Maternity Leave

[datingthedevil]

Hi all,

My apologies if I am posting on the wrong place.

I have a question about maternity leave - I'm due on the 13th December and have 15 days holiday left for the year.

I'd like to start my maternity leave on 13th December and take the 15 days leave from 22nd November until 12th December (so my last day in the office will be 21st November).

My questions are:-

1. Can they say no I can't leave on this date?
2. Can they say no I can't take my holiday on this date? (I guess they can say no, but I commute to London and I don't want to do this so close to my due date and want to have a minimum amount of maternity leave before the birth possible).

Thank you x

Hi datingthedevil
I can't help you for sure with your question but I didn't want to leave it unanswered. You might get more help if you post in employment issues

I think what your doing is something lots of people do to get extra time off before their due day while still working. The only way your employer could say no to the holiday is for the usual reasons they'd say no, so if there already were too many people off. Get the holiday booked as soon as you can though and you should be fine.

Ask your HR who know your policies!

It sounds fine to me but then I dont know your company.

I'd discuss it now so if it is no, you've got time to take the holiday before then.
I'd say a lot depends on your replacement and training being done by leave date.

It's very unlikely they'd say no in those circumstances, I'd have thought - it will be in their interests to have your cover covering your hols as well as mat leave iyswim.

However if you give birth early your mat leave will automatically kick in and you're in danger of losing your holiday - check with HR they will let you carry it over to the following year in this instance.

Check the annual leave and maternity leave policies with HR. At my company you have to use up your annual leave before you go on maternity leave if possible but if it isn't possible then 5 days are carried over and you're paid for the rest.

Your call but I think you're being very ambitious! With DC1 I had the same plan as you but developed complications and was signed off at 32 weeks, with maternity leave automatically kicking in at 36 weeks. DC1 arrived at 37 weeks. This time round I'm taking annual leave at 33 weeks, running straight into maternity leave.

Seems unlikely they would say no unless they are normally not very accommodating about leave. However, you might be safer to start your mat leave at least a week before your due date, as otherwise you would lose holidays if baby arrived early (your mat leave would start automatically). I am due on 30th Nov - am finishing on 9th Nov, taking 1 weeks leave and then starting mat leave on 19th Nov (this is DD2, so possibly more likely to be early!). I still have some days leave to take between now and them, but I am going to use them for single days or half Days off on the basis that I don't know how I'll feel and might fancy a day off at some point in October

I think you would need to use up your holiday before your baby is born. The first two weeks after the birth are mandatory maternity leave, and once your maternity leave starts, it has to continue. You can't take a bit of maternity leave and then a bit of holiday and then go back on maternity leave.

So, as long as your baby is born on 13th December, this shouldn't be a problem. If baby is born 5 working days earlier, then you can ask if you can carry forward the 5 days holiday that you didn't take to the next holiday year and then tack them on the end of your maternity leave.

5 days is usually the limit for days to carry forward to the next holiday period, so if the baby is born more than 5 days before 13th December, you'd probably lose the extra days that you can't carry over.

Does that make sense?

Your doing exactly the same as me (and i also do the commute thing). I'm due 28th Aug and i'm taking 2 weeks annual leave from Monday - today being my last day :) and i start
my mat leave on my due date. You can take your maternity leave whenever your like - i think its after 11 weeks before you are due - so why would they say no as it makes no difference to them if its mat leave or holiday - you are not there so can't see that they'd be bothered what you call it. That was my philosophy anyway and they were cool with it.

I took my remaining holiday leave before my mat leave started. And my boss was fine about it

Just fill out a form and try. The worst they can say is no! And if they do just moan about how ill you're feeling and they'll soon change their mind!

Thanks all, graet advice.

I agree with Flosie, I'll def moan!!

You may find your employer insists you take a outstanding accrued leave for the holiday prior to starting maternity leave. You cannot be denied your statutory leave entitlement and the piece of legislation is the Working Time Regulations (2008??). If they refuse your accrued annual leave due to maternity that is a breach of the Equality Act 2010.

For your particular situation I need a bit more info:

When does your holiday year run to/from?

What is your annual leave entitlement - exact wording if possible because you may be contractually entitled to bank holidays too?

How long do you plan to take off?

If you want me to draft you a brief paragraph to go with your request I'll need how many holiday days you've already taken this year.

For the holiday year

This is exactly what I have done.
Due 23rd Dec and mat leave will start on the 17th. I've used 15 days leave before this so last day would be 23rd Nov and had no problems getting it approved.
At our place we get back the bank holidays we miss whilst on mat leave as well, so have 2 days extra in place of xmas and boxing day this year. So last day for me is 21st Nov. Check you don't miss out on these too!

That's what I want to do - I want to take my 15 days and then start maternity leave.

You can start mat leave on any day? I've always been told the latest I can start it is the Sunday before my due date. I work for the NHS if that makes a difference?

And definitely check about leave carrying over if you have baby early, my DC1 arrived 6 weeks early when I still had 3 week's leave to take, but luckily they let me carry it all over.

thats exactly what i did but my hr did say that maternity leave would automatically starts on the day baby is born even if your on holiday so bare that in mind incase the baby is early