Mat Leave and question about return to work date

[Trickytricky]

Can someone help me please? I'm 30 weeks.

When do I have to tell my employer the date I plan to return? Do I have to give any indication of how long I'll be off (i.e. 6 months, 9 months, a year) at this stage?

For info, I haven't been at this job long enough to claim SMP so having to apply for Maternity Allowance.

If I recall correctly, you don't have to tell your employer anything about your return to work at this stage.

I think that they're supposed to assume you're taking the full year unless you tell them otherwise. If you want to return sooner, you have to give them notice of your return date - I think at least 8 weeks notice?

But check on the gov.uk website. That should have more information about maternity leave and notification dates.

Thanks Shadow. I find the gov website extremely confusing and unclear. It talks about giving 8 weeks notice if you change your mind about your return date but it doesn't say anything about your assumed return date (or when you are to notify the employer of the proposed return date (ie before you change your mind!)).

Your employer has to assume that you will take a year unless you say otherwise.

In fact if you wish to return before the year is up you need to give 8 weeks notice.

They can't be asking you. As far as they are concerned it's 52 weeks maternity leave, so any holiday before that doesn't count

I think your return date is assumed to be the full length of your maternity leave. So if your employer offers a 12 month maternity leave then they should assume that you will return to work after 12 months but you will need to give 8 weeks notice if you intend to return sooner.

Thanks all. MadgeMak - you say "if your employer offers a 12 month maternity leave" I thought every employer had to offer 12 months??

My employer has a form that I fill in when I give them my mat B1. On it has a tick box for 'will be returning to work' and following that they calculate the latest date I can return to work based on my EDD/ mat leave dates. If I want to change that date I have to write to them, at least 8 weeks before.

The default date of return is 12 months after your mat leave starts and this is what they should assume. If you want to go back earlier you have to give 8 weeks notice (to tell them, not to ask them). Of course, that is statutory; your employer might be happy for you to go back early with less than 8 weeks notice.

You must be able to take all your usual annual leave that accrues over a year, either before or after your mat leave not as part of it.

Sorry to jump in here RubbishRobot but does this mean that you can add your holiday entitlement at the start (and or) end of the mat leave? Say you start mat leave in March but take three weeks holiday before and another two weeks et the end of the mat leave?
thanks

I have been looking at my employer's forms in readiness for telling them that I'm pregnant in a few weeks! Ours says on it that they will assume you are planning to take the full 52 weeks unless you give them 8 weeks' notice of your intention to return earlier. However it also has a box saying just for planning purposes can you indicate whether you are planning to return and approximately when, but you will not be held to this.

You can take annual leave either before or after mat leave or some before, some after, depending on when your holidays run to and from but your mat leave starts the day after you give birth so let's say you take 2 weeks annual leave but give birth on day 5 your mat leave would automatically start.

Yes 12 months could well be standard, I wasn't sure as its been five years since I took mat leave. I said "if your employer...." just in case I'd got the number wrong!

You don't have to give a return to work date. They will assume cover for the full entitlement and whilst you're off you need to give 8 weeks notice if your return to work. In terms of holiday entitlement, you continue to accrue holiday as normal during mat leave and can take it as and when you like to get a financial top up in those periods. It's aldo worth noting this includes bank holidays and you can move your bank holiday days entitlement to when is convenient; for example you could take all 8 bh days ij November to put the money towards Xmas.

I had to give my return date but I can change it with 2 months notice during my mat leave.

They're not allowed to make you give a date so that was a bit naughty of them.

They can ask when you plan to return but I would just put a date 12 months from start. They shouldn't ask more than once or pester you about returning.

clementine not sure if I've read correctly but are you suggesting people can take annual leave/bank holidays during mat leave for extra money?

That is not possible because

• you can't come off mat leave by taking AL and go back on mat leave again
• you can't be paid in lieu of AL or BH, you have to take the time (or choose not to take the time and lose it, but you have to be able to take it)

Perhaps my work is different then, but I'm only on statutory and I'll be on ml Jan-Dec. I can take all my annual leave days during that time. I let them know when I'll be taking them and I'll be paid in the relevant months.