pay for annual leave during maternity leave

[dobbin]

I'm due to return to work after a year of maternity leave. I know you accrue leave while you're off, but how is that paid. I get 6 weeks annual leave and a friend said I just say I'm going back to work on x date and then only really return 6 weeks later, i.e. take that 6 weeks as paid leave. Is this correct? And if I used to work full time but am only going back 2 days a week, that would mean that for those 6 weeks I only get paid leave on a 2 days/week basis, rather than full time as I used to be. Very confused. Can anyone enlighten me? Thanks in advance.

It is up to you and your employer to agree what to do
You could put back your start date
You could go back but have the days added to your leave entitlement for next year
They could just pay you

My work prefer the delayed start date option

\If you used to work FT then you would be entitled to accrued leave on a FT basis
eg for me after a year of ML I am entitled to 23 days of paid holiday

Agree with Blonde.

You might want to with your company/terms of employment. My company would not allow us to accrue more than a year's leave and so automatically paid me in lieu if I did not consume all my accrued leave before I started my maternity leave.

You would only be treated as having changed your terms of employment to part time after you return to work. Therefore, all leave accrued during your maternity leave is on a FT basis.

unless the law's changed very recently or unless your employer has a particularly generous holiday scheme you don't accrue your usual holiday entitlement for the whole year - just the first 6 months I'm afraid.

I am pretty sure you get to accrue the whole year - certainly you get the statutory minimum leave

I'm just a bit confused about what I need to do. I think if I just turn up for work after a year, doing 2 days a week, they'll just start paying me at 2/5ths of what I was being paid, with no back pay for accrued leave. I know I should probably phone personnel and sort it out with them, I just wanted to know what the law is so I'd know what to ask for.

My employer tacked the annual leave onto the end of the paid bit of maternity pay - so I didn't go onto unpaid leave until later.

Dobbin - your employer should have given you a letter stating when they expected you to return to work

Do you have a copy of your employers maternity leave policy? It might mention the holiday accrual

www.tiger.gov.uk/
website might help

just trying to sort this out with two of my team (one just back from leave, one about to go). Local authority.
Annual leave AND bank holidays accrued during paid period, just annual leave (or is it just bank holidays?, I'd need to check) for unpaid period.
However, leave can only be carried forward from one leave year to next with prior agreement except in exceptional cirumstances.
if go back part time, change operates from date new contract is issued.
Choice on taking it before starting, using it to start back slowly, or for other leave during year by discussion between employee and manager.

Thanks for all the advice. I'll phone personnel in the next few days and see what the score is there. I'm sure they'll be very straight with me but sometimes the people I get to speak to know even less about the details than I do.

what did they say?

I found discussing a/l with my line mgr was the best form as they can be more flexible to what is required on the shop floor rather than HR - who read the policy to you. Well this was the case for me anyway. With first preg - HR said no more than 5days carried over but I got 4wks in discussion with line mgr - I didn't take my a/l till goin off on mat leave which just happened to fall in the first mth of new a/l year.

Second time: I took all my a/l for year when preg before startin mat leave the sun before due date (this included the bit for the period on paid leave). Then, if I do go into unpaid (which I doubt) any accrued a/l will be added to entitlement at point I re-sign onto payroll and I'll take it staggered over the first few wks back at work - i.e. will be in office 2 days, 1 day a/l and 1 day at home doin my paperwork.

it takes a bit of getting used to with the change in a/l entitlements for pro-rata work but in the end it still works out the same. i.e if you have 4wks (20days) full time and go to 2 day week you'll get 4wks (8days) - does this make sense?

I AM TAKING MAT LEAVE AS A FULL TIME EMPLOYEE AND THEN BOOKING SOME UNTAKEN LEAVE AT THE END. I WILL THEN APPLY TO GO BACK PART TIME FROM THE DATE I ACTUALLY PHYSICALLY RETURN SO ANY ACCRUED LEAVE SHOULD BE AS FULL TIME.