Leaving work at the end of maternity leave

[pinkbear95]

Posting here as I’ve always got some really helpful advice in the past.

To keep it short, I’ve had two babies within 11 months. I’ve been on maternity leave from April 2021 and was due back to work in April 2022. DS was due at the end of April so I took maternity leave from February 2022. I told the company I’ll be taking a year so I should be returning February 2023.

There was a big issue during the start of my second maternity leave where the company told me I wasn’t eligible for SMP. I posted on here and posters were certain that I was because of the dates and pay amounts that I provided and I was encouraged to call Maternity Action. Spoke with Maternity Action who told me I was eligible for SMP again and helped me write an email threatening my company for an unlawful deduction of SMP. Company finally admitted their mistake and have been paying SMP accordingly.

For this and many other reasons, I won’t be going back to the company. Now here is where my question comes in. As SMP is only paid for 9 months, my SMP will end in November. Once it ends and I receive my last payment, should I send in my letter of resignation then? Or should I wait until February 2023 to accure more annual leave?

My second question is, between April 2021 - April 2022, I didn’t take any annual leave during that tax year. Because I went on maternity leave back to back, my company said I can carry on the amount of leave accured and use it when I come back. Because I won’t be going back at all, will they have to pay me all the annual leave accured since April 2021? Or do they have to force me to take it even though I’ll be handing my notice in?

Hope that’s not too confusing and thank you in advance for any advice given

Bump bump bump

That's awful they were telling you that you weren't eligible for SMP! I would wait as long as possible before handing in your notice to accrue as much leave as you can, which you should then be entitled to have paid to you. Even if you "take" the leave, it's still fully paid leave. So either way you'll get the money!

Resign at the last possible moment to get all your annual leave entitlement paid to you.

Do you have it in writing about the April annual leave?

You might be better off in the legal channel instead! But you should have accrued all leave and bank holidays from while you were off, and they should pay you for them all as per their procedure for any leaver with outstanding holiday.
If you want maximum advantage i would hand in notice as late as possible . In fact if you take your holiday rather than being paid it's better for you as you will continue to accrue holiday while you are on holiday. So if you take 2 months annual leave them you will get another 4+ days annual leave.
Having said that they may restrict the amount you can take in one go as is their right.

@Twizbe I don't think it has to be writing, she is legally entitled to her minimum legal annual leave accrued while on mat leave.

True. But it by the sounds of it they might try to claim otherwise. Might speed up the issues if she has it in writing somewhere

Even if you "take" the leave, it's still fully paid leave. So either way you'll get the money!

Omg yes of course!! Baby brain is so real haha for some reason I thought if they made me take annual leave even though I want to leave, then I won’t get the payment for some reason! You’re absolutely right so either way, I still get the money which is right

@Twizbe yes luckily I have it in writing! I purposely asked the question whether I could carry my leave over from the first maternity to after my second one as the company is full of slimy bastards

Having said that they may restrict the amount you can take in one go as is their right.

This is a good point@johnd2
So if I wait until the last minute to go on annual leave and they have a cap on how much time I can take at one time, can they force me to work? For example if I take all my maternity leave, then want to go on annual leave for two months and then leave. The company can possibly say, ‘you can only take three weeks at a time so you can go off for three weeks, work one week then take another three weeks’ etc? If so, I think I rather give in my notice and asked for the annual leave to be paid to me.

I don’t want to go back at all! It’s full time work and I have 2 under 2. Also it’s based in Kent and I’m back in London🫠

If they only pay smp do they also only pay basic pension contributions? If so make sure while you’ve been on leave that your employer contributions are still at 3% of your gross salary! Many employers make the mistake of reducing this to a percentage of smp but they aren’t allowed to!

I opted out of any pension payments so I’m not fussed about that. Thank you though

I was in a similar situation, although my work were very good. I would wait as long as you can before handing notice in, that's if you can afford to have the final 3 months maternity unpaid. And then you will get all of your annual leave once you've handed notice in.

@Username1234321 I don’t mind having the last 3 months unpaid but I’m worried that once I’ve finished maternity leave, they’ll try to get me to work and take my annual leave in sections. I don’t want to do that at all

Get your leave approved before your hand in your notice. Just say you have so much to use, please could they formality approve you taking it in one block appended to your maternity. Then once you have the golden paper/email, then you can hand in your notice to terminate in the appropriate date.
Most employers don't want you to have loads of leave outstanding so they might agree.
Good luck+I'm not a lawyer or HR trained.

Pretty sure you leave when you leave, they can’t make you stay contracted to them any other than your notice period. Any accrued holiday not taken in that time frame must be paid to you. It’s on the Gov website and they’d be stupid to not agree to it.

@johnd2 thank you! Unfortunately my line manager and HR NEVER respond so it’d be really difficult to get it approved beforehand

@ChickinMarango thank you, I’ll have a look on Gov now.

I think I’ll just hand in my notice once I’ve received the last of SMP and within my notice I’ll ask for the company to pay me my annual leave. Thanks all

John's suggestion is the way to go. Book all the leave on the end of your maternity. Work out your leave minus your notice period and then resign on that day. That way you'll accrue even more holidays whilst taking the carried over leave

It also avoids the big lump sum being paid and you getting hammered for tax on it which you then need to reclaim. You could even start your leave from a point at which you would maximise your tax free allowance in 22/23....

Many companies will have a policy that annual leave accrued during maternity leave must be taken with x months of the end of maternity leave, and it is quite common to just append the annual leave in a block to the end of maternity leave as it makes cover simpler than multiple smaller blocks when you have a lot of leave to use up. This would work in your favour!

Did you receive any enhanced or occupational maternity pay at the start of your first maternity leave? If so, check whether there is a minimum return to work period in order to qualify for that enhanced payment - if you don't return it can be clawed back. Time on annual leave, however, counts as 'returning to work' and it is very possible you have enough annual leave carried over to cover the whole of the period you need to be 'back at work'.

Missing the point I know but bet your boss loves you! Lol I had a colleague who had 3 back to back pregnancies - she was popular! Go for it, sounds like a rubbish company anyway.

@Yerroblemom1923 I know right haha. My new line manager hates me as he ignores all my emails. Once I said I was pregnant again, he responded ‘does this mean you’ll be on maternity leave until April 2023’ erm yes hun soz

Thank you for the advice guys, it’s much appreciated.

I’ve checked through previous emails and HR responded saying, ‘we would ask that you use any holidays before starting your next maternity leave however as there is a crossover, the holidays will roll over into the next year and you will use them at the end of your second maternity leave before you return.’ I also have written confirmation that I will not need to pay anything back if I wanted to leave (didn’t receive enhance maternity pay or anything).

I’ve changed my mind and I’ll stay as long as possible to accure more holiday. I’ll then take all my annual leave and then leave. The company have been actually awful and I still can’t believe they tried to not pay me SMP