Maternity Leave

[45andfine]

Quick question oh wise ones... My baby due 25th January, when do I start maternity leave?? I'm a food teacher and so on my feet all day, at sinks, looking in ovens and trying not to slip on dropped food etc. I was thinking I'd stop at end of autumn term, but does this mean I won't get paid for Xmas holidays? And can I get paid for Xmas holidays NEXT year if I put my return to work as the last day of Autumn term in 2020?? It's all so confusing and HR are unhelpful.

Thank you!

I had babies in the summer holiday. I put my due date as my first day of mat leave.

If it was me, I'd drag myself into January PD day, you'll 'only' be 37 weeks. Some people plan to work to 38 weeks so you should be fine. If baby comes early that'll be the first day of your mat leave anyway.

Re returning to work, put the last day of the holidays down, so you get paid for it. Or go in for the last day of autumn term. Just the one day. Teachers do that. Some will accuse you of being crafty and grabby - but people in other jobs tack holiday accrued on to the end of mat leave etc, which is something we never get the chance to do as teachers. We have to do what is best for our families.

You can start your May leave at any time so it could be the end of the Christmas holidays. No need to drag yourself in for a PD day.

Put the last day of the Christmas break as your start date...and then the first day of the Christmas break as your return date. You should get paid for the holidays. You don't need to go in for one day at the end of the holidays or at the beginning when you return.
I "left" last day of the autumn half term and had my return day as the first day of the summer holidays. Got paid for full time over the summer, then started my pt contract in September.

Oooo these are promising messages! Hadn't even thought about fact I'd like to reduce my hours for when I go back!

You can put the last day of the Christmas holidays as your last day at work. You can also put the first Monday of a holiday as your return to work. Most teachers work very hard for their salary, don't be afraid to use the system to your advantage for once. You could also ask HR for reasonable adjustments to be made whilst you are still at work and pregnant if you are concerned that things aren't safe for you at the moment.

I’d do the first week back after Christmas and then come back to work for the last week of the autumn term.

Also meant to add that if HR aren't very helpful then teaching unions are good with the legalities, so contact your union for information or support. If you're not in a union (!?!) then the charity Maternity Action can help with rights at work.

I'm also a tech teacher. You want to try and leave after holidays then you will get paid. I put down I wanted to start my mat leave the Monday we returned after Easter break, that way I was paid for holidays. In the end I went off earlier as I was so big and I'm so much pain, but I went off sick for a week before we broke up in easter, I thought they would start my mat leave earlier but they didn't so that was a bonus :)

Remember that in pretty much ALL other jobs people get to take accrued annual leave before maternity leave and also accrue it during maternity leave so can tag it on the end. Teachers can no neither of these things so definitely use the holidays to your advantage. It’ll still be less annual leave accrual than any other job I know of.

Have you had you maternity pack from your local authority yet? If not chase HR to get it to you. There is a lot of info in it but does make it a bit clearer.

You last worked date and start of maternity leave date don't need to be the same. Your last working day can be the last day of autumn term and your first day of mat leave the first of the spring term. When you return you can put down the last day of the autumn 2020 term and get paid over Christmas.

I went back for the last three days before the summer just as for me I found it helpful to have two days to get my head around my timetable and class lists etc and plan my first week of lessons so I didn't have to do it all over the hols but there is no reason why you have to go in that week. Your return date remains fluid anyway. Most of the time you just have to tell them 28 days before you return so what you put on your form now you can change once you know what you want to do with your return to work.

@heartvhead that's excellent information, thank you! And a relief! Haven't had anything from HR yet, despite giving them my MATB1 certificate. Assuming they will guide me thru it all. Really don't want to do something stupid and lose pay, it's not like we don't work enough free hours as it is!!😂

@twinklemerrick did they do a risk assessment for you? What kind of "allowances" did you get? I'm concerned about being on my feet for 5+ hours a day, there really is no option of sitting in a DT practical lesson is there?! I'm caught in difficult position of wanting to leave at Xmas but also wanting to get my yr11 students coursework completed... And marked 🤔 before I go..

If your school follows the Burgundy Book then your mat leave will have to begin officially on a Sunday. I don’t know your term dates but we are back on 6 Jan so if you started on Sunday 5 Jan you should be paid for the holidays.

I'm due on the 29th Jan and will be returning for the first week after christmas (providing baby stays put and I'm able to return). I'll be leaving on the 10th Jan. I'll be returning to work on the 13th July for a week of transition with my new class (I'm Year 1) and so I get full pay for the summer :) I'll then be going back part time doing three days a week from September

@luxx16 will that give you pay for the whole time you're off? I'm worried how I will cope without money coming in, but equally don't want to hand over baby to a stranger too soon 😭

@45andfine what do you mean? My mat leave pay will start on the 10th unless I give birth before then when it kicks in. If you go back before the summer your mat leave pay will stop and you return to your previous pay. I've just requested part time hours but asked for that contract to start from the new academic year so I'm still getting 5 days a week during the 6 week holidays if that makes sense?

@45andfine or do you mean will my pay decrease? We are unpaid from 9 months and as I'm technically only taking 7 I will be paid throughout my whole mat leave

OP, you need to sit down with a calendar and your school’s maternity policy, or the burgundy book if you can’t get hold of that, and work out how long you’ll be paid for. The payroll lady at my school gave me the calculations for my mat pay to show what I’d receive month by month, which was very useful.

Oooo, they can tell you what you'll be paid each month!! I like that idea! Haven't heard anything from payroll yet.

@lxx16 yes thank you, you've answered my questions! Good tip about getting holidays paid at full time rate not part-time!!

Just to say OP you may have to chase School/LA for a payment schedule. Mine didn't come through until about a month into my maternity leave with both my DCs.

It's very useful though. it's hard to know what you will get each month as mat pay is paid in weeks not months so some months you receive 5 weeks worth and some you only get 4.

maternity.money

This website will help you work out your mat pay for each month.
I asked our HR department and finance for this when I was pregnant and didn't get very far but someone on here suggested this and it's a useful guide if your school can't tell you.

That's a brilliant website! Thank you!