SMP and not going back to work...

[LittleMissSnowShine]

Hi everyone

This is a slightly complex scenario to explain but I'll try my best and I would really, really appreciate some advice on this

I work for a very small community organisation. We have no HR advisor and even our pay roll is done externally, so there's no one I can really ask about this in confidence or impartially in work.

I have been working part-time in the organisation for the last two years and my contract is funded by European money up until February 2015, with the prospect of potentially being renewed if more funding becomes available. The way the European funding works is that the post is funded but not the post holder, so if I was to be off on long term sick, off on maternity leave or taking a sabbatical etc. the European organisation would not pay you for that but the organisation you work for would need to recruit someone into your post, even temporarily, in order to keep receiving that money. The post also does not come with a pension, childcare vouchers or any other benefits.

The organisation have only ever had one person off on maternity leave, 14 years ago. At the time they were in a position to pay her three months salary before she went on to SMP. The organisation's current financial situation is not quite so good at the minute, so the current (very ad hoc) policy on this is that an employee of more than 18 months is entitled to 2 months maternity pay and then goes on to SMP.

I just started maternity leave a fortnight ago and I should get paid my full salary in Aug and again in Sep, before moving on to SMP. Before I went on leave I had arranged that I would then be on SMP until December, then use my accrued annual leave and return to work at the end of January.

The organisation in theory have filled my post internally while I am off, which means, essentially, that they keep receiving the money and another member of staff who is not funded by the same European money as my post, covers my duties while I am off, are paid my salary and the money usually used to pay their salary goes into the organisation's reserves. So there is no temp employee to take into consideration with any of this.

However, I am now considering just taking a career break for a few years to be SAHM for a variety of reasons, none of which have to do with my employer, my post or my hours. I have been very happy in this role for the last 2 years but there are various issues at home that would be much more easily resolved by having me be off work for a while.

Anyway, I have a few questions:

1. When do I need to make my mind up definitively about whether I will return to work and when do I need to let my employer know? Can I / should I just tell them I want to extend my maternity leave or do I need to tell them I am leaving?

2. I had only intended to take 2 months of salaried maternity leave followed by 3 months of SMP before taking annual leave and then returning to work. However, I know that an employee who is expecting a baby has the right to 26 weeks of 'Ordinary Maternity Leave' and 26 weeks 'Additional Maternity Leave' - making one year in total. After my two month's of salaried leave comes to an end, am I then entitled to 10 months of ordinary / additional maternity leave?

3. If so, who pays for it? Can my employer dispute paying this to me since I had originally anticipated only being off from July - January?

4. To slightly complicate things further, as well as being employed part-time, I also do some freelance work and am registered as part-time self employed with HMRC and do a tax return, pay national insurance contributions etc. every year. When I had DS in 2010, HMRC arranged my SMP through my being self-employed rather than through an employer because I wasn't working at that stage. I continued freelance work but also worked part-time for last two years and I assumed it would just be easier to have my employer arrange my SMP but possibly the self employment route might be a back up option if my employer is not happy with me extending my anticipated maternity leave and possibly not returning to work afterwards...

As I mentioned earlier, I have no one in work I can really ask about this and I'd really like to know where I stand, what my options are and what my obligations (if any) towards my employer are.

All the stuff about how your post is funded is nothing to do with your maternity rights and not something you need to worry about.

You should write to your employer and say that you now wish to take your full year maternity leave and will therefore return on x date. Don't resign yet in case you change your mind. You need to give your normal notice period if you resign, but could give longer if you felt helpful. Whatever you do, make sure your termination date is the last day of your maternity leave. This is because you keep accruing holiday and other contractual benefits throughout maternity leave so you need to ensure you remain employed for the year even if you aren't going back.

yes you are entitled to 52 weeks maternity leave, some of which is paid as you know, and some isn't.

Your employer pays SMP. Self-employed people aren't entitled to SMP, but may be entitled to Maternity Allowance. But if you are entitled to SMP through your employer you can't get MA. It's not a choice. If you are employed by your own limited company you may be entitled to SMP through that as well. You can get SMP from two jobs.

Thanks flowery - it's really flipping confusing and I just wish we had someone in the office who actually dealt with HR or payroll or something like that!!

If I do inform them that I am going to take the full year off and, as you mentioned, I continued to accrue holiday entitlement during that time does that holiday entitlement count towards my notice period if I do decide to leave or do they have to pay it to you or something like that?