Advice needed-extending mat leave

[Tomkat79]

Hello

Is anyone able to clarify whether I can work during final 3 months of unpaid mat leave?
Am due to return to nursing after 9 months leave plus accrued a/l on the end. I would like to extend this to 12 months but will be tight financially. As I will not be receiving any maternity payments between 9-12 months is it possible for me to pick up a few agency nurse shifts? I can't find any info about this online!
Tax credits have said they will pay for 39 weeks of maternity...then what? Partner works fulltime so am guessing they will continue?
I've thought about taking 9 months mat leave, all accrued a/l and then taking full parental leave but am unsure if max is 4 weeks or 13? And whether this can follow 9 months mat leave or if you have to take the full 12 months first?
My brain is fried. I have until the 12 nov deadline to notify work if plan to change leave! Any help appreciated.

Is it not in your contract or maternity policy? Could you not get in touch with your HR dept to find out?

I did my KIT days then (teacher). I worked all 10 available. It was great to get my head back into work and the money equalled SMP for the last 3 months.

You can do up to 10 paid "keeping in touch" days during your maternity leave without jeopardising any of your pay or rights. I don't think you can do more than that, otherwise your mat leave may end, and you can't split the 10 paid days into eg 20 paid half days - if you work half a day that still counts as one of your 10 KIT days.

Check you are allowed to do 12 months plus accrued a/l on the end. Some employers say you can't carry a/l into the next leave year, which could mean some of your accrued a/l would expire before the 12 months is over.

Parental leave is maximum 4 weeks in one year, and your employer can ask you to defer it for up to 6 months if the timing doesn't suit them (though they have to have a significant reason).

My employer won't let me do any KIT days, as they say something along the lines of "the business does not require it".

But they're not my biggest fans from what I can gather

OP are you looking to work for a completely different employer for a few weeks before returning your perm position?

Thank you for your replies. I had heard about kit days. I usually work 6 12 hour shifts a month so this could work for a month or so if i did half days as don't want to be gone 13 hours! We're still ebf which doesn't help when I think about returning to work!
Was thinking about just picking up some nursing shifts at a nursing home via a nursing agency slinky