Ok, so ? my maternity leave ended at the end of Dec. December itself was unpaid as I?d finished my 33 weeks entitlement in November.
On my return I was told that something (legislation/procedure ? not sure which!!), had changed and I was therefore owed some leave ? 10 days to be exact. I only work two days a week and our leave year runs from April to March, so I would have to take 5 weeks off between now and 31st March (although I probably could carry some over if need be).
If I?d known about this leave before I came back, I would have ended my ML at the end of November and taken December as leave, thus being paid for it. I suggested to my manager that I could do this retrospectively. She couldn?t see any reason why not, since it would suit ?the needs of the business? for me not to take the leave. She asked HR and they initially agreed, but are now backtracking. She is on at them for a firm answer either way, but obviously the longer they take to decide, the later I?ll get the money/take the leave. Currently I?m in limbo because I don?t want to start booking leave should it turn out I don?t need to.
Anyway ? where do I stand on this? I genuinely was not aware of this leave until my first day back at work in January. Do HR have to agree? I?m in Local Government if that makes a difference.
Any advice would be appreciated.