Should I be paid for bank hols on mat leave?

[Chocoholicbaby]

I have been on maternity leave since last September and am due back this September but have decided not to return. I know that I accrue annual leave as normal which will have to be paid to me but have just read another thread which mentions bank holidays while on mat leave. I had no idea that I would still get paid for these... How does it work? Would I literally get paid for all the bank hols from last Christmas, Easter etc (I work Monday to Thursday) so an extra 8 days pay?

Thank you!

No you don't get paid for them - you only get maternity pay or pay for Keeping in Touch days during maternity leave.

Bank holidays, assuming you are entitled to them normally, are paid holiday, so you accrue them during maternity leave as you do "normal" annual leave and should be able to add them on to the holiday you have available to take when you get back.

Thank you flowery. I have resigned and am not returning to my job so does this affect the position?

When I left my last job on maternity leave (3years ago) bank holidays were a grey area and did not always accrue like annual leave. This was particularly the case if your annual leave was greater than the statutory minimum. It depended on the exact wording of your contract. I researched mat policies across my field (in the hope I could persuade them to accrue mine) and found that about 50% of institutions allowed them to accrue.

Thank you Tarka- I will do some research!

I think in my case they didn't accrue because my contract said I didn't have to work bank holidays (but made no mention of whether the days off were paid). If it had said I would be paid for bank holidays (despite not working) then they would have to pay them during mat leave too.

Internal policies are irrelevant- never rely on them for information about statutory rights.

Whether you accrue bank holidays depends whether you are contractually entitled to have them as a paid day off. Contractually entitled doesn't just mean specified in the contract, btw, if you always get them as a paid day off then that would be contractual even if your contract doesn't specifically say do).

Your terms and conditions are protected during maternity leave, so you continue to get all contractual benefits, which includes bank holidays if you are indeed contractually entitled to them.

When you leave employment, any outstanding paid holiday that you have accrued must be paid out to you, so that would include bank holidays you have not had the opportunity to take.

That's what I was (badly) getting at. They weren't treated as a "paid day off". I was salaried and they were a "day off". That was there argument anyway.

"They weren't treated as a "paid day off". I was salaried and they were a "day off"."

Either you were entitled to have the day off without a deduction being made from your pay or not.

Thank you once again Flowery- that's really helpful.

I won't technically get paid for them but I was told to take them as additional annual leave so I don't miss out.....
I will be off til at least march so HR worked out I will be off for x bank holidays over that period and I took them as extra holiday before my official mat leave kicks in

That's exactly right Cupcakes. If you normally get bank holidays off, and don't have to take them as unpaid leave, then they are a contractual entitlement and you should be able to take them at another time, either before or after your maternity leave.

It's one of those you don't ask you don't get things. My last employer didn't make any provision for this, said it was at manager's discretion blah blah blah. I pushed it and eventually they said I could take them as additional annual leave before I went on mat leave (for that holiday year). As I was off sick at this point and run out of sick pay, this meant I did effectively get paid for them. Lots of employers may try and dodge this one, so hold firm!