Maternity Leave and Annual Leave

[littlemissminor]

Sorry, I don't know where is the best place to post this!!

I am due 19/11 and will be going on Maternity Leave on 30/10. I work part time and am entitled to 11 days holiday, I have taken 3 days so far.

Does anyone know if it is possible to take the rest of my leave before Maternity or if I can only use what I have accrued this year so far?

Holiday runs May - May if that makes any difference (I won't be returning to work prior to the end of the holiday year).

Hope that makes sense?

Thank you!

In my last 2 places of work I managed my leave very carefully after reading the hr policies. I was entitled to all my annual leave so long as I worked during that holiday year.

I saved up as much holiday as I could and took it just before mat leave - so was on holiday for 8 days prior to ewc then mat leave. I then went back to work 1 day a week at the end of mat leave and was on holiday the other 4 for a good few weeks. I actually went back at 10 months with my second child to maximise pay and use the 4 weeks annual leave before holiday year cut over (when I would have lost it). Read up your policies and work it all out if you can - I used excel to map out pay each month too as there was x weeks at x amount on a tapering scale and I had to be sure we could get through it 😁

Good luck

Brilliant, thank you!

In my previous job with DC1 I took all my leave before Maternity. The company I work for now has no policy at all regarding Maternity/Holiday - so just wanted to get the general consensus! I wish I had thought about it sooner really!

I think it depends on your place of work.

At my place, they are on an accrual basis and I think that, by rights, means that you can take what you have accrued up to now and then you accrue whilst you are on maternity leave, which they have to let you carry over to the next holiday year, if you're still on leave and can't take them in that year. So, you can take the rest when you return.

My place of work is more lenient and so, they will let me take them, even if I haven't accrued them yet but, that is their discretion and they don't have to.

I would see what it says in your contract or, ask your manager to clarify.

Congrats by the way

My company didn't have a specific policy for how the holidays worked and it was quite vague.
They called acas who advised that the standard policy is you would take what has been acrrued up to the point of maternity leave and any accrued during maternity leave is carried over to the next year.

This is just what my senior told me, but reading up it seems that this is the most common advice, however each business will have its own preferences.