Maternity leave/holiday over Christmas

[glitterjo]

I am due on December 15th and am thinking of starting my maternity leave at the end of December.

I think I get 28 days holiday a year (must check contract!). We are expected to save some of our holiday - usually around 5 days - to use between Christmas and New Year when the office is closed.

Obviously I won't be in the office during that time this year - so can I use the holiday before that? It would be nice to add on a few days holiday before my maternity leave starts, but I just don't know if I can or not.

I should add that I work in a tiny office, very friendly and flexible but there's no HR department or anything, and although my boss is pretty good, I'd say the onus is on me to know what I can and can't do regarding holiday and maternity leave - I am the first person ever in the company to go on maternity leave!

Any advice much appreciated...

According to my HR department your maternity leave must start on or before the due date on you MAT1 form (you get this at 28 weeks ish from MW). If you're due on 15th December you will therefore need to start maternity on or before this date. By law you can go on maternity leave from 11 weeks before your due date.

Whilst on maternity you will also accrue holiday which you can tag onto the end of your statutory maternity and any other maternity leave your employer provides

Hi,

I am due 25th December(!) so have been thinking about this as well.

You need to have started maternity leave by the date you give birth, so if you do end up giving birth on the 15th (my birthday by the way) then that's when your maternity leave will start.

For me, work will be slow in December, so I am planning in working from home in December with the idea that I would come in if desperately needed.

That way I can leave taking my maternity to the last possible time, but still look after myself leading up to the birth.

So, for you it looks like you will have to start your maternity earlier than the Christmas break. This means you should have the holiday days you were saving for that time to use before your maternity.

I am spending a week in Venice with my man in September. We found cheap flights and its pretty much the last time I can fly. Its only a short hop over and it should be nice and relaxing. The plan is lots of romantic meals and walking tours.

Maybe you could think of something like this before your little one arrives and turns your life upside down?

aaaaah I am an idiot - I meant the end of November. Sigh. Can I please blame this on pregnancy brain (it's not because I've just had an almighty sugar crash because I had a Caramel chunky KitKat...). So yes, maternity leave will begin around the last week in November. But it sounds like I should be able to use the holiday then?

I'm due around the same time as you and finishing on the last Friday in November.

My company's policy is that you can either take all your holiday entitlement before you leave or be paid for any remaining time when you leave and I think most companies are the same.

Also remember that you will accrue holidays (bank holidays and entitlement) whilst on maternity leave which you will be entitled to take, either as a day a week during your leave to top up you maternity pay or to extend your leave when you maternity leave !finishes (this is the option I'm taking so I'll end up being of for 13.5 mths!)

If you are unsure of what you are entitled to, have a look at the Direct Gov website or if you are a member of a trade union they will be able to help you.

If you need anymore held or info please ask (am a trade union rep so am well-versed on this stuff)

I think it should be fine if the baby is on time or late. If it comes early then you will need to start your maternity leave on the day it comes and if you were still 'on holiday' they have to pay you for any remaining holiday instead, so if you're happy with that then I would do it. I did something similar and DD was late so it worked out fine.

I'm due on Boxing Day and starting leave on the 22nd, when we close for Christmas. But I've saved 18 days holiday so I'm having all December off on annual leave. I can do this as our annual leave runs Jan - Jan so it depends when yours runs?

When I'm going back I'm having the whole month leave I will accrue for 2011 at the end of my mat leave so I have some proper pay rather than stat may pay the first month back, iyswim, which will be very useful as it is the first month of nursery payments. Again, this depends on when your annual leave runs from and if you will have accrued a lot more by the time you go back.

December is a quiet month for me too (university lecturing, no students) so I will start working from home more and more throughout November to avoid the tube. Any possibility you can do this?

Hi

Unless you are leaving employment, companies should only be paying annual leave over the stat minimum ? this was thanks to European Directives ? they decided it was unfair on females to have their maternity pay bulked up by being paid owed/accrued holiday (they actually decided it was fairer to ensure people had 5.6 weeks including bank holidays away from work per annum and therefore put a stop to companies being able to give the woman the choice)

The advantage of this is you can either used the entire year worth of annual leave before you go or carry it over and add to the end of you maternity leave on your return regardless of company policy for holidays.

Nothing stopping you going off as annual leave from November, but as confirmed above the Maternity leave starts as soon as baby is born or your EDD (whichever is sooner) ? however if you do end up having baby earlier than planned any ?lost? holiday from Maternity kicking in can be carried forwards as above.

HTH