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Original poster

Maternity pay dispute after having a child with a disability

10 replies

TrickyTree77 · 21/10/2015 13:17

I am currently in the middle of legal wranglings about repayment of my Occupational Maternity Pay, having left my job before the period I needed to work in order NOT to repay it - the reason being my son has albinism and nystagmus, and is consequently severely visually impaired. My school's maternity policy is open to interpretation, stating that if you don't return to work for 13 weeks after mat leave (I worked 8 and a half weeks) then you 'may be asked to repay some or all of the OMP'. In a recent letter, the school stated that my circumstances were not exceptional (they said serious illness and redundancy were examples of this) and therefore I would be required to repay the full amount. I had already offered to pay 5/13ths of the requested sum (which is over £3k!) as I had worked 8 of the 13 weeks they expect you to work, but they were not happy with that. Has anyone else experience anything similar? I am trying to find similar cases. Thank you!!

OP posts:

MythologicalPersonage · 21/10/2015 13:30

In the circumstances it seems outrageous that your employer is demanding the money back. Can you book a consultation with a solicitor (possibly by phone) who specialises in employment law?

Original poster

TrickyTree77 · 21/10/2015 13:34

I have someone (solicitor - friend of my Dad's) who is advising me but because every situation is so different and the whole concept of 'employers discretion' is involved, it is a tricky one. Hence why I am keen to find people who have been in similar situations and have won their case! My union have been pretty useless giving me lots of personal opinions but no 'advice' due to the nature of the argument of 'exceptional circumstances'.

OP posts:

Fizrim · 21/10/2015 13:38

Looking at it from the employer's point of view - why was it that you didn't work those final 5 weeks of the period? End of term, change in your child's diagnosis? It will seem odd to them that you went back to work if you already knew that you wouldn't be returning to work on a long term basis. Can you show them what has changed in your circumstances between your return to work and your leaving date?

Original poster

TrickyTree77 · 21/10/2015 18:01

I basically took the full year's maternity leave and only returned to work 2 and a half weeks before the end of term (the 6 weeks holiday is included in the 'time I worked', because I had to and because I needed the money - and wanted to avoid paying back the full amount of OMP. I was lucky enough to have my Mum to look after my son during this period. The problem was, my old full time job was unsustainable and my son could not have coped at nursery at that point. My new part-time job - which has flexible working hours and allows me to attend hospital appointments easily etc. - started at the beginning of September. It all gets a bit messy in education when it comes to dates, term-ends and so on... (Not actually sure this message gets my situation across very well!)

OP posts:

chanie44 · 21/10/2015 20:53

In my organisation the only exceptional cases have been due to redundancy.

In my opinion, there is no point in having a policy if it's not going to be enforced. Sorry.

Fizrim · 21/10/2015 22:17

Did you ask your mat leave employers about part-time or flexible working? I can see their point tbh, you obviously did know in advance that you would not be returning to work but still took the leave and then got another job (presumably with a different school/company). I'm not sure how you could claim exceptional circumstances when you are working somewhere else, especially over what would have been the final qualifying period?

Original poster

TrickyTree77 · 22/10/2015 18:46

They could offer me part-time but with no flexibility at all. My new job has flexible working hours. At one point i thought I would have to give up work altogether.

OP posts:

poocatcherchampion · 22/10/2015 18:49

I'm not very helpful but I think that if you left the role to start another then that is why they are pursuing the full amount due to them as outlined in the policy.

You might have had more luck with doing a deal if you were ceasing work.

I think you can only hope for employer kindness on this and they do not seem keen to offer this, so you will have to suck it up.

I hope your son is OK OP

Original poster

TrickyTree77 · 22/10/2015 21:23

Definitely no employer kindness on this one, despite me working for them for 8 and a half years and putting in about double the hours I got paid for! We'll see what happens... (My son is a treasure btw! Coping quite well even though there are lots of challenges in his life.)

OP posts:

Viviennemary · 25/10/2015 21:45

It is a difficult one. But I agree that it's probably to do with you accepting another job. I think if you hadn't done that they'd probably have let you off repaying. Not saying what you did was wrong as you had to do what was best for you. I hope you don't have to repay the money but under the circumstances it seems likely that they will pursue it. But maybe they'd be reluctant to take it to court under the circumstances. It wouldn't look very good on them. Glad to hear your DS is doing well.

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