Annual leave before official mat leave - what happens if you're early?

[Creamtea1]

Just that really, I've got week 37 and 38 off as annual leave and then I start official mat leave on the day I turn 39 weeks. What happens if baby arrives early during the annual leave bit? Does my mat leave start then and the annual leave I miss out on just get tagged on at the end?

Your maternity leave would start on the day the baby arrives. Check your company holiday policy, but I think most places would tack the holiday onto the end of the mat leave (I know my work will). I don't know the legal position there, but given it's not possible for you to take the holiday before mat leave, I think they might have to roll it over even if it goes over the end of a holiday year.

What Knittingirl said. I was planning to do this, but figured that I would benefit more financially by starting mat leave when I go off (planning to leave at 38) and tagging holiday onto the end of mat leave once I discovered that I could do that.

I did this and was a week early. My mat leave started from my delivery date and my annual leave will be rolled over - I plan to take it when my mat leave ends to give me an extra week at home.

Great, thanks all - that's what I thought and pretty sure they will honour the holiday as it won't be like I've tried to avoid using it etc.

Creamtea: please do check with your employer. Mine is pretty clear that I will not be allowed to carry my annual leave to the next year (after my mat leave).

It is illegal for them not to carry your holiday over. Even if they have a policy on this for standard holiday, maternity leve overrules this. You get at least the statutory minimum carried over. So you will be able to take it at the end instead.

But if I've had enough notice, (from April to when the mat leave starts in September) to use my annual leave, my employer expects me to use the leave before I go off. I will come back in the new financial year and can use next year's allowance of annual leave at the end of my mat leave.

Ibelieveinpink: Are you saying that unexpectedly early labour requires them to carry the leave over? I know they do this if you're off on sick leave but have ever heard of it for early maternity leave.

You should check with HR. My company policy is the same as Ananikifo. If you are on holiday when you go in to labour, your mat leave is triggered and you lose your holiday. I work for a large multi national with a very generous mat leave package. I'd be surprised if this were illegal.

Sorry pink its not illegal I work for the police and actually lost 5 days with my last pregnancy, I had to use it all before due to leave year so aimed to start ml at 38wks average I'd think and leave before, I had dd at 37 which triggered sml and as I'd already planned to carry over 5 days the company's policy I lost the other 5, wasn't paid argued until I was blue in the face at it been unforeseen circumstances how could it be planned for etc and it made no difference so yes definatly check your company's policies as it was very frustrating loosing that much

I got paid out for my leave - I had 2 weeks holiday booked before mat leave but DD1 arrived at 37+1 on my second day at home, so my mat leave was backdated to the Sunday prior to the birth (so that I missed all the holiday days) and they just paid me in lieu for the holiday as I wasn't allowed to carry it over.

Ok have just checked my policy a bit more. So, I have to have used all the leave I have accrued to the point of leaving. For example, if I get 25 days in a year (hol year is jan to dec) and I want to start mat leave start of sept, I need to have used 8/12'ths of my 25 days total. Which I will have done, including the days I have booked off at the end of aug. the remaining leave for sept - dec then accrues while I am off the same as if I was there, and I DO get to take that before my return to work in the April.

So to add to that, I think the idea is to prevent people from taking zero holiday jan - sept then going straight to mat leave, then adding the entire 25 days from the previous year onto the end of mat leave, as well as having a new 25 days to cram in for what remains of the new hol year.

I had taken annual leave up until 38+4 and DS was born at 38+3. I had the extra day of annual leave added onto my next years annual leave when I went back to work.

Sorry- forgot to check back in this one. I should have clarified, it depends on how much holiday you get. Up to the statutory amount of holiday they have to carry over for you (28 days including bank hols). If you get more holiday than this it will depend on your contract. Link here: www.gov.uk/employee-rights-when-on-leave