Really confused about annual leave and maternity leave

[Cherryrainbow]

So it looks like I'll go on maternity from 1st September. With my work place my annual leave goes from 22nd august to the 22nd august (as it goes from your start date).

I understand I get 6 months paid leave, 3 months smp then the rest is unpaid. I cant take annual leave whilst in the unpaid period?

If I'm looking to get back to work around the 12 month mark from 1st September does that mean for example i set a "return to work" date which for example if I had 28 days of leave left, is 28 days before the day I actually intend to be back in the office? So the unpaid leave gap goes before return to work date and leave?

What does that mean if I do change my work hours as I am looking to do 1 day less than I work atm. The annual leave would be based on the new hours and paid by that amount? I was hoping my annual leave would be the same as it is now

OP there should be someone from your company going through all this with you in detail.

Heya I haven't been in the office since March so not had any info about pregnancy in work or the usual maternity pack. They've asked us all to return to work this week so I'll try and speak to hr directly but honestly trying to get info out of anyone the last few months is like getting blood from a stone. I've contacted my union to ask them to clarity because my team leader cant seem to explain it to me. Maybe I'm just dumb. But I keep asking her to explain it ie. Do I take the annual leave whilst on maternity before I return to work or do I have to "return to work" before taking the leave but she just keeps asking me when do I want to take annual leave - I dont know because she hasn't explained when or how it should be taken!?

I’ve not been in the office either but arranged a call with them where they went through everything I detail.

This may help? pregnantthenscrewed.com/maternity-leave-holidays-accrued/
I am due in November but will be finishing on annual leave several weeks before due date because I have to use it or lose it.

You accrue holidays while on unpaid leave - but only needs to be statutory I think. Usually it should be taken holiday year so you could take some from 22nd aug this year and rest back dating from 21Aug next year so go back into full pay rather than unpaid mat leave. It will mean nat leave is over so due back to work on 22 Aug 21. You could then use some 21/22 leave to come back on 1 Sept if you wish.

So what you would usually do is go on maternity leave, accrue annual leave at your usual full time rate and then negotiate a reduction to part time hours when you have given notice that you intent to return from maternity. (You don't have to give notice if you're taking the standard 9 months but most people do have a chat with their manager before their return to work)

If your manager agrees, you can use annual leave to extent your maternity leave, so yes you could take 6 months mat leave and then all your annual leave in one go. But if you want to go down to 4 days obviously you won't get paid for the 5th day. The other option is to return at some point after 6 months and ask if you can use annual leave for that one day a week. It all depends on whether your workplace agrees you can. Most workplaces do try to accommodate people returning from maternity.

I am finishing my mat leave after 39 weeks, then will book annual leave from then until my return to work. This avoids me taking any "unpaid" time while on maternity leave, but I don't actually have to return to work before starting my AL. So in my case, I have 50 days of leave (15 from this year that I can carry forward, and 35 (AL + BH) from next year), so my plan is:

Mat leave 17th Aug - 9th May
AL 12th May - 2nd Aug

If I'm looking to get back to work around the 12 month mark from 1st September does that mean for example i set a "return to work" date which for example if I had 28 days of leave left, is 28 days before the day I actually intend to be back in the office?

Yes. You then have

6 months full pay
3 months SMP
2 months unpaid
28 days annual leave

Returning 12 months from the date you left. So your full maternity leave period would be 11 months, and you would have accrued 11 months of annual leave.

I think it probably depends on the package your company offers.

I've been told I will be accrue leave while I'm off with the normal amount the company gives (rather than going down to statutory). I'm planning on adding some onto the end of my mat leave rather than pulling it back to 11 months and then starting leave but I will have to see if financially, that's doable.

In a massive bonus - which I hadn't anticipated, they also have informed me they will freeze any unused leave from this year which remains when I go on maternity and can use that when I return, so, if for example, when I go on mat leave I still have five days owed from this year's leave, they will give them back to me on my return from mat leave as long as I use them within six months. I had no idea this policy existed until I investigated so if you have any owing it might be worth asking that question too!

One thing I hadn't asked - but will now, is if I also accrue bank holiday days while off.

Thanks so much guys! I ended up chatting to someone from work who went on maternity last year and they helped explain it clearly! Along with your responses it makes a tonne more sense now.

my plan is to take 1 or 2 months unpaid after the smp stage ends and then return to work and take leave when I return :) if I change hours then I understand the leave will be based on the new hours x

No, the leave You accrue is based on the hours you worked pre pregnancy

In also went into mat leave on 1st sept. Many a year ago. I received payment for remaining holidays for that financial year as I was unable to take them. When I came back, I had accrued my normal amount to be used after my return.

If you receive 6 months pay, that's in your contract with your company. Not standard.

This is happened to me.

I took 9 months Mat Leave. I had holidays still to take and accrued holidays during that period.

I then dropped days. I got the choice to go back full time for a couple of weeks (to get full pay) or take holidays (full Time accrued) with part time hours. Ended up i had another couple of months off.