maternity leave

[user1473935740]

hi, im new on here and im unsure where to post my question, so i hope ive got it right. me and my partner are wanting to share parental leave when our baby is born, however i dont plan on returning to work once the maternity time is over. and was wondering if anyone else has done anything similar?
tia

Haven't done anything similar but I know you don't have to return to work after maternity. It might be an idea to make them aware when you begin setting out your maternity leave plan with them. You don't HAVE to as there are people who decide whilst on leave that they're not returning to work however, it will help to avoid complications. For example, whilst on maternity, you still build up annual leave if you are planning on returning which you can use to add on to your leave. If you do this and don't return you'll have to pay the company back those days etc.

You can definitely leave for maternity and not return to work but I would make them aware. It won't affect you receiving SMP and shouldn't affect any enhanced pay from the company (depending on their terms and conditions for that)

Congrats!

I personally wouldn't tell them you're not planning on returning as then that will be taken as you resigning. As you keep accruing annual leave (and possibly other benefits depending on your package) while you're off, you'd probably be better off staying employed and handing in your notice towards the end of your maternity leave.

Do you have enhanced maternity pay, or just statuatory? If the former its worth checking what the situation is as a lot of places require you to return for a fixed time of pay it back.

Becci, you don't have to pay back annual leave days if you don't go back to work?

How do you plan on doing shared parental leave if you're not going back to work? I was under the impression that the shared thing would happen if say, Mum wanted the first 6 not ha and then Dad did the second 6 months (so sharing the full 12 month entitlement). How can you share the leave if you're not going back to work?

To share leave you have to cut short your maternity leave and go back to work so that your dh can use the extra time for his leave. You can't share leave if you aren't going back to work

It's probably different for each company but as I'm not sure if I'm going back or not I asked what would happen if I didn't return. They said it does not affect your maternity leave or annual leave, it simply gets added to the end of your maternity. It wouldn't be counted as resigning at all and they prefer the notice as they can then sort out a replacement.

In short, I'd ask the company what would happen if you didn't return and what would happen with your annual leave etc...

Also, you'd need to return to work in order to share maternity leave.

Smellsofelderberries - not if you don't use them I was referring to if she used annual leave she had built up whilst on maternity leave to extend her period of leave, then she would have to pay the money back to the company. Maybe it's different from company to company but I can't imagine so as it would be you using leave paid for by a company that you aren't returning to and that's why you owe them the money back.

You don't have to tell them at all until you're on leave, its completely down to you however they shouldn't take it as you resigning because you aren't and they can't get rid of you for not going back after maternity leave

The best thing to do is speak to your manager about your companies individual policies as although there are certain things that are law, a lot of it really varies from company to company such as (possibly) the annual leave and the enhanced maternity pay if you get it

Becciilouisex3 - That's not true of my company, if you intend to leave then you still get your annual leave at the end of maternity. This will of course vary from company to company but I believe this i probably quite similar for most companies.

On the leave issue - depends on whether you are talking about using accrued leave, or using holidays from the coming year that are not yet accrued. You shouldn't need to pay back the former, but you would have to pay back the latter, pretty sure.

When DH took over the last month of my leave, and I had to fill in a form giving the date of my return to work. The rules have changed now though, haven't they, and you can both take e.g. 6 months together at the start instead? So DHs work wouldn't even know if you quit afterwards in that case would they?

As a previous poster mentioned the situation may be different depending on whether your company offer enhanced maternity pay or only statutory. You definitely won't have to pay back statutory pay but may have to pay back any enhanced if you don't return to work. This is the case with my company. You have to return to work for at least 6 months or pay back your maternity pay!

We have to return to work for 3 months post maternity or have to repay some maternity pay.