believe you may have to give them notice

@Charlijade94 I wasn't aware that I didn't have to provide a return date, however I was told that I had to provide 8 weeks notice before my return with or without providing a date.

I'm going to contact them tomorrow and speak to the manager directly. I don't actuallt have any other direct contact details to do this other than calling the store or going in person, as stated in my OP.

Yes most places you have to give notice to return, usually just a month, but they should assume you are taking full maternity (1 year in the UK) until they receive this/you tell them otherwise. Where is it that you live?

I would ask for an email when you speak with the manager so you can contact them about queries like this in the future and have everything written down somewhere + be easier for you to send a quick email when baby is here