Sainsburys and maternity leave and holidays

[mumtobe76]

I work for sainsburys and have just been told today they have changed their policy in relation to holidays and maternity leave

I was planning on taking my full years entitlement (6 weeks) at the end of April then starting my maternity leave straight afterwards

I was told today that the policy has changed so that you earn you holidays as you progress through the year, meaning I cant book all my holidays, but as I am returning in the next financial year I will lose all my holidays

Any help would be appreciated

Are you planning to be off for one year? In which yes I think there is leglislation covering this as annual leave is accrued whilst on May leave and if they aren't able to accommodate leave (which they can't as you'll be at ML) then it should be transferred to the next year.

That's illegal I think. You cannot lose your annual leave entitlement by way of being pregnant. They have to let you take it and the easiest way to do that is tack it on to your mat leave.

I'm assuming you'll have some unpaid time while on mat leave, why can't they give you your paid annual leave then?

BTW it would be illegal by way of discrimination for pregnancy/maternity.

KP but then she would have officially returned to work. You can't take mat leave in separate blocks. You can take Shared Parental Leave like that though, if the employer allows.

They don't have to allow you to take it all before you go, but they have to let you take it at some point.

What is the actual wording of the policy?

You accrue holiday while on maternity leave. If you take the full year then they have to let you take it at the end of your mat leave. With some companies you accrue different amounts based on if its oml or aml. Eg. I accrue only the legal requirement of 28 days pro rata during my additional leave, whereas we get more than the legal requirement which I accrue pro rata during my ordinary leave. My mat leave has run August to august which is our exact holiday year, so I have accrued 8 weeks holiday which is for 15/16 which I will be taking in the year 16/17. Bear in mind also, that while you are taking your owed holiday, you are continuing to accrue holiday for the relevant year.

Thankyou

Oh, ok. Not from the UK so didn't know how it worked.

In Aus I was able to tack on my annual leave once my paid mat leave ran out (and still be considered on mat leave) to stretch my paid time to 15 months at half pay.

How many weeks pregnant are you? Once you send in your matb1 form, hr should contact you with a maternity policy which will explain all your info and the relevant dates for your ordinary/additional leave and your expected date of return to work. It will also explain KIT days and any o benefits like childcare vouchers etc. Once you recvieve this, speak to hr about accrued holiday- they will tell you exactly how much holiday you will accrue. You might have already used your allowance for this holiday year though.

This sounds like a misunderstanding of the policy, this would not be allowed. They either need to let you carry over or take it all before you go as you propose.

OP can you put the policy wording here so that we can advise you whether the policy is unlawful or if you've misinterpreted it?

Im waiting for the a copy of the policy, I have a feeling that the person I spoke to in my HR department has misunderstood the new policy

Im so grateful for all your help though

Im 21 weeks pregnant and havent recieved the matb1 form yet

I'm curious, was this resolved?