bank hols accrued during maternity leave?

[stella1w]

I thought I was entitled to add them on to the end of my maternity leave but the "going back to work" letter I have just had from HR doesn't appear to factor them into my accrued leave.
My contract says I can have "25 working days paid holiday in each year in addition to the usual bank and public holidays".
So I can only think that they are assuming that as I wasn't working during my maternity leave, I wasn't working on bank hols and have already had them.
I can't find anything very clear cut on this except something from the internet that says "the obligation to give a woman substitute leave for the bank holidays that she was unable to take during her maternity leave was reinforced by the ECJ decision in Gomez. The ECJ held that a woman must be able to take her annual leave at a time outside her maternity leave. Bank holidays are effectively a fixed dy's leave."
Any thoughts on how to tackle this - they are asking me how I want to take my hols and when I want to go back. Don't want to appear too pushy ahead of my flex working request meeting next week, though.

I think I recall not having them for my first two then having them for dc3. Speak openly to your HR department

HR tells me

"Bank holidays are treated as public holidays and therefore you will have been paid for these days as part of your monthly maternity payments and they will not have accrued".

This makes no sense to me as I have never read before that bank holidays are treated differently to other annual leave days. Plus I thought that it was not possible to be paid in lieu of bank holidays, nor was it possible to take holidays while on maternity leave.

Any views??

Mine have been added onto the end of my maternity leave, I checked before I got my letter and they confirmed they would be. Best give them a ring to check, its a lot of days to lose out on if you could have them tagged on.

Statutory minimum is 28 days (based on a five day working week) and they cannot drop below this.

If they've paid you for them while you've been off they've broken the law. Other than Keeping in Touch days, which are arranged by mutual agreement, you can't receive salary during maternity leave, including being paid for holidays.

The only way in which bank holidays differ from normal annual leave is that employees must take them on specified days. Other than that they are paid time off work same as annual leave.

Thanks. I work for a law firm, btw.

I think they are saying that my SMP (does this count as salary?) has covered the bank holidays. I can't see how this is as my SMP pay slips fluctuated between about 501 pounds pcm and 625 depending on how many weeks fell in the calendar month, so I can't see how I was paid for them, unless they mean that my SMP during that period covered bank hols as they fell. And what of the time I was on totally unpaid maternity leave after the 39 weeks of SMP ran out? It really makes no sense and the Equalities Commission doesn't think so either.

Apart from and in addition to what flowery says I thought that 1) you can't take annual leave during maternity leave and 2) you can't be paid for statutory holidays in any case as the Working Time Regs require employees to take them as leave in order to make sure they get rest and are not under pressure from employers to take money in lieu.

And I have never heard of this distinction between annual leave and what they are calling "public holidays". WTR doesn't distinguish, just requires 28 days minimum.

I understand what Flowery is saying but is there clear cut external guidance anywhere on this that I can forward to HR that spells out the bank holiday situation? I'd hate (as a trainee solicitor) to look like I am telling my law firm bosses that they don't understand the law!

they have to give them to you.

a previous thread here

That's what I think given all that has been written on threads on here on this topic - but I don't think they would be happy to have Mumsnet quoted at them. I am just really suprised there's nothing explicitly using the word bank holidays on an official website that I can throw at them

This from a leading law firm- not exactly sure where it leaves me as I have 25 days plus bank hols in my contract

Employees will now accrue holiday entitlement at
the contractual rate during both OML and AML. If the
core contractual entitlement is less than the statutory
entitlement (currently 24 days but increasing to 28 days on
1 April 2009) and the employee is also entitled to take leave
on public holidays, the best approach is to allow employees
to accrue any public holidays that fall during their
maternity leave, otherwise the employee will be accruing
at a rate lower than the statutory rate during the period
of maternity leave. The employee can then take the days
accrued in lieu of public holidays at a later date. If the core
contractual entitlement exceeds the statutory minimum,
employers may take the view that it is not appropriate to
allow accrual of public holidays during maternity leave in
addition to the core contractual entitlement.

Well it sounds as though the link you've found is pre-April 2009 so very out of date.

The reason there is nothing specifically about bank holidays on an official site is because there is no need. You are entitled to all your contractual benefits on maternity leave, including paid leave. If there was an exception to that law for bank holidays then it would say so. There is no exception so no need to be explicit.

Have you pointed them to Gomez, which as you said indicates that employees who cannot take leave on fixed days because of maternity leave should be allowed to take it at another time?

Thank Flowery. Just spoke to top employment barrister friend who confirms everything you and others have said. So will pursue this with HR (who are about to miss the 28 day flexible working request meeting deadline, but that's another story.) Feel REALLY awkward having to tell my law firm employer what the law is!

Stella1W how did you get on - I've just replied to your other post! I am also a trainee on maternity leave and going through the flexi working process

I have already asked for my holiday accrual and that does include bank holidays on top on my regular holidays...