Pay rise on mat leave

[lornz]

Hello

I'm currently on mat leave as of May this year and would have been due to move up the pay scale during my yearly review in October (I know targets etc have been met etc) however with being off on maternity how does it work? Do I get it when I return? Do I miss out on it until next October? Has anyone had any experience of this happening?

Thanks.

You are paid your OMP according to how much you earn in the "qualifying period" which I think is the 15th week before your due date. I was paid maternity pay based on my M5 salary even though most of my maternity leave fell in what should have been my M6 year. I was M6 when I returned but then didn't move up to UPS at the end of that year, even though I believe being on maternity shouldn't make a difference to your progression.

They can't discriminate against you for being off. My experience is going on mat leave in Dec and returning in July. Both times I have been moved up the pay scale in the following oct/nov after July return. I don't know how it works if you're off during the pay review.

As PP have said- you can't be not awarded a pay rise because you are on Mat leave. However by October you'll have dropped down to SMP won't you? So the payrise won't impact your Maternity pay. But when you return from mat leave you should return on the new higher pay point. I did my mat leave May-May a few years back and had same situation (annual review in October, pay rise due etc). Don't forget you also have 10 KIT days which you can use during mat leave without interfering with your leave or SMP. I found these handy to start using once my SMP had stopped- I used them to attend INSET days, help my department out and do some small group teaching of GCSE groups and also took 2 KIT days before my official return date so I could be in school and get my admin stuff sorted. Your KIT days have to be pre-agreed with the Headteacher and if you take them once your pay rise has been agreed, they should be paid at your new pay point- so remember to double check that and raise with finance department if you think you've been underpaid for them.

When I saw the emails flying around about performance management meetings when I was on mat leave I emailed my HOD to say I will be doing mine remotely (she didn't bother contacting me to see if I wanted to apply for it) she did some running around and sorted it and I was moved up a pay scale but I'm sure they would have left me at a lower pay scale had I not caused a fuss.

No way was I getting left behind because of maternity.

With regards to KIT days schools don't have to agree to them I believe and don't even need to pay for them, it has to be a mutual agreement.

I applied for UPS1 at the beginning of my first Mat leave. UPS2 has been a bit more of a challenge due to a second maternity less than a year after my return from first, then moving schools! Job for this year.

I missed my pay progression whilst on mat leave (and I was only off for 6 months) because pay progression was during my time off, I didn't move up but was automatically moved up the October following and no meeting was necessary. (luckily when I started at my new school it came up that my years in service didn't match my pay scale and when they found out, they moved me up to where I should have been 😁). So in short, fight for it if necessary!