Asking to start your MT past the official "due date"

[Caubabatko]

I'm going on my first ML later this year.
According to law I must tell my employer 15 weeks before my "due date = 40 weeks" when I plan to go on maternity leave.
I understand that if I happen to give birth earlier than the the ML start date I've told them, MT will automatically start on the day of childbirth anyway.
Since the first babies, according to Towards Data Science, are statistically more likely to be late, between 41-43 weeks, I would like to set the start of my ML at 42 weeks so I can work until as close to the actual birth date as possible.

Can you do/has anyone do that even if NHS calculated and have the 40 weeks date as my "due date" on their record?

I tried to do this as I had lots of AL to use up. I was told by my employer that my ML had to start on my due date.

I worked up to my actual day of going into labour each time. I told work my due date and I’d keep them posted, then when I did go into labour just let them know. I was over 2 weeks past my due date with each one.

Technically your employer was correct, because you can only change your date of starting mat leave after giving 28 days’ notice UNLESS your employer agrees to a change of date with less notice.
https://www.acas.org.uk/your-maternity-leave-pay-and-other-rights/taking-maternity-leave

I don’t think Ul be able to go to 42 weeks to start mat leave as when you hand your matb1 form in it has your expected due date on so that’s the last date you can start mat leave

You can. You can't start it more than 11 weeks before your due date but there is no stipulation around the last day it can start albeit it has to start the day after your baby is born if it hasn't done so already. I went down a rabbit hole with this when someone requested it, read all the legislation and checked with the lawyers. They have assumed they are correct as it feels logical, not because they actually are.

Thank you ladies, this is so helpful! I have 5 weeks of AL but since I'm pregnant we're not planning to take much time off.

@BlueWhale47 How did you manage your AL in the end?

@Byebyefattum So both your babies came in your 42 weeks? Did you opt for induction or did the labour start naturally?

Ask your employer. Mine let me move the start date to when baby was born.

My friend finished 2 weeks before due date as she was using up her annual leave that final 2 weeks before the birth, she gave birth the day after she finished and lost those 2 weeks annual leave as ML started then

I had a baby (few years ago) in Feb and took a leave at Christmas then dropped to 4 days a week to avoid losing annual leave. i worked till due date (40weeks) as that’s the latest they would let me go up to, but I think took 3 days holiday in week 39. Baby arrived at 40+4, same as my first.

I then used a day a week keep in touch days in August and September and early October and started back on paper in October but took leave for a couple of weeks and used holidays to make it 4 day weeks, and officially reduced hours to 4 days a week from January . I worked it all out a spreadsheet to maximise pay and best use holidays (holiday year runs December to December and you get full pay for keep in touch days). Well worth planning it all out as it also made me feel a lot more in control of my return.

good luck with your baby 💐

I know no one has mentioned this yet and it’s not the question you asked but you really might not feel like working that late on! The number of medical appointments can really ramp up at that stage too, I’m 38 weeks and low risk but have spent several mornings at the hospital/midwife in the last week and I’m exhausted and uncomfortable a lot of the time. Have just finished work.

@Sedonasunrises I was going to say this too! With my son I was SO done with work by the second half of the third trimester! It wasn't even overly tiring etc (it was COVID lockdown and was working from home) - I just found I had no concentration and just wanted to nest and focus on baby coming. I had lots of AL so tapered down a lot and then went off early using that. Actual Mat Leave started on my due date. DS came along at 41+1 but there is no way I'd have been wanting to work that week. I was being monitored for high BP, had a sweep or two and was trying to gently exercise etc, querying whether waters had gone... My mind was purely on baby!

Is it that you want to be present in work or that you want the delay the official date that everything is counted from? The first, talk to management; the second, ask about using annual leave first. It’s actually unusual for people who have annual leave to take not to use it up before the start of their leave.

I ended up being on AL from mid November to mid December, MAT leave from mid Dec- Nov, then used the AL I had carried over and from my new entitlement to return to work in Jan

Legally women have to take off the first two weeks after a baby so you ML date has to be your due date at the latest. You have to have the two weeks following the birth as your ML.
You may be surprised when your baby will come. You said most are 41-42 weeks. I don’t know anyone who’s gone over more than a day or two.

@Becsim yes you have to take the first two weeks but the logic does not therefore follow it has to start on your due date. You could request it to start 6 weeks later if you wish but it will start the day after (not the day of) the birth irrespective of the request. And most of the people I know were 10 days late. I was 13 days late.

I think it’s probably the risk of working when you are at your due date. Employers don’t want that. 🤷🏻‍♀️

@Becsim no but they can't legally stop you. Can't imagine why you'd want to mind you!