Work asking me for a return to work date - can they do this?

[Spice17]

Hi all

Am off on mat leave in 13 day and emailed HR about whether I'll accrue leave while away and who I would need to inform about returning when the time comes etc, etc. Below is part of the response but I'm concerned as I didn't think I had to let them know when i'll be coming back?

"I understand from your maternity form you haven?t put an end date for your maternity leave. If you could provide one as we will need it to finalise your paperwork, that would be great. You can alter the date that you return to work by giving your manager a minimum of 8 weeks? notice, so if you want to change the date you provide before you go on maternity leave, you can do so".

Maybe this should go in legal but do I have to provide this info NOW? I have no idea what I'm planning on doing and thought they couldn't ask? I don't mind saying 9 months and then review when I'm at home but am worried I'll forget to do anything in the 8 week period to either confirm or extend! :)

TIA

No you don't have to provide them with a return to work date. I had to give 28 days' notice of my return though.

Thanks back. This is my response to HR, the lady there is nice but I don't want to give too much away if I don't have to:

"Re a return date, I?m not really sure what my plans are but if I were to advise of a return after 9 months, would you be able to provide me with an actual return date so that I have it in my diary/mind to refer to if I wanted to either come back earlier or extend?"

That sound OK and resonable (for both 'sides'?)

TIA -again :)

they have to assume you are taking the full year off and if you want to go back before that then you let them know 8 weeks beforehand.

from directgov website:

You must tell your employer you want to take Statutory Maternity Leave at least 15 weeks before the beginning of the week your baby is due. If this is not possible (for example because you didn't realise you were pregnant), tell them as soon as possible. You need to say:
*you are pregnant
*when the baby is due
*when you want to start your maternity leave (you can change the date later, if you give at least 28 days' notice)

Your employer might ask for notice in writing. They may also ask for a copy of form MAT B1, the maternity certificate, which says when the baby's due. Your doctor or midwife will give you a copy of the MAT B1 form after you have been pregnant for 21 weeks. They cannot give this to you any earlier.

After informing your employer that you want to take Statutory Maternity Leave, they should write to you within 28 days. They should confirm your Statutory Maternity Leave and give you the date your Statutory Maternity Leave will end.

Giving notice of your return to work

Your employer will assume that you will take all 52 weeks of your Statutory Maternity Leave. If you take the full 52 weeks, you don?t need to give notice that you are coming back. However, it can be a good idea to do so.
If you wish to return earlier, for example, when your Statutory Maternity Pay ends, you must give at least eight weeks? notice. If you don't, your employer can insist that you don?t return until the eight weeks have passed. You must tell your employer that you:

*are returning to work early
*want to change the date of your return

If you decide not to return to work at all, you must give your employer notice in the normal way.

p.s. when I went on maternity the company I worked for sent me a letter detailing the latest date I could return from maternity leave i.e. 52 weeks later than maternity leave started. I would then have to contact them if I wanted to return to work before that date

re annual leave:

You build up all your entitlements to paid holiday through all of your Statutory Maternity Leave. This is even if your employment contract says you are entitled to more than the statutory minimum.
You can add holiday to the beginning or end of your Statutory Maternity Leave. You may not be able to carry over untaken holiday entitlement if your Statutory Maternity Leave goes over two holiday years. It is often best to take this at the beginning of your Statutory Maternity Leave.

info here

I would just put the date for when the year is up, and make sure you are fully aware of how much notice you need to give if you want to return earlier. I thought it was 4 weeks when it was 8, which caused a few problems for me. They compromised on 6 but did not need to. I was not actually allowed to give an earlier date on the form.

Thanks all, much appreciated