Maternity leave/pay issues with work

[FirstTimeBumps]

Not entirely sure if I'm here for some advice or just a general rant. I'm due early January and put my maternity leave notice in with my employer on August 23rd (date I had to inform them (latest date to claim leave) by was 22nd September) so even gave them extra time. Due to go off on leave week commencing December 3rd. I'm taking 32 weeks maternity leave & pay, and converting a further 7 weeks into shared parental leave for my partner to take (2 weeks following on from his paternity followed by 5 weeks when I return to work in July). Had to update calculations and sent them across on 29th August due to working additional hours in my qualifying period which ended that day.

Left it until September 16th before emailing our accounts (we don't have a HR department) asking if there was an update and this was then followed by back and forth e-mails requesting updates for the remainder of that week which accumulated in contact on the Friday 21st September telling me incorrectly that I couldn't be on maternity leave at the same time my partner was on Shared Parental Leave (this was the care prior to 2015, I'd done my research foreseeing that there would be problems). Accounts then contacted HMRC to be told that I was correct and we could be on leave at the same time, followed by a telephone call where I had to walk through the whole HMRC online calculator as the accountant was selecting things such as there being 3 paydays not 2, which was completely messing up the calculations. Eventually settled on everything that Friday evening and asked for it in e-mail/writing to confirm everything was fine.

Heard nothing, e-mailed again on 10th October to be told that our payroll was not being outsourced to another company who would then be dealing with it. Thinking to myself great now I'm going to have to do the back and forth with them over it. Contacted management who told me to contact the accountant who had just told me she wasn't dealing with it any more. Then eventually got some info and a we're having a meeting about it end of the week. Following week (15th) contacted again to be told they were having a meeting that Wednesday (17th), contacted again on the 18th to be told they hadn't had the meeting yet so asked when exactly it was I would be looking at receiving confirmation and was again told next week. Contacted again on the 25th last Thursday and was pretty much told it should be sorted by end of the week. Left it until today as another manager had told me that the woman who was dealing with it in this external accountants was off on the Friday.

And here I am today... still with no answer. Told by one manager today that the other manager had an update then told by the other manager that no, she would contact me when she had an update. Then I'm told today to allow the accountants company time to sort it out, that they are aware that I am chasing it, that (again) it will be sorted this week, that having to outsource payroll has put them behind a bit (this should have been sorted way before the outsourcing took place) and as usual "its all in hand".

Has anyone been in a similar situation. I've phoned ACAS and all they can suggest is I put it in writing again and finish the e-mail off with "if you have any questions please contact me within the next 14 days otherwise I will assume all is well" but now I don't even know whether that will give them free-reign to take even longer to respond when they've said (and I'm probably still being gullible for believe them) that it will be sorted "this week".

I've told management they're leaving me in a position where I have no idea where I am financially when I'm off on maternity leave and that is stressful enough without the added concern that this accountant will come back with the same crap the in house accountant did about not being able to do shared parental leave. In addition I would really rather ensure I am left on maternity and I can foresee them putting us both on shared parental leave which comes with less workplace rights as maternity.

I feel like I'm banging my head on a brick wall, don't know what to do. I've been in tears twice today due to the stress of it and feeling fobbed off. I'm just glad I'm not on my own otherwise I'd be in an even worse position not knowing if I could cover my rent and bills and I'm further upset that my employers think that leaving someone in this position financially, regardless is acceptable.

Sorry for the long winded rant, any advice would be appreciated x

No advice but maybe copy this into the Employment issues forum - I do have some hugs though.

@GenericHamster I had a look but didn't realise there was an employments one, will have a hunt now thank you x

Wow, what a stressful situation. I think any company what doesn’t have a HR department or atleast a HR rep is really allowing themselves open for anything, which is concerning. However, with that aside and reading your comment I have a sneaky feeling they are unsure of how the SPL process works and it’s just been passed to pillar to post by the sounds of it. Why are several management members getting involved too? Surely it should be between yourself and the outsourcing company processing this?

I work in HR granted I don’t particularly deal with this side however, I know SPL can be a complicated process to get your head around even for a HR professional nevermind accountants (who are doing complex other jobs!) and an outsourcing company. Are you aware of any of your colleagues doing SPL? It not, I really think they are taking their time as they are unsure - which is not helpful or the right way to be going about something like this!

I’m also shocked at the ACAS response its not particularly helpful, what’s their advice when you tell them again “you’ve been advised it’s in hand” you’ve already documented it several times and have email trails, dates etc. Plus what would your employer do if this stress caused you to go on the sick? Your employer has a duty of care for you and all employees and this is a point blank ridiculous situation. ACAS should be pulling their finger out 😕 I’d recommend getting a second opinion from ACAS it could have been a lazy adviser on that occasion.

Sorry I couldn’t be more help but I hope you get answers soon x

@Anyat212 thank you. A colleague overheard the two managers today saying "yes it's all been processed fine and it's all correct" however they still haven't come back to me which is infuriating. They definitely didn't have a clue about SPL, theres only one other person who's been off on maternity in the 4/5 years I've been there and they apparently made a mess of hers (she's one of the managers who's been (not) dealing with it). I did all my homework and broke it down to into everything for them but they still messed it up. Payroll should have been processed today, so I'm expecting to hear something tomorrow, otherwise I will be contacting the external company, regardless of the fact they keep telling me to give the new company time and it's early days, I said the other week when one manager told me another manager was dealing with it that if they couldn't sort it when I was dealing with the internal accountant directly what hope did I have going through someone else dealing with an external company. I do think ACAS can be pretty useless, especially when I had one advisor telling me the other week incorrect info about shared leave. I really wanted to speak to maternity action but have had no joy getting through x

The only advice I can give you is contact everyone including the external company yourself even if you are sending repeated information. Then try to phone people to confirm they have the email and more importantly understand it.

@BlueBug45 messaged manager last night asking if I could expect an update by today considering payroll should be done with now. He hasn't even picked up the message. I've now emailed in house accounts asking them to confirm the external accountants firm so I can contact them directly and have yet to receive a response. Midwife is coming at 3pm so may just speak to her about it because it's seriously stressing me out now.

You need to phone people rather than message or email them, and even better pop over to see them in person. Over the years I've chased people in companies for salary, invoices and various things, and unfortunately I find written messages are ignored but phone calls or being physically present more frequently gets results.

@BlueBug45 I was working on the presumption that with an email/message I've got evidence of the sheer volume of contact I've tried. In house accounts kindly provided me with the lady's email, full name, and accountants firm, and I've sent her an email however now I have this info, if it isn't resolved by end of today I can pop on over to their offices tomorrow to chase it

I do HR and SPL for our company. One thing you said, you would rather stay on maternity than be taken off to go on shared parental leave. This isn't how it works, if you are intending to use shared parental leave you must come off maternity and the shared parental is opened. You can't stay on maternity while your partner is on SPL, because then there's nobody for them to be sharing with. Maternity is a fixed entitlement, so if you're giving up some of your entitlement to your partner your classification changes. That shouldn't change any other rights or entitlements though.

@MrsRubyMonday the rules changed so you can share the total entitlement so you are both off at the same time. This confuses a lot of companies.

I had to do a load of research with my partner as even before our baby was born they weren't vsure on what leave he was entitled to and his is a large organisation.

@MrsRubyMonday providing I give binding notice to finish my maternity X amount of week early, the X amount of weeks can be converted to shared leave for my partner to use.

Came to a head today and turns out one of the managers thought the other manager had told me that having spoken with the accounts company that my calculations seemed "pretty much" the same. She hadn't, and I'm just as livid now given the fact they know I'm waiting about and they're choosing to just keep me in the dark. Ended up hysterical, which I think I'm well within my right to be given that I've kept patient and calm for three months. This was about five minutes prior to my midwife turning up for my 31 week appointment to me in tears. Advised of it continues I go to my GP with stress. I've booked a GP appointment for Friday at 4.30 but am in work that morning. Have had the manager say he will personally chase it up again tomorrow prior to him going off on holiday on Friday (alright for some) but not holding my breath.

Hi there.

I'm an HR Officer, who is coincidentally just started my maternity leave.

Are you part of a Union? If so, contact them! If not, it may be worth exploring on joining one and making contact with them. not knowing the sector you're in, I can advise on a suitable union. GMB are quite good as a general union organisation.

Citizens advice may be an option for you to explore.

I think you are probably well within your right to make a formal, written complaint - if you can, try to obtain your workplace parental leave policy and their grievance policy.

In all honesty, it sounds as if no one really knows what they are doing and are simply fobbing you off.

I wish you all the best with this.

@BellaBash I wish there was a policy, for anything, or someone I could make a formal complaint to. I completely lost it today on the phone to management but I'm not even sorry. I've sat for three months patiently, and they are happy to leave me in such a situation, pregnant and not aware where I am financially. We have no HR, no policy documentation of any form. I've only managed to figure i am even entitled to maternity based on a verbal contract as having repeatedly asked for one for the past three years (after being made redundant then rehired) none had materialised. I'm really stuck and being made to feel that I am being unreasonable because I'm not "giving them time" is really wearing me down

This is just incomprehensible - there is every chance your company are breaking the law here and I would strongly advise you seek some sort of legal advice on this one.

Sounds awful. Similarly, try to put yours and baby’s health first, and maybe most certainly get signed off by GP.

P.s. if signed off at 36 weeks for pregnancy related matter, they can technically start your mat leave from then. Up to then, and so long as the baby is unborn, it is classed a sick leave.

Direct.gov is really useful to too.

I'm due on 1st December and only got my calculations late last week. That was after they sat on it for months. And I finish in 2 weeks! I work for a large employer (70,000 employees) so size doesn't always make them speedy. Hope you get a resolution soon x

@ND348 any tips for pressuring them? I'm off from the 3rd December for my leave so pretty much the same time that pregnancy related sickness would trigger automatic maternity leave. I was going to push it back a bit but not going to bother with the hassle it will take

Update: finally got confirmation in writing of what I will be getting, and my partner, on a week by week basis. Ops manager sorted it and I did have a rant about GM making me feel like utter crap and trying to imply I was being unreasonable for not giving them yet more time (although I'm not holding out for an apology from him). Still got appointment with doctor today as not convinced this will be the end of the stress and would rather have someone tell me what to do for the best now

@FirstTimeBumps Good news!

I think you need to chill and try to relax a bit and by getting signed off will help. You and baby are more important than work. Xx