Arranging maternity leave

[Doodlekitty]

Just handed in my mat1b to work and they've told me I need to submit in writing when I intend to start maternity leave and how long I intend to take off. Im obviously nieve but ai thought it was assumed you would take the full year unless you stated otherwise or informed them in writing while off. Im on the sick at the mo so cant access the work policy. Any ideas?

No - I was never going to take a full year with either of mine as I simply couldn't afford it. You need to sit down with a calendar and work out the dates you want off and put them into writing. Your return to work date isn't necessarily set in stone, but it's helpful for your employer to have a suggested date to go on.

I had to give a return date but while I'm off I can go back at any time as long as I give them two months notice of my intention to return (there's a form I have to submit). Payroll need dates to work to as well so they can calculate your maternity pay

No, you don't need to tell the, your return date. The base assumption is a year. I'm an HR manager.

You need to tell them when the baby is due and when you want your leave to start. They need to assume you are taking the full year off and you only need to inform them of your return date if you are starting back before then.

at this stage you do not need to state when your leave will end

You need to tell them if you don't want to take the full year. I wanted to guarantee they'd hold my job for me so I told them I would return after six months (which I did). You can change it later if you want to.

You only need 8 weeks notice to change the date of your return to work if you are taking less than 1 year I. e. They assume you are taking 1 year and if you want to return before that you give 8 weeks notice prior to your return date

Thanks guys