Is this legal - maternity pay and annual leave?

[WhyTheHeckMe]

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!

Given that they're paying the same amount as you would get anyway but at the wrong time, could you not just opt to receive it at the start of your maternity leave and budget it over several months yourself?

TheNecroscope the problem is (I think) that they shouldn't be paying it full stop unless the time that is being paid for is actually taken as well. As far as I know the only circumstances annual leave can be paid as a lump sum without the time being taken is at the end of maternity leave if the employee has decided not to return to work.

Presumably to prevent the exact situation the OP is describing where employers are trying to 'encourage' early return rather than have the employee take the annual leave they are entitled to.

We all know that 99% of the time parents use outstanding annual leave just to essentially extend their maternity leave (no problem with that) but annual leave is supposed to be a fully paid break from work whereas maternity/parental leave is time off (mostly unpaid) for childcare and recovery from childbirth.

That's what the acas woman said too pastabest, I suggested I could ask for a lump sum at the start and then keep it till I need it in savings.
But she said unless I actually take the leave I cannot do this either.

And leaving earlier isn't an option due to when they've agreed my maternity cover to start and the short training period I have with her. I'm already leaving just 1 week before my due date and to be honest and now relying on my annual leave money later in the year.

With regards to our hr department not noticing - belive it or not we don't have one! !! Don't ask
I'm head office based and we don't have hr. I don't know how they get away with it to be honest, it's the one thing about the company we all detest.

How can a huge company manage without an HR department - are their outside consultants that provide HR assistance? I can't believe they can run a business with no HR input at all

We have a phone line we can call that takes us to a call centre where we can ask for advice but that's it. And they're an external call centre, nothing linked to the company we work for.
It's a joke and something I thought would have been changed by now but it hasn't and I can't see it ever will

You continue to accrue annual leave throughout maternity leave.

Your not on annual leave - they are buying your entitled leave out at 5 days per month.

Sounds legal to me.

Do non pregnant employees have the right to have their holidays bought out at 5 days per month? Is this stated in your contract of employment?

I can't see you personally having to pay it back. They are paying you their stated/written policy. They can choose to top off your smp if they want to. What it will effect is their ability to claim back a portion of the smp from the government. That's not your problem. It's odd such a big company wouldn't have a payroll department that check compliance with smp rules.

Zebras right - whatever the right answer is, this is your employers problem.