Working during maternity leave - is it legal and what about the £££?

[Piffy]

Help anyone! I am on SMP but have the opportunity to do some contract work with my current employer at one day a week to deal with some important clients. If I go off maternity and go back part time (effectively) early, does this mean I lose the maternity pay or would I be able to get both? Is it legal to be working whilst on maternity leave, even if it's with the same employer?

Thanks!

My gut feeling would be that it was illegal. Isn't ther some website (maternity alliance?) that sets out your rights etc?

You can do it, but they have to stop paying you SMP and start paying your salary - so you need to work out which would be higher before you decide to take it!

I started a new job a fortnight before the end of my smp, and so had to tell previous employer to stop paying me otherwise i would have just been asked to pay it back anyway when the tax office found out.

yep can be done - though you need to sign some kind of contract clause or something (sis in HR and just done something similar) and I think that the pay is offset after you return from mat leave.

• let me check what she did and will post.

I went into work to do a qualification one day a week for last 3mths of mat leave - put it down as TOIL and claimed back when returned - nobody questionned this and was doing course with the HR bod responsible for mat leave.

Can you just ask them to defer payment until you you get back from maternity leave and then add it to your salary?

spoken with my sis - she says its technically illegal and not recommended and not worth doing unless its financially worth it.

the biggest issue is health and safety - therefore if you do it and remain within SMP you should sign a statement saying you are responsible and liable for your own health and safety whilst completing the work. she suggested that you should also sign in as a visitor rather than attend as an employee. regards money - this should be a verbal agreement and be paid on your return through overtime to payroll.