Does maternity leave have to start on a Monday?

[McBear]

The company I work for are telling a girl that she cannot start her mat leave any day other than a Monday as the week works Sunday to Saturday.

Is this correct?

At the same company, I started mat leave on a Wednesday. I was the first tho so they weren't up to date on the laws and they now have a new accountant.

I started mine on a Thursday, they sound like they are just being difficult on purpose

Think it defaults to Monday for SMP purposes. if she has leave in hand could she take a few days at the beginning ?

I think it's easier for SMP purposes, and to hire new staff for cover or whatever, but it's not illegal to have it start any other time.

The leave can start anytime, smp is calculated from Sunday. They are being arses. She can do what she likes as long as she gives the proper notification.

Has anybody got any links at all? They have said she can use a days holiday but that they don't know what to do re pay. I think it's purely for their convenience.

She can use www.gov.uk/maternity to work out exactly what she is entitled to and when. They cannot force the start date. If all else fails acas have clear guidelines and will help her if she rings them

From what I've see on that website it simply says that the maternity week is Sunday to Saturday. This is where I think the issue has arisen. It doesn't say anything about if you want to start on another day

I was also told this, and had to start my mat leave a couple of days early as a consequence. My HR dept's notoriously arsey though and I got to the point where I just couldn't be bothered arguing any more.

How odd! our working week starts on a Friday but last ML I started on a Thursday and this time round itll be a Wednesday.