Maternity leave entitlement

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Hi wondering if any one could help please!
I AM SO CONFUSED!!!

I work for a uk local authority

I start my maternity leave officially from Monday 31st august. I am taking the full 52 weeks.
So I get
6 weeks 90 per cent pay
3 months half pay
3 months statutory maternity pay
Following 3 months unpaid.

Now I think I may have gotten confused as I thought my annual leave (April to April) I could take during maternity leave. HR take weeks to get back to me and my manager is off sick.

I have booked my annual leave for once my half pay ended to add onto my statutory pay to give me more money. Also because my leave needs using up by April.

But googling it says you cannot be paid annual leave whilst on maternity leave.
Is this correct?

If so will I lose all my annual leave (31 days) from now until april. I didn't take any to save it to add onto my maternity pay 🫣

I have I buggered this up!

Thank you in advance

You cannot take annual leave while on maternity leave. You still earn holiday while on maternity leave though.

Your work has to allow you to take this leave or pay you for it if you leave.

You can end your maternity leave early and immediately go on to annual leave.

If you are off for less than 52 weeks you’ll have less annual leave to tack onto then end of your maternity leave.

I took my year’s entitlement (with the bank holidays I’d missed) directly I finished the unpaid section of my leave. I also took annual leave for 2 weeks before starting my maternity leave.

Some places will also allow you to take a day’s annual leave a week when you first return so you work part time but paid for full time.

Hi, congratulations on your pregnancy!

You are right to say that you can't take maternity and holidays at the same time. As soon as you take holidays your maternity leave stops. There is an option to take Shared Parental Leave to break up your 12 months but that's different to maternity.

Your holidays will carry forward for when you return. You may also wish to use some of your allowance before you start your maternity leave, eg. if you were intending to start your maternity leave at 38 weeks, have the first two weeks as holiday then start mat leave on your due date.

Good luck with everything.

I have the same entitlement as you and planned to do the same but realised I couldn't. You essentially have to 'end' your maternity leave and go on annual leave. Your annual leave will have accrued so you can take it all and won't lose out on it

I work in HR and can confirm PP's are right 😊 taking annual leave ends your maternity leave. I'm planning to take two weeks annual leave then straight into maternity leave, and also end my maternity 'early' at the other end to go onto paid annual leave before returning to work.

Thank you!
I had already booked the leave as we have an an electronic system so messed this one up!
Okay so I will contact HR again and manager.
Oh and Cancel the leave.

I will have 31 days leave from 1st April 23-1st April 24 to use up. Plus bank holidays.

My leave you have to use by the beginning of April but my statutory maternity pay doesn't end until 28th April...

So I would be asking if I can carry over and essentially end my maternity leave from the 28th april and then take 31 days (plus bank holidays) of leave bringing me to start of June.

I probably would try and use the leave I accrued from 1st April 2024 to June 2024 on returning back part time.

Just want to check I have now understood this? Thank you again for your help!!

It's a statutory right to carry over unused holiday while on maternity leave, so you aren't asking for permission/approval. It will automatically happen.

Just to check if you are going back part time then your leave may be lower so do you still get the entitlement you are expecting?

"You should usually take all your statutory holiday in the holiday year. But if you're not able to use it because you're on maternity leave for all or most of the year, your employer must allow you to carry it over."

www.acas.org.uk/your-maternity-leave-pay-and-other-rights/holiday-and-maternity-leave

Thank you!

Does your local authority do enhanced pay? I am on maternity now and got enhanced for quite a while.
You can also do up to 10 kit days so worth doing these when on smp. For my LA, you work a half day for a full day's pay but pay cannot exceed your usual monthly take home, hence its best to take kit days when money is lowest or on unpaid part.
You cannot take annual leave when on maternity and you can either carry it all over, add it on the end when your maternity has ended or be paid for it.

Same happened to me. I had 5 weeks holiday to take so brought the end (unpaid) part of my mat leave forwards by 5 weeks and took holiday

Ok thank you

And to throw another question into the mix (sorry! I find it all a bit confusing)

So say my statutory maternity pay ends 28th April.

I would have the AL plus bank holidays to use.

Say I found another job (I am a child protection sw and find it extremely stressful)

I have read in my contract I have to return back to my job for 13 weeks to avoid paying back maternity.

If I found another job whilst on AL after maternity would this count towards the 13 weeks?

You can carry holiday over if you couldn't use it as on Mat leave. Lots of people return to work after the 39 weeks of paid mat leave, but tack on the 4/5 weeks of annual leave on the end so they are off for longer but last bit is paid. You've returned so it does count towards your 13 weeks.

So if you started mat leave end of August you'd be paid (to various levels) until end of May then unpaid until either end of August (then take your annual leave so probably not return until end of Sept, then finish work end of November for new job.

Or you could end your leave end of July, use annual leave to get paid until you return end of August so that last month would be paid, then you could leave end of October for a new job.

you would only have to pay back any enhancement not SMP.

yes, once you’re on annual leave you’ve essentially returned to work. It would count.

Just to throw something into the mix - you might not be able to carry this year's annual leave over as you could have taken it between 1 April 23 and 31 August when you start maternity leave. I think this rule more likely applies to someone whose baby is due in April so if they go off, they can't have a full year and annual leave.

I would check as so as you might need to finish now and take as much leave as you can before you go off in a month time. Depending on how much leave you have left, you might have a small enough amount that they will be willing to let you carry it over next year.

My calendar is jammed packed to take this month off.
But I did read this on citizens advice

If you can't take your holiday because you're on maternity leave, your employer should let you carry over up to 5.6 weeks of unused days (28 days if you work 5 days a week) into your next holiday year.

I have managed to cancel the annual leave I had booked so hoping to take my leave after April 28th (once my statutory maternity pay ends)

Eveningggg,

I'm currently on mat leave and have decided to leave my current job.

Will i be entitled to any holiday pay on my last pay check?

You continue to accrue holidays while on maternity leave.

It depends whether you took any in advance before you went on leave as to what your balance would be.

Very likely, yes, you'll have days owing in your final pay.

You can’t be paid your annual leave at the same time as statutory leave, they either need to let you take it before you go on maternity leave or carry it over to take once you’ve finished your maternity leave. Some people take 39 weeks leave as all that’s paid then start their annual leave

Op this month may be too busy to take leave, but your not going on maternity until the end of august, that's (potentially ) 5 months when you could have taken some of this years leave. What op is suggesting is check with your hr, as they don't have to let you carry a full years leave if you could have taken it before maternity. They only have to allow you to carry leave wholly accrued during maternity, which yours isn't.

Hi, you can't be on maternity and be paid for annual leave at the same time.
You need to use your maternity and then take annual leave onto the end of that maternity leave.
You could take the 90%, then the half pay, then the stat pay and in stead of taking the unpaid leave use annual leave instead.
Remember that you're entitled to accrue all of your leave and bank holidays that occurred during your period of maternity

Yes you are permitted to carry over annual leave as you're not able to use it during your maternity