What happens if I decide not to return to my job while I'm off on Maternity leave.......

[fannyannie]

following on from my other thread, didn't want it to get mixed up in it. If I decided while I'm on Maternity leave that I don't want to go back to my job.....what happens - am I right in thinking I have to pay some money back to my company - and if so how much?????? Basically realised there's no way I can face going back to more of this cr*p after I've had the baby and would rather find myself a job somewhere else. Was hoping to stick it out until I'd done my NVQ2 - but can't see that happening now.,

You will probably have to pay back what the company paid you that is not SMP.

You need to read your contract.

Depends entirely on what your contract says
I didn't have to pay back any money

you dont have to pay smp back but if your employer pays you contactual maternity pay, then you will have to repay it if you dont return..

haha - my contract - you mean that piece of scrap paper I have sat in front of me at the moment? .

It doesn't even mentioned maternity leave or the likes in it......

So I don't have to pay back any SMP.....I know sounds like a daft question - but I've never been a working mum before, let alone a pg working mum.

And if my holiday year runs from Jan-Dec and I take my Annual Leave before starting Maternity leave........which would end at the end of January 2008 I could hand in my notice next January without having to pay back any of 2007 holidays taken......yes????

So the amount I would have to pay back would be the 90% of earnings for 6 weeks..........gawd it's all so confusing especially when you've been awake as long as I have.

does it say anything about you receiving contractual maternity pay..this is something over and above smp that some employers pay you, but you are usually bound to return to work for about 3-6 months after your maternity leave ends otherwise you muct pay the contractual pay back.

LOL - not a word - they're a private Care Home interested in making as much money as possible, not treating their employees with any decency. If they could get away with it they wouldn't pay me anything for my Maternity leave!

The 90% of average earnings for the first 6 weeks is also SMP.

It is normally only if they give you anything above SMP which you have to pay back (and even this is not even the case if you have a generous employer).

How much SMP you'll get -

If you get SMP, your employer will pay you 90 per cent of your average weekly earnings for the first six weeks, then up to £108.85 a week for the remaining 33 weeks (or 20 weeks if your expected week of childbirth begins earlier than 1 April 2007). You pay tax and National Insurance in the same way as on your regular wages. Your employer reclaims the majority of SMP from their National Insurance contributions and other payments. To qualify for SMP you must pay tax and national insurance as an employee (or would pay if you earned enough).

Forgot to mention that to qualify for SMP you will have to be employed by the same employer without a break for at least 26 weeks into the 15th week before the week your baby is due. So count back 15 weeks before your due date and make sure you are still working for this company in this week.

so in theory I would only have to hang on for another 3 weeks if was really desperate to leave and still get my SMP from them !

Yes so make sure you hang in there. They can easily claim most of your SMP back so there is no real cost to them - perhaps they don't want the inconvenience. Either way, try not to let it upset you as you are pregnant. Some employers are such B**s !

Might be worth mentioning that if you do leave within the next few weeks then you probably can still claim maternity allowance which is a similar amount as SMP. To qualify for maternity allownance the conditions are that you:

worked (either on an employed or self employed basis) for at least 26 of the 66 weeks before the week your baby was due (a part week counts as a full week).
earned an average of £30 over any 13 of those 66 weeks

This is a good website - hope it helps
maternity pay

You never have to pay SMP back and I doubt you will get any more than that in the first plasce. Nursing homes = notoriously vile to their staff.

No you don't have to pay back thew 90% because it is statutory. Everyone gets it.

You mentioned on the other thread about pain, is it bad enough to go off sick for 3 weeks? or is the stress bad enough?

not really Nikkie - it only seems to play up when I've been on my feet a long time (ie 30 odd hours....) - that's why when I've been at work if I want to go out (ie to town) I do it in the morning - as my afternoon I'm starting to get some discomfort.

But you don't want it to get worse.When on nights are you on your feet a lot?

you wouldn't have to pay back anything and as you continue to accrue hols while on MAT leave you would be entitled to the full year's worth and would not have to pay it back x

nikkie - yes most of the night - sometimes we get to have a sit down between checks, but other times we're probably on our feet for at least 7-8hrs of the 9 1/4hr shift.......

problem is, if you get signed off sick during the 11 weeks before you're due then your employer can force you to take MAT leave early, so you'd have to be sure it was before the 11 week deadline

You can only be forced into maternity leave early if you are off with a pregnancy related condition up to 4 weeks before your due date.

You can start your maternity leave up to 11 weeks before your due date.

I thought we were just trying to get her to 11 weeks before?thought that was just if it was preg related anyway?would stress count?

stress wouldn't but not being able to stand for long periods would

and yes, we are just trying to get her to 11 weeks before, was simply saying that as none of s know when that is, she should work it out

SMP is yours to keep both 90% part and £108 pw-ish regardless. If they pay you anything over and above SMP they would have to state up front that it is conditional upon your return to work, in which case you could be asked to pay it back if you didn't. If you decide not to return, you just hand in your resignation as per your regular notice period prior to your expected date of return.

I'm not sure you can insist on taking your entire annual leave before you begin your ML ie. you could probably take a number of days prorated up to your ML commencement date and the balance, which you would accrue while on ML, at the end (or £ equivalent). Also don't forget they legally have to give you time off for antenatal appointments and classes.

Good luck

LIZS - my annual leave year runs from January to December - I won't be back off Maternity leave until February next year -which means we'll be into the next annual leave year. So if I don't take it before I go on Maternity leave I'll lose it!