KIT Days during maternity leave

[ctuck]

Hi,
I'm after a bit of advice. Before I went on maternity leave I did say to my manager that I would be open to the idea of doing KIT days, but now feel differently. I initially said I'd do 1 day a month and then step it up closer to going back in March. But my manager is requesting I do 3 days in Aug, which would be my first month, I only work weekends as it is!! I'm also still breastfeeding and my little boy won't take a bottle so I'm concerned about leaving him for 10 hours which is what she wants, especially as I know there is no room in which I can express at work and the fridge is disgusting. I work as weekend admin in a mainly male populated workplace and some of the guys there are immature.

I've also recently decided that I would like to become a childminder so may not have to go back to work at all, as I already have someone thinking of starting with me in Nov, which is just after my SMP runs out.

Think that all of this, plus the fact that my baby was slightly premature and spent almost a week in NICU is making me more apprehensive than maybe I would have been otherwise.

I don't get on with my manager at the best of times, so just want to make sure that I can say 'No' to her proposed work times even tho I initially said I might do them.

I know i'm not under any obligation and they have to be mutually agreed so I am assuming I can say No to this.

Thanks

Of course you can say no - they are not obligatory. It is also not financially viable for you to work three in your first month and you'll end up losing out through tax. This is because you'll be in receipt of mat pay and taxed accordingly, especially if you're on 90% pay for your first 6 weeks off. They take that into account when calculating tax and i found that out to my cost: i worked a day whilst still in receipt of 90% pay. Normally i'd get paid £100 for 7 hours work. I received £50. You are better off financially leaving it till you drop down to 50% pay or the standard £120 per week SMP. Hope that makes sense.

But apart from anything else, your employer has a duty of care towards you can cannot force you into doing something you are not happy with.

Nope they can't make you and you can just say 'no'.

That said if you do decide to go in I think they have to provide somewhere decent and secure for you to pump ...