No confirmed date to finish work before mat leave! 3 working days left I think

[AuntieBacterial]

hi

Short of bursting a bloodvessel, what can I do to make my employer confirm my last day at work before mat leave. To summarise as briefly as possible:

1. Provided matb1 to HR and my boss on 16 march (24 weeks pregnant at this point). EDD 4 July.

1. confirmed in writing on 16 march that I wanted to start ML on 17 June and take all my outstanding annual leave directly before that. 28 days leave outstanding. Leave year runs jan to dec.

1. Heard nothing at all from HR. Checked with my boss who confirmed he had spoken briefly with HR in March and didn't perceive any problems.

1. Still nothing from HR at the end of April (31 weeks pregnant) so chased both my boss and HR for a formal acknowledgement, details of SMP and a confirmed last day at work.

1. 6 May, panicky phone call from boss. HR have just realised I only have 1 working day left if I am to take all my holiday before my mat leave starts. Will I defer some leave until after mat leave? I agreed to take no more than the statutory minimum leave for the year on the understanding they confirm a date for my last day immediately as it was now very short notice.

1. Still nothing from HR or my boss and by my calculation next Tuesday should be my last day.

I work for a fairly big company so am truly astonished by this. I want to finish work asap now but I can't just stop work without my employer's agreement.

As my maternity leave will end in 2012 and that's the next leave year am I right to say it would be unlawful for my employer to prevent me taking 28 days leave (Inc. Bank hols) in the current leave year before my ML starts and this leave year effectively ends?

Help!

Re leaving date - is there any cover arranged ?
I would suggest emailing HR (and possibly head of HR as well?) and your boss saying you are planning to finish on tuesday- and to let you know if that is a problem
If you wanted to look a bit more cooperative you could say you would be avaialbe for dicussion up until whatever date if cover hasn't start -

I don't know about the leave thing in detail - and the bank holiday thing seems to be quite complecated - but it wasn't possible for me to take all my leave before I went on maternity leave - but I asked for something in writing to confirm what leave I had left and that I could take it before starting back as work - it went into the next leave year as well and they don't normally do cover.

Hi

I think the problem is that nobody has made any plans at all for maternity cover. So as things are really busy, they want to keep me at work as long as possible.

I am sympathetic and have worked longer than I intended, to be helpful, but they have had months to prepare now. I can just see this ending with me continuing to work until my ML starts on 17 June. I feel having given them due notice I should be allowed to take the min. annual leave for the year! It's not really reasonable for an employer to give you 1 working days notice that you can't take 28 days leave is it?

Yes thought that might be case -and agree its pretty annoying; but of course I guess you don't want to fall out with them too much
when are you starting your maternity leave - I took mine to start on my EDD and took 31/2 weeks leave before then - of course depends on your circumstances but both my babies were late so that was long enough before hand - and of course meant I had longer after baby arrived

Send them a brief message outlining the facts ie you wanted to take full holiday before mat leave but have agreed to defer part of it to next year because of their cover issues. Your mat leave starts on x and therefore you will be adding x days of this year's leave onto next year.

Kind regards, etc

If they don't challenge it then you just refer to it if you have problems with pay next year.

Do try and be helpful - it may stand you in good stead longer term with the company. I do sympathise though - my boss completely mucked up my Maternity Leave cover, and I was so stressed over it all - trying to leave things in good shape with no one to hand over to, etc.. I only ended up leaving 3 business days before baby arrived - and had to have special agreement with HR on carrying unused holiday forward (which you should get in writing) as ML has to start on the day the baby arrives at the latest.

But, remember to watch out for yourself too. I was exhausted by the end, and got slower and slower and less productive, and ended up just coming in late each morning (with boss's unofficial approval, as I was working longer into late pregnancy than I had ever intended to get work finished) to get enough sleep. And if there is any hint that your health/pregnancy health is suffering, then you end up on maternity leave immediately at no notice, and it is the company's problem to pick up the pieces.