NUT advice (Jan 2011):
4.9 ACCRUAL OF STATUTORY ANNUAL LEAVE DURING MATERNITY LEAVE
The position is complex but yes, this is true, but only in certain rather limited circumstances. The majority of women teachers returning from annual leave will not be entitled to annual leave on their return.
Teachers are entitled to 28 days statutory annual leave under the Working Time Regulations and they must be allowed to take this leave outside of their maternity leave. Teachers will accrue their statutory annual leave during their maternity absence. The situation is complex because the Working Time Regulations also state that employers can determine when the statutory leave is taken and teacher employers have advised that the statutory leave should be offset against periods of school closure. The annual leave year as far as teachers are concerned usually runs from 1st September ? 31st August. In most cases, therefore, periods of school closure before and after the maternity leave period will more than equal the 28 day annual leave entitlement.
In addition, where the return from annual leave is so close to the end of the leave year that there is not enough time to take the annual leave, a teacher must be allowed to carry this balance forward to the following leave year. The teacher can then be required to take this during the remaining periods of school closure after the 28 days annual leave for that leave year has been accommodated.
Teachers who resign and do not, therefore, return at the end of their maternity leave period may, in some cases, be entitled to additional payment in lieu of their accrued annual leave entitlement. In the case of teachers who resign, any additional payment will help off-set any occupational maternity pay that has to be re-paid following a failure to return to work for 13 weeks.