Do I need to agree a phased return before I start maternity leave?

[Bucdynovehbkfdg]

I’m due in November this year and would have loved to take a year off but financially I think September would be the latest I would need to go back due to the funded hours cut off point.

i know that sometimes people do a phased return to work following maternity leave.

if I wanted to do a phased return (2, then 3 days) from September 2026, returning full time in Jan 2027 (4 compressed days, which is what I currently do), is it best to get this agreed with my employer before I go on maternity leave? They are usually quite flexible and it’s unlikely that they would say no, but is it best to ask this now or wait until I’m on maternity leave?

I've never seen a phased return from mat leave, KIT days yes, using up some annual leave once or just before you are officially back, yes, but phased return is for an ill health absence.

people at my work in the parents network were discussing it, so I assumed it was a thing

I did a "phased return" but used my accrued annual leave to do so.

Maybe a temporary change to a part time contract would be better? I’m not sure if that’s a thing either?

I was thinking (again no idea exactly what possible), to use a mixture of annual leave and unpaid leave to facilitate it.

Are you sure they did a phased return and haven't used accrued annual leave to return 2/3/4 days per week? That's quite common.

My employer was a no to a phased return. You're back and that's the end of it. Mad really that you can be off ill 3 months and given a fully paid phased return, but a year off having a baby and you're just back into it... I would ask in advance so you know what you're doing.

You need to put a flexible working request in… and make sure it doesn’t start until you come back from Mat Leave.

Most people I deal with use accrued Annual Leave, part-time hours, but no effect to pay.

Thanks for your responses, I just know I’m shit with no sleep, so if baby still isn’t sleeping (my daughter didn’t sleep til 3) I think going back to work full time would be quite difficult. So thought easing myself back in would be the most logical thing.

You will accrue annual leave while you are off I would expect to use that if you want to do this. I had someone come back last year and she took a day annual leave each week until she'd used it up that was agreed as part of her rtw

I agree but I used annual leave to ease back in so I had fewer days but full pay.

I’m using annual leave to do a phased return from August.

I put in a flexible working request to work 4 days permanently so asked about doing this at the same time and they were fine with it, so I’ll get full pay until the end of this year, be treating it as a ‘trial’ of my flexible working request and change my contract permanently if it works for me and my employer.

It really does depend on how flexible your workplace is and what they offer!

My DD has done a phased return for both of her periods of mat leave. Off for 9 months, return on 3 days with 2 days holidays for a further 6 weeks, up to 4 days with 1 days holiday for a further 6 weeks before returning full time. So in effect she had a full year off and used up 18 days holiday. She accrued holiday before she went on mat leave and carried it over. It really is a thing!

Usually people use their annual leave. I don't think for a second they or you should even consider changing your contract. Just use your annual leave like everyone else does.

An employer can agree a phased return if they wish to, and for any reason they like.

There is some sense in thinking about the financial aspect of leave v. phased return (or a combination of both? ), but I think my advice would be to ask about options before maternity leave but leave decisions until you are sure what you want.

You might be able to use accrued leave to work reduced days. However you don’t need to discuss that yet.

Yes I did same, used a day a week for first couple months to reduce my hours.