Please help me work out when to start maternity leave

[redpickle]

I work for a really, really small organisation and they have no idea about any of this (no HR etc)and their 'maternity policy' is 8 years out of date, so I want to work it out for myself first.

Baby Due 1st March 2011
Currently work 3 days per week (Mon-Wed)
Have 15 days Hol per year (pro rata)

I want to take all my accrued leave (i.e. leave that I will accrue while on maternity) entitlement before I start maternity leave, which I understand is allowed. So I'm trying to work out how many days I have, when I want to take leave and therfore when my maternity leave would start.

Our leave year runs Jan - Dec and usually you cant carry leave over but I understand this doesn't apply when on maternity leave? So if my maternity leave runs Mar 2010 - Mar 2011 do I get my usual 15 days leave to take at the beginning or do I get those 15 days plus however many accrued between Jan-Mar 2011 as well. Also, what happens about bank holidays?

Sorry, so very confused and employer is hopeless.

Dunno if it's definitely the case but I have been led to understand that while some employers allow you to take the year's accrued holiday in advance they don't have to.

I have a similar problem as my baby's due 4 April. I'm hoping to go off in March, take half my year's holiday entitlement (15 days) and then start maternity leave a week before my due date. My company is still deciding whether they will let me do this as, technically I will only have accrued 5 days by the beginning of March.

Even if they let you take your leave first, your maternity leave starts the day the baby is born so I've been warned by an HR friend not to take annual leave up til my due date because if the baby comes early my maternity leave starts automatically and I'll lose the leave I'd booked.

Ok Red Pickle don't panic

Go here:

www.direct.gov.uk/maternity.dsb

Fill in all your details. It will then tell you what you are entitled to, when you can start taking maternity leave from and give you letter templates to fill out for your employer ( it also gives ones for the employer to give to you and details what your rights are)

I do have some experience in this area so if you get confused , just yell

On the assumption that they will let you take your holiday in advance of having worked the hours, work back 5 weeks from 1st March and book them as holiday and say that you will be on maternity leave from 1st March.

Take the days for 2012 (pro rata this works out at 6 days) at the end of your maternity period to delay coming back to work - or bank them which you are allowed to do and use them in 2012 - this is a good idea in case you child is sick as you are expected to take time off to care for a sick child - my DS seemed to be ill for about 4 months when he started nursery.

I would be very surprised if bank holidays counted towards your entitlement.

OK, so you definitly have to start maternity leave from your due date? You cant be on AL once baby is born?

No Annual leave has to be taken before or tagged on the end of maternity leave. If in your contract Holiday Entitlement is inclusive of Bank Holidays then you can take days in lieu of them as well - (I did)

Most companies will honour holiday in advance as regardless of whether you come back or not you are entitled to it as you accrue it whilst on ML.

Be careful if your leave crosses 2 holiday years though as if you haven't taken holiday in advance you could lose untaken leave just like anyone else would ( unless your organisation has a policy of carrying it over)
x

My HR friend said maternity leave automatically begins with the baby's birth as, legally you are not allowed to work for the two weeks following the birth so it's mandatory to be on maternity leave then.

ML automatically starts from the day that your baby is born. SMP USED to have to be paid in whole weeks (I know that when DD1 arrived early on a Tuesday, I didn't get my SMP paid until the following Monday), but I think they've changed this

So just to clarify, If I take the 52 weeks from 28th Feb 2011 - 25th Feb 2012 I could only take the holiday I've accrued from Jan 1st - 28th Feb 2011 before I go on maternity leave and at the end of my maternity leave only what I've accrued from 1st Jan 2012 to 25th Feb 2010.

Bank holidays are additional to my 15 days so I guess I lose them.

I am so confused, really dont know what to put on my notification letter. I used the directgov thing to work out maternity dates but I'm still totally lost on holidays.

Sorry for being thick.

sorry, the above is assuming I cant carry over leave

It's worth asking if you can take the holiday before your ML, after all, they can only say no and many employers let people do this.

Yes I think thats what I need to find out before I go any further. Thanks for all your help - I'm sure I'll be back