How much notice do I have to give?

[FizzyBoobly]

Been looking on the web but can't find an answer for my specific situation. I'm 9 months into my maternity leave and although my employer has offered a PT role when I return I've decided not to go back and be a SAHM.

Basically I'm due a full years holiday pay in lieu for 2013 and would like as much as possible for Jan or even Feb if I can push it

Problem is I've never signed a contract. Been with the company 6 years. As I'm not actually working at the moment do I give immediate notice or try to wangle 4 weeks (and a bit more hol in lieu) out of them?

How much notice you have to give has got nothing to do with your holiday entitlement.

If you have never been given a contract and therefore have no contractual notice period, you are only required to give the statutory minimum notice which is 1 week. If you're feeling helpful you could give more notice though-there's nothing stopping you doing that.

As you're only 9 months into your mat leave you still have 3 months to go so there's no rush. Technically you could give a weeks notice, a week before your maternity leave is up and then not have to go back, and you'll get paid holiday accrued but not taken when your employment ends.

As I say, if you were inclined to be helpful you could opt to give, say, a months notice stating that your last day of employment will be your last day of maternity leave.

Thanks for the advice flowery. Unfortunately work already know I won't be going back, they're just waiting for me to put it in writing, so I guess it will have to be one weeks notice. Would probably be a bit cheeky to do the one week before my maternity leave ending option. Or am I perfectly within my rights to do this? FWIW my role is covered at the moment and that person will be staying on so I wouldn't be doing them a favour by giving more notice than one week

You are within your rights to give notice to end employment at a date of your choosing. As long as you haven't already given notice and as long as you give a week's notice, the rest is up to you. Why deny yourself several days' pay for the sake of feeling a bit cheeky? Work out what your daily rate is and how much holiday you'd accrue in the extra time, and that's how much money you'd be turning down.