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Original poster

Is this legal - maternity pay and annual leave?

84 replies

WhyTheHeckMe · 04/03/2018 21:54

Don't get me wrong I'm not complaining about this, but only just found out it may not be legal! And just worried they may take it away..
Basically I work for a huge company, everyone in the UK has heard of them

They offer a good maternity package and they allow you to use annual leave the whole way throughout. Eg. I get 25 days a year and they allow me to book 5 days per month for the last few months which is great

I'm due to go on mat leave with dc2 and I did the above with dc1 so I've not misunderstood it.

However upon talking to someone in hr at another company they told me they were 99% sure this isn't allowed.

Is this correct? If so, why?

Thanks!

OP posts:
Ginmakesitallok · 04/03/2018 21:57

Why wouldnt it be allowed? I don't quite understand though- are you taking annual leave whilst on maty leave?

JoJoSM2 · 04/03/2018 21:58

I'm not following... So they person thought you aren't allowed to have 5 days off per month while you're pregnant?

SandyDenny · 04/03/2018 21:59

Can you explain in a bit more detail, I don't understand what you mean either

user187656748 · 04/03/2018 21:59

payment of annual leave during any week spent on maternity leave would impact on an smp payment but it sounds like you're talking about the period when you are not getting pay?

CotswoldStrife · 04/03/2018 22:00

It would be very unusual to get paid holiday during maternity leave, but I'm assuming this is during the part of maternity leave that does not come under the Statutory paid part - extended leave provided by the company?

Or do you mean before you go on maternity leave?

pastabest · 04/03/2018 22:00

You can't use annual leave whilst on maternity leave surely? Either you are on maternity leave or you aren't. Otherwise why are KIT days restricted?

pitterpatterrain · 04/03/2018 22:02

That sounds odd

For me we have KIT throughout maternity then vacation is block booked at the end based on accrued as officially mat leave is over is my understanding

Lovesagin · 04/03/2018 22:02

No they aren't supposed to do this. You can't be on mat leave and annual leave at the same time.

titchy · 04/03/2018 22:02

Do you mean you accrue annual leave whilst on maternity leave? If so yes that's been the legal position for some years! Most people add the holiday to the end of their maternity leave so come back to work a few weeks later.

Pointlessfacts · 04/03/2018 22:02

You can't take AL & SMP together.

I had to have holiday paid to me in the 3 months I wasn't being paid by my employers otherwise my SMP was reduced to reflect this.

CotswoldStrife · 04/03/2018 22:03

As pitterpatter says most people tend to save up the leave and use it on their return to work (eg mat leave ends on 28th, holiday starts 29th). But we'll await more details from the OP!

Original poster
WhyTheHeckMe · 04/03/2018 22:03

Sorry for not explaining properly.

Last time I took 9 months off and from month 5-9 I took a few days annual leave. So I was earning smp, plus annual leave plus kit days meaning every month my wage was over 1k.

This time I'm doing the same again. First 5 months full pay, then month 5-9 I'll book annual leave every month to top up smp.

The hr guy I spoke to seemed to think annual leave should all be taken at the start or end of mat leave

OP posts:
LIZS · 04/03/2018 22:04

Surely if you use AL you are technically back at work from that point and no longer entitled to ml and smp.

titchy · 04/03/2018 22:05

ConfusedThat sounds odd....

Ginmakesitallok · 04/03/2018 22:05

You can't get smp while you are on annual leave? Think hr guy is right

Lovesagin · 04/03/2018 22:05

HR guy is right. Your company shouldn't be doing this.

IWantMyHatBack · 04/03/2018 22:05

That doesn't sound right Confused

ememem84 · 04/03/2018 22:05

I went on leave in sept. So had my full years allowance for 2017. I had 10 days left to take for 201£ so tacked these onto the front of my leave.

I’m due back in May. But for 1jan to 30 April I don’t accrue leave. And have a pro rated al allowance for 2018.

MsMarvel · 04/03/2018 22:05

Could you be using a KIT day and then getting annual leave paymebt for that day?

Happened · 04/03/2018 22:06

Yeah I didn't think you could do it like that, I thought it had to be at the start or the end.

pastabest · 04/03/2018 22:06

Well it looks like we all agree with the HR guy....

villamariavintrapp · 04/03/2018 22:06

No I don't think you can break up your maternity leave like that. If you end it to take annual leave you can't then go back on maternity leave.

MynameisJune · 04/03/2018 22:07

I don’t think that is legal, you’re not working for the company when on mat leave. Also I think your smp should have been deducted the days you were on annual leave as I thought you couldn’t work whilst on mat leave. Same with the kit days.

restingbemusedface · 04/03/2018 22:09

Nope. You could use your annual leave at the end of your mat leave once it’s over to get a few more weeks (for example, mat leave ends at 9 months but you use aquired annual leave to take it to 10).

But I don’t get why you would want to do what you’re suggesting? Surely it’s better to have annual leave outside of mat leave, that way you’re getting paid and have time off. With what you’re describing it just means getting a bit more cash each month but not the time off.

Original poster
WhyTheHeckMe · 04/03/2018 22:10

It's 100% what happened last time and the other day I got them to send me a monthly breakdown of what I'll get each month so I have it in writing.

I had no idea last time that it wasn't correct and now I'm stressing that they will take it away and I'll lose my annual leave if they notice while I'm off that they've been doing it wrong!

Hr guy doesn't work for our company and was absolutely gobsmacked they allowed it as he was sure it wasn't legal.

Eg December 2018 I am currently booked for a full months smp, 5 days annual leave plus 3 kit days. It works great for me but really worried it will get taken away now.

How would they have got away with it last time as I checked my wage slips from 2 years ago which all said smp and annual leave on, not like they tried to conceal it anyway.
And they really are a very very large company too

OP posts: