ANY TEACHERS CURRENTLY ON MATERNITY LEAVE - OR ABOUT TO START IT?

[popsycal]

A few questions.....
SHout if you are please
tia

bugger - my 26 weeks ends the last week of the summer hols....still it is only a 4 day week

importnat for me that i do only 26 weeks max otherwise they don't have to give me back the exact job - and i am pushing for that as they wil want to take a particular role from me if i go part time

Hi Popsycal

Ive not read the whole thread, so apologies if ur question has been answered satisfactorily. I'm a primary teacher currently on mat leave, although i'm employed by an independent school, so don't know if that changes anything... when the school accountant talked me through my mat pay, he did indeed speak about accruing holidays. He said that I could be paid for them, or add the holiday days onto the end of my mat leave. However, I'm not exactly sure how much hol / hol pay i will accrue. Not sure how it's calculated.

That's my penny's worth put in!

JA9 - thank you so much!

I am going to ring payroll tomorrow i think!
I would love to add afew weeks hols on the end of my maternity leave so it is less time on just SMP and i dont need to go back to work before summer

Independent schools MAY be different but I would have thought that working for the local authority woul dhave given you more rights rather than less...
thanks!

Let us know how you get on Popsy. I think lots of people would be interested in the outcome of this!

Popsy- you say that your 26 weeks are up on the last week of the summer hols. You can go back before your 26 weeks ar up you know- you should. for the last 8 (or is it 12) weeks you only get SMP which is just over 100 a week. Your salary will be much more than that.
Give your date as going back first day of summer hols and you'll get full pay from then> Plus mthe 6 1/2 weeks hols count towards your 'mat leave payback period' you know the 13 weeks that you have to return to work so that you don't have to pay back any mat pay.

I agree with Pixiefish, Popsy. I went back at very end of summer term, so that I got FT pay for the whole school holiday. I then started my PT contract on September 1st.

Popsycal, I am not a teacher but my work involves a lot of employment law so I was about to respond to the questions you raised here but reading on, I discovered that you had found the answers already! If you have any more questions, post them and I will try to help.
sis

popsy, I@m quite sure that you have up to 52 weeks to go back to the same position as before you went on mat leave, It's 26 weeks paid, 26 unpaid.
With dd who was born in Sept 01, my mat leave started the first day of the autumn term that year, and she was born about a week later - had the entire summer off! I went back after the easter holidays, but should have gone before as would have been paid for those 2 weeks.

Will take mat leave in Dec sometime this year - also want to max my time off. Last day of term is 17 but am bue on 25...so need to speak to union I think about what date I should start mat leave. It does get confusing doesn't it.

I didn't think we ( teachers) were entitled to acrue holidays however during mat leave due to the nature of our working year.

It's unfair but I suppose the holidays are built in or something daft like that

thanks folks

I am still waiting for the union to get back to me.

I realise that I can go back before 26 weeks is up but want to have as long as wee can afford.....and can just about manage the last 8 of the 26 weeks on SMP only.......(thats what I told dh anyway!)

Apparetnly though, after 26 weeks, they don't have to give you back your job 'as if you had never been away' - eg if you are on a management point for something, they could, if they wanted, be more creative with what you do. I really want to keep the responsibilty role that i have and I know they won't be happy about me keeping it if I go part time - but I want them to have no other choice!!

SIS - do you have any idea then about teachers and accruing holiday? My gut reaction is that we can't accrue hols....but why can everyone else and not us??

wee can afford should obviously not be about the price of urinating!

Another teacher on mat leave here (though not planning to go back this time). I've had 3 maternity leaves in 4 years (my head must hate me!). I don't think you can accrue hols but can be creative about dates when you start and finish to ensure you are paid for as many as poss. I started my current leave on 1st Sept to ensure that I was paid for the whole summer and first time round went back for one week at end of summer term, got full pay for hols and started part time contract on 1st Sept.

geogteach - i couldnt accrue last time round (2 years ago) but the legislation changed mid-2003.......

buggerbuggerbuggerbuggerbuggerbuggerbuggerbuggerbuggerbuggerbugger

hmmm
just got a letter from NUT in response to my email and it is a bit of a double whammy.

Firstly, we cannot accrue holiday (as we all suspected - but worth a try!).
Secondly, you only have a right to your original job back if you return to the contract that you had before. IE If I go part time, they have the right to take my responsibilty role away..........

If they do, this may force me to have to do 4 days rather than 3 days per week. Which is ironic, as if I applied to go 4 days they would probably let me keep my responsibility role. But I would give it up on 4 days as it would be too much work.
buggerbuggerbuggerbuggerbuggerbuggerbuggerbuggerbuggerbuggerbuggerbugger

popsy- but the baby's worth it isn't it. there's a vacancy for second in dept coming up after xmas and i'm not even going to apply

oh yes of course it is.

had set my hopes on going 3 days a week for a variety of reasons including health

but seems i will have to do 4 days.....which I am not sire will make much difference tbh

3 days is great popsycal.

i know hercules.....got to think of a creative way to persuade DH even though i wont have the management point....

Don't give up p the management point yet Popsy. Still apply for PT but keeping the point. That way it is them that have to come back to you with aan alternative suggestion.

think hulababy's right pops. there are 2 hod's in a nearby school who are going p/t and one's a core subj.
what do u teach?
our head of it is part time and the head of design and technology and they're blokes...look into it

Don't mean to highjack the thread, but can I ask you a question pixiefish?
I'm on mat leave, not due back till Feb. I'm also HOD. I've said I will go back full time, but really don't want to tbh. However, I really like my HOD position. Was wondering if there are any schools where the HOD position was job-shared. Do you know any more about these HODs in nearby school?
Keep trying to think of a way to split my job but run into brick walls. Haven't spoken to school yet and don't want to until I have more info, e.g. a precedent set in another school.
If you know no more, would it be poss to give me the name of the school so I can maybe make enquiries?
Grateful for any info you can give!

Our head of it is in monday and wednesday- he's a bloke and they don't share the job- he just does it 2 days.
Our head of design and technology (the faculty so he's sort of a senior hod IYKWIM)works part time- he doesn't job share- just does it. They both work as advisors for the lea on the other days if that makes a difference- it shouldn't really should it- if they're not in school they're not in school so that shouldn't be an issue.
I suppose their second in the department shoulders the responsibility when they're not there... our headmaster went on secondment 2 days a week for 6 months with the lea... he just deputised his work for the time he wasn't there. Need to check something will post more later. CAT me if you want

I mean head of information technology- it reads as if i'm making a typing error

It's ICT now don't you know - Information Communication Technology

sorry hulababy