If I hand in my notice too early during mat leave do I lose payments/accrued holiday?

[annatha]

I'm currently on maternity leave earning SMP. My final SMP payment is 9th June and I'm not returning to work. I have to give 4 weeks notice. I know that I'm entitled to the annual leave that I've accrued during my leave but if I give my notice in too early will this affect my SMP payments or holiday pay? I've been talking to my work about returning (which was my inital plan until our circumstances changed) and would like to be honest with them instead of stringing them along until May but I didn't want to compromise any payments. Thanks.

The date you hand in your notice should not matter as long as you make your leaving date absolutely clear. There is nothing to stop you giving 8 weeks notice rather than 4 weeks.

I don't think that's true BGM as the company could say you only have to give X notice and not let her stay the extra time

What does your contract say?

I think they would be hard pushed to do that legally. They (the company) would have to give the notice instead & so it would become a redundancy/disciplinary situation.

We would certainly accept a letter saying I am giving notice to start on X date that I will be leaving on y date.

Did you get occupational maternity pay (OMP) on top of your SMP? If so, have you checked you don't need to pay the OMP back if you leave? With regards to your notice you shouldn't lose your annual leave as you've accrued it while being employed by them. In my job (NHS) you would be entitled to take all the annual leave you've accrued throughout your maternity leave at the end of your leave and your contract would be terminated after you'd been paid the annual leave. However you would need to pay back your OMP unless you'd returned to work for 3 months first/were planning on working on the Nurse Bank/were moving to another NHS post within the next 12 months.

Thanks for all the replies. I don't get OMP, only SMP. All my contract says is that 4 weeks notice has to be given, there isn't any mention of leaving after maternity leave.

I'm looking for a new job at the minute- would I be able to start when my SMP ends or do I have to wait until my annual leave added onto the end has finished too? I know I can't work while on maternity leave but would technically be back at work (but on holiday) after the 9th.