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Pregnancy

Talk about every stage of pregnancy, from early symptoms to preparing for birth.

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Original poster

Work not said anything about maternity leave yet

19 replies

Anothermrssmith · 22/09/2013 17:05

When did everyone get their maternity leave organised? I'm hoping to start maternity leave on the first Monday of December and my work have said absolutely nothing to me about it yet, starting to think I might need to remind them i'm going to be taking at least 6 months off and we need to start making arrangements! I work for a small company with no dedicated HR staff, told my company director and office manager I was pregnant at 9 weeks (now 24) and they've been great with me, offering to make any changes I need and have no problem with giving me time for appointments etc. The only mention of maternity leave so far was a quick, informal chat with my director where I said thought I would like to finish up in December but we could discuss nearer the time and finalise everything but now December is 10 weeks away and it's never been mentioned again. I know for a fact the directors and office manager haven't discussed what they're going to do for cover while I'm off and I have no idea about what they will pay me on maternity leave (i'm sure it wont be any more than the minimum but it would be nice to have a figure so I can make sure I can live on it!) Is it too early to ask for a formal meeting or should I give them another few weeks?

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Haribolover · 22/09/2013 17:28

You need to give them the MATB1 form by 25 weeks and at that point I told my company my last date and they then gave me the information on return dates, pay, etc

moanymandy · 22/09/2013 17:29

I had to have my maternity leave plan sorted and with hr by 25weeks. I work for a large company so we have a hr department to deal with all that. also my mat leave pay entitlement etv were all given to me when I told them I was pregnant.
But again I work for a large company so this may be different for you.Have you had your matb1 form from your midwife yet? you will need to give this to your employers so they can claim your maternity pay. maybe this will get them moving once you they have it.

It may be an idea to speak to your manager and ask any questions about maternity pay etc.
Also don't forget your annual leave for this year as you can use this before your leave starts!

earlgray · 22/09/2013 17:36

Hi
Mine was sorted quite quickly but I work for a large-ish company with a HR dept.
Once they had my matB1 from midwife at about 20 weeks they asked me to fill a form to confirm my due date and when I wanted maternity leave to begin.
After that, I just kept in touch with my line manager about day to day issues.
I would want to know things are moving so I would perhaps ask them for a meeting to get something in writing about your last date and weekly pay which as you say may only be statutory. They should also agree the date you expect to return and what notice they'd like from you in case your circumstances change and you want to return sooner.
That's what I have experienced, I hope they understand that you need to plan for the future, its only fair.

Original poster

Anothermrssmith · 22/09/2013 17:39

They got my matb1 form weeks ago, I thought giving them it would prompt them into getting everything organised but so far nothing. I don't want to leave it much longer, I have a holiday booked next week and think by the time I get back its getting too close for comfort but I know what my work are like and even if I mention it everyday between now and finishing up they still won't do anything until the week before I finish up!

OP posts:

spookyskeleton · 22/09/2013 17:40

It is up to you to provide the company with your MatB1 and details of when you plan to start your maternity leave in wtiting - they are then required to respond in writing to confirm this, details of your pay entitlement etc.

They will be waiting for you to do your formal notification so do it

spookyskeleton · 22/09/2013 17:41

Oops cross-posted.

Legally they need to respond to you in writing so you may want to point this out to them

PumpkinPie2013 · 22/09/2013 19:08

I gave my matb1 at 25 weeks and got a confirmation reply from HR.

However, in terms of organising cover for me it's been a shambles quite honestly! I finish on Fri and just in the last week have they made arrangments so I've been frantically handing over to the people covering which has been stressful!

Roll on fri

flowery · 22/09/2013 19:12

Have you actually written to them notifying them when you will be starting your leave? That's all you need to do. They should write back confirming your dates and pay. If they haven't, remind your manager that you need a letter confirming your mat leave dates and pay.

Not sure what you mean by getting "everything organised"? If you mean about how your role will be covered that's not anything you need to worry about, thats their problem!

Original poster

Anothermrssmith · 22/09/2013 19:19

This is going to be a disaster, I've had no confirmation they received my matb1 other than a thanks as I handed it over! Luckily I scanned a copy of it before I gave it to them.

It doesn't help either that I'm the first women ever that's needed maternity leave, by their own admission they're clueless about what they need to do (though considering 2 out of 3 directors have wives on maternity leave you would think that they would have a constant reminder to find out) and this is my first so im also a bit clueless. Cover wise I work in telecoms and we do all the maintenance for a number of NHS trusts, it's complicated work and there are bits I still don't understand,it's not something you can pick up in a 2 or 3 day handover period and given that we deal with the NHS you need to know what your doing as it can literally be a matter of life and death if a hospital has a full telecoms crash :(

Will try and get a meeting set up this week

OP posts:

spookyskeleton · 22/09/2013 20:06

As Flowery said, arranging cover is not your problem, it is theirs so just make sure they meet their legal obligations. The fact that they have not had to deal with maternity before is not an excuse for them not doing this - they need to find out!

A colleague was getting stressed about our manager's inability to arrange cover and I told her to just get on with her work and not to worry about it. Eventually it was sorted and there was a 1 week handover period and my colleague is now 5 weeks into her mat leave and has admitted she has barely thought about work in that time which is how it should be

earlgray · 22/09/2013 20:21

Agree with other posters about it not being your problem to worry about how they cover your position while you're on leave. They have a business to maintain and its their responsibility, not yours.
I feel for you though as all you want is to know things are being sorted and you want a hand through the process as you don't know exactly what is needed. I'm sure it will be fine in the end, I was so excited waiting for my leave to start!

flowery · 22/09/2013 20:35

It's not going to be a disaster. Have you written to them confirming that you intend to take maternity leave starting on x date or not? If not, do so immediately, and in your letter request confirmation of the date you will be due back and your pay arrangements.

DontmindifIdo · 22/09/2013 20:39

It's not going to be your disaster - you put it in writing your last date in the office, prompt them you need written confirmation back (a reply back saying it's just SMP would be fine). If they don't sort out anyone to cover, that's not your problem, you'll be on mat leave, they can sort the mess.

Moofins · 22/09/2013 21:05

Hi - I work for a very small company. My first mat leave I was the only employee so it was all brand new for us all. They employed an external HR consultant who advised them of all their responsibilities. I can't remember all the details sorry, but am pretty sure when I gave them my MATB1 form I had a letter in response confirming my rights and asking me to confirm in writing my leaving date.

I agree that it is not for you to worry about your cover. I only had 2 weeks with my replacement and it was not enough handover time. I stressed over it and over my final few months I prepared a process manual which put my mind at rest. But to be honest when DS arrived I didn't think about it again! My replacement appreciated the manual but I think she just got stuck in and was fine. I think I used it more when I went back to work to refresh my memory!

Good luck. Maybe you could suggest they get advise from a freelance HR consultant if they are struggling with what's needed? They should be worried about this not you. Am pretty sure there is a calculator on the gov site where you can work out what the statutory maternity payments will be.

Frizz1986 · 22/09/2013 21:16

Once you have written your letter confirming when you want to start maternity leave your employer legally has to confirm in writing within 28 days. I would say to them that you need confirmation of maternity dates along with any other details, such as holiday accruement etc in writing.

Covering your job is not your problem so id leave that to them.

flowery · 22/09/2013 22:44

And you don't need to try and get a meeting set up. Just write them a letter as everyone has said, then leave it at that, and get on with your job and with preparing for the baby. If they don't confirm your dates and pay, chase it up, in writing/email.

It's really not at all any kind of drama. A letter. That's it. Then leave them to worry about covering your job.

Moofins · 23/09/2013 08:03

www.gov.uk/calculate-your-maternity-pay

Original poster

Anothermrssmith · 23/09/2013 21:12

Thanks for the link moofins

Looked at it earlier and it confirmed my work do need to pay me smp (only started in march so wasnt sure i would qualify) which is a relief. What I've read does seem a but confusing about the whole written notification of my dates,some say i must provide it others say its up to the company if they want it, so I emailed the office manager earlier and asked if they wanted confirmation in writing and for a meeting to discuss everything which we're having tomorrow morning (a meeting has been getting talked about for months now so might as well have it). I know it's not my responsibility to organise cover but like all of you I want to go off knowing someone is in place that can do the job well. Believe me when I say though that I have good reason for worrying about it being a disaster.

OP posts:

SmallBee · 23/09/2013 21:24

I work for a very large company with strong HR policies, but HR are in another office location and my manager was utterly shit about looking into what needed to be done for my maternity leave. (HR are also quite unhelpful) I ended up contacting HR directly to let them know I was expecting, researching what needed to happen and basically just telling my manager her job. I arranged & gave all the work handovers myself with no support from her at all & I think the only thing that she bothered about was hiring temp cover for while I was away, but they still hadn't hired someone when I left.
If I'd left it up to her to do I wouldn't have had a year end review, wouldn't have agreed a last day, wouldn't have sorted out my remaining holiday entitlement or anything like that.

Don't get me wrong she is great in many other ways but in this she was terrible.

I guess what I'm saying is you might find you end up doing a lot of this stuff yourself, especially if your manager is too busy/couldn't care less. But at least you'll be fully away of everything and go away knowing you're happy with it!

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