Maternity Leave and Annual leave discussion

[anonMum2]

A male colleague said to me today that he didn't believe women going on maternity leave should be entitled to any annual leave, because they're away from work for 6 months to a year and therefore shouldn't get any.

However, if a person is on sick leave then that's fine because they can't help it, they're off sick and therefore should be entitled to annual leave.

My goodness, I've never heard anything so ridiculous. AIBU expecting annual leave when on maternity leave (apart from the fact that it's the law)?

No. It's the way it works. Plus a/l is paid at your full salary while at no point on m/l do you receive full pay.

God no, you are perfectly entitled to accrue annual leave. You are also entitled to any other benefits that you would normally get when at work, bonuses etc. Just ignore any daft comments suggesting otherwise. God knows if male colleagues had to take time off to have a baby they'd expect the same.

who cares what he thinks???? Blow him a raspberry & move on

yep - when you are on maternity leave you accrue your normal annual leave - even if you are not in the office for an entire 12 month. pretty handy once you return and the little one is catching every single bug from the nursery ;-)

What if I don't go back (being made redundant the day I go on maternity "leave")?

Yes, I have had my full allowance to take in 6 months yippee.
But some firms will add all or some of it onto the end of your mat leave if you want them to.

HeadingHome were you made redundant after you annouced your pregnancy? Normal redundancy rules apply to annual leave so you wouldn't accrue it if you are essentially leaving the company but if you think you are being made redundant because you are pregnant then you might want to seek some advice about that. There are very strict guidelines in place to protect employees from being unfairly treated at work because of pregnancy.

Thanks JoEW, not just me, the whole location is being shut down.