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Pregnancy

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Original poster

Maternity leave confusion

29 replies

Jadefeather7 · 18/02/2019 20:00

Was wondering if someone could help.
I am due to give birth in May and have about a month of annual leave left this year (25 days). I had assumed I would be able to take these days before the birth and defer the start of maternity leave until my annual leave days have been used up but I now understand I must start mat leave on the due date, is that correct? Is it also correct that I can’t therefore take the remainder of my leave until the end of my maternity leave. I get full pay for 3 months and would have ideally liked to tag my annual leave on to the beginning or end of that period so I continue to get full pay for 4 months to start with but that doesn’t seem to be possible?

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NerrSnerr · 18/02/2019 20:04

It'll only work if you take the annual leave at the end of your pregnancy before your due date. If not you'll have to take it at the end of your leave.

Both times I was really struggling at the end of my pregnancy so finishing early really helped me.

BikeRunSki · 18/02/2019 20:10

Maternity leave starts on the day your child is born, unless you have started it earlier. This is the law. Your employer might let you carry over unused annual leave to the end of your maternity leave. You will still also accumulate annual leave whilst on maternity (well you did 7 years ago, I’m assuming it’s still the same).

seeingdots · 18/02/2019 20:11

Yeah that sounds right. If I remember rightly your mat leave can't start after your due date and also if the baby comes before your due date that triggers mat leave to start, even if you're off on annual leave. Then annual leave carried over has to be taken at the point you officially return to work.

Original poster

Jadefeather7 · 18/02/2019 20:17

Thanks everyone. It’s a shame that you cannot break up your maternity leave with your annual leave. I would have really liked to get full pay for 4 months rather than 3 at the start :(

OP posts:

cricketmum84 · 18/02/2019 20:39

It would be worth asking your HR dept about having holiday paid while you are off. Where I used to work you could apply for some holiday pay paying while you were on leave and it would be paid on top of your maternity pay.

It's a bit of a grey area now legislation wise because the law says you have to be given opportunity to take annual leave, however if you are on long term sick holidays can be paid or carried over.

Thundered · 18/02/2019 20:49

I’m not sure if I’m missing something but if you have 25 days and would like to use them this year, why don’t you use them all and then technically start your mat leave the next working day on your EDD?

Ovbs if you have the baby before your mat leave will kick in and any A/L not used will just be added to your overall entitlement.

Northernbeachbum · 18/02/2019 20:58

Just wondering, how would they know you've had the baby to start mat leave unless you tell them?! Could you do as above and stay quiet

kelly14 · 18/02/2019 20:59

I went on maternity leave feb 18, my work let me use all the holiday I would accrue for the year ahead before my maternity leave started.

Babyno2mamabear · 18/02/2019 21:05

I'm due on May 10th and just had to use all of my annual leave. I spoke to HR as I only get 6 weeks at 90% so like you wanted to use it...but No, mat leave starts when baby is here! So I've put it to start w/c 6th May and using all my usual leave between now and then...bonus is I only have 10 working days left!

sleepyhead · 18/02/2019 21:10

Are you planning on working up to your due date op? Most people start mat leave a bit earlier (depending on what your job/commute is like and how your pregnancy has been).

It would be usual to use up 2 or more weeks of A/L at this point, so for e.g finish work at 36 weeks, take 4 weeks A/L and then hope your baby arrives on schedule..

MadeForThis · 18/02/2019 21:16

I used 4 weeks of holiday so I left work at 36 weeks and my mat leave started on my due date.

I had 5 weeks holiday to take when my mat leave was over so instead of coming back after 12 months I had 5 weeks off with holiday pay.

Months 9-12 were unpaid though. So you could do this after month 9 if you wanted to move from statutory mat pay to holiday pay.

You also have 10 kit days during your mat leave when you can go into work and get full pay without stopping maternity leave

lifechanginglemoncake · 18/02/2019 21:51

At my work you carry over unused annual leave and can take it at the end of maternity leave before you return to work. This means in practice it doesn't matter if you use it before or after maternity leave as the amount of time would be the same and so would the total pay.

3out · 18/02/2019 21:56

The good thing about tagging your annual leave onto the end of your mat leave is that when you get the lovely surprise that you’re pregnant again before you return to work, at least your qualifying week for the next lot of maternity leave is calculated on full pay 🙈

LittleDoveLove · 18/02/2019 22:05

I know in my work many people have taken annual leave they had left for that year and then started maternity. I am starting my maternity leave 5 weeks before he is scheduled in for planned delivery and I get maternity pay from then not his arrival date. I've not heard of it stating on the estimated due date. I just thought it was from when you went off. (Earliest I can go on mat leave is 11 weeks before his due date)

hammylehamster · 18/02/2019 22:12

As I remember, maternity leave cannot start any later than your EDD. I could add my annual leave onto the end of my maternity as long as it didn't cross over into the next leave year.

Tinekittie2 · 19/02/2019 15:05

You won't have 25 days off, more like 8-10. This is because you can only take what you have accrued. You will continue to accrue holiday while on maternity leave and hopefully you'll be able to add it at the end of mat leave next year.

If your child is born early, mat leave will automatically start even if you've booked time off. Your HR department should explain all this to you :)

Thundered · 19/02/2019 15:17

^^
Thats not correct. I think it depends on your HR policy, at my place of work you are encouraged to take the leave before you go on maternity leave. I’m on mat leave at the mo & used all my entitlement for this year before going officially on mat leave. I’m due back next year.

However, if you choose not to use the holiday before mat leave it will always be added to allowance the next year.

ChocolateChipMuffin2016 · 19/02/2019 15:19

I think what your work have said is correct. When I went on leave with DS I left at 38 weeks, had 2 weeks holiday planned and mat leave to start on EDD. DS was a week early so my Mat leave kicked in a week early and I tagged the week I "lost" onto the end of of my mat leave instead (which is quite nice as you get a bit of full pay money just before you go back to work and in my case, when you have to stump up childcare payments before you've been properly paid!).
I'm due DC2 mid April and am starting mat leave on the 1st April but taking 2 weeks holiday before. I will carry over the remaining holiday I have plus all my bank holiday days (which I will accrue) onto the end of my Mat leave, again this will hopefully help with my childcare bill!

moregingerbreadplease · 19/02/2019 15:41

I used up 3 weeks of holiday before my mat leave.. I am sure you are entitled to do this

Helsvamp · 19/02/2019 18:01

Are you not in uk ? As can go on maternity leave anytime from 11 weeks before baby is due

BikeRunSki · 19/02/2019 19:46

But maternity leave must start on EDD or when the baby is born, whichever comes first.

3out · 19/02/2019 20:00

You’re right, Bike, and obviously ML can start up to 11 weeks before due date too.

You can go on leave, use up some annual leave first, then start mat leave, but once the baby is here/edd then ml has to kick in. You can’t be on annual leave once the baby is born, I think a minimum of 6 weeks mat leave before you can return to work/start using annual leave.

Jess499427 · 19/02/2019 20:03

With mat leave, once you start your mat leave it must run continuously until you choose to end it, either to return to work or start another type of leave like annual leave or unpaid parental leave. You can only have one continuous block of maternity leave and once it’s ended, you can’t restart it. However... shared parental leave can be broken up into up to three blocks. Between those blocks you can return to work or take another type of leave, such as annual leave. So, bear in mind you could switch from mat leave to SPL and take your annual leave in between blocks of SPL.

Me and DH are planning ours now. Around month 4 he is taking 4 weeks of SPL and I am taking 4 weeks annual leave at the same time. It has been approved by both employers.

slapmyarseandcallmemary · 19/02/2019 20:07

I used my annual leave up before mat leave. I started mat leave at 37 weeks and was paid it from when I started (statutory mat pay).

Pinkprincess1978 · 19/02/2019 20:36

First question is when is your holiday year?

Many employers won't let you carry over annual leave so if it's April to March then this year's annual leave must all be taken by 31 March.

How long do you want to take off overall? If it's the full year plus your year's annual leave this can be tricky (especially with a May due date and April holiday year start).

Technically your mat leave starts when baby is born which in most cases you don't know in advance. If you planned to work up to you having baby then it's fine to say you will start leave when you go into labour but if you want to have AL first it's risky in case you give birth before you use all your AL up and could loose it (as above, some may allow you to carry over to next leave year if you are off over the period ie in April to March example but some won't).

If your holiday year is jan to December and you only want to take a few months leave then you could go off on leave now (or of course closer to due date) and ask for mat leave to start when baby is born then have remaining leave paid at end of mat leave (you would need to return to work at the end of this period, you can't return to SMP) - be careful not to leave yourself with not enough leave for the rest of the holiday year ie next Christmas.

Here is what happened to me with my 2nd.

Due early May. Holiday year Apr to March. I wanted to take full 52 weeks off plus annual leave. I couldn't take leave from 1 April until due or born (good job as born 11 days early) as there wasn't enough time to use my 33 days and my mat leave would end after 31st March the following year so I couldn't use what was left at end of leave (unless I didn't take the full 52 weeks).

I ended up having to start my mat leave at earliest opportunity which was 29 weeks so mid feb. 52 weeks leave took me to mid feb following year and miraculously 31 working days took me to exactly 31 March 😀 then it was early Easter so I actually went back to work on the 6th April.

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