How many weeks before due date can I be forced to take Maternity leave and not sick leave??

[Twinkie]

And I have been told that I cannot take acrued holiday before Maternity leave and cannot carry it over after maternoty leave so will lose a large portion of my holiday entitlement??

Please help HR appointment this afternoon!!!

Friend of!!

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If you become ill with a pregnancy related illness in the last six weeks before your due date then work will put you on maternity leave. If it's not a pregnancy related illness in the last six weeks then you're still entitled to sick leave.

Any holidays already acrued in this year usually have to be taken before maternity leave and whilst on maternity leave you acrue holidays as normal.

You shouldn't lose anything. For instance my maternity leave officially started on my due date but prior to that I took two weeks holidays finishing two weeks before my due date. When I return in November I will have 23 days to take before the end of December.

I have a friend who works with me - our hols are 1 sept - 31 Aug. She took her maternity leave from June - June and had she returned to work she would have had her holidays (4 weeks) to take before 31st Aug, as it was she resigned and got the holiday paid (I think). I also thought they could force you to take Maternity leave from 4 weeks to due date if you had sick leave owing to pregnancy. It says in the back of Pregnancy mag for July if you can get out to get it before the meeting.

So if I had 10 days acrued before maternity leave and took those and then I acrue another 5 whilst on maternity leave the company would not be able to stop me taking them even if they had to be taken over to the next year (this is what the company is saying cannot be done - core holiday entitlement is not allowed to be carried over!!)

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Twinkie - I had all this bull from the HR dept here too.

I copied this from a Maternity Rights website:

When can I start OML?
You can start 11 weeks before the week your baby is due – that’s the earliest date. But, if you want to, and your health is good, then you can work right up to the day your baby is born. If, during the last six weeks before your baby is born, you are absent because of a pregnancy-related illness, then your employer may decide to start your maternity leave from that date.

You will NOT lose the holiday pay. I would've thought you could take your accrued holidays, but not the days for the rest of the year that you haven't accrued.... I mean say you hadn't told them you were pregnant??! You don't have to until the 28th week.... you could've booked the holidays well before then. Sounds wrong to me. But either way they must pay for the days.

This is actually for a colleague but obviously I am going to have to go through this too soon!!

I know it is selfish but do I have to give my work phone and laptop back whilst I am on ML??

twinkie I still have my laptop from work, although I rarely use it as I have a PC at home/ In my last workplace however I had to give my laptop back when I went on ML, and unfortunately never got it back on my return . So in all I reckon its up to your manager's discretion as to whether you'll be able to keep them whlst you are on ML.

Don;t even think he will consdier that I have it to be honest - if I get Divore settlement through will buy myself one but will be computerless if not!!

Good though that I can leave up to 11 weeks before baby is due - if I get paid by x2b I can leav september!!!! Hoorah!!

How are you Metrobaby?? Coming next week??

Twinkie, you should be entitled to keep benefits in kind whilst on Statutory Leave (or financially compensated) but may forfeit during Extended Leave or perhaps if they are classed as Tools of the Trade rather than a benefit.

Your employer can "force" you to take maternity leave (i.e. move you from sick leave to your maternity schedule) if you are off with a pregnancy related illness within 4 weeks of your due date.
You are entitled to your usual holiday entitlement in addition to your maternity leave. So if you have earned a certain amount of days up to now you can take them before you go off or tag them onto the end of your maternity leave. I'm not sure however that you can definitely carry over any earned days into next year. This will depend on your company's normal policy regarding carrying over untaken days. However if they say you can't take them over it may be in your interest to stop your maternity a couple of weeks earlier and switch to holiday as holiday is fully paid whereas maternity pay after the first 6 weeks is only £100.
They may have to give you pay in lieu but I think that may only apply if they have made it impossible for you to take your full holiday allowance which they coulod probably argue is not the case here.
All your other normal benefits remain in place during maternity leave - so you still get things like company medical insurance, use of company car etc if you have that normally. You might be able to argue therefore that you should still have access to your phone and laptop if these are part of your normal package.

I just assumed I would have to give my laptop back, but.... hmmm.... you've got me thinking! My home PC is crap, takes AGES and sometimes crashes.... I've been worrying abouthow I'd survive if I couldn't access MN... the problem would be solved if I could take my laptop home with me. THink I'll just fail to bring up the subject. IF they want it back... they can ask for it!

I think the chances are they would forget about the laptop . I know mine did when I mentioned it to them. I did however say I would use it to check my work emails so maybe that was an incentive to them.

Yes Twinkie - will see you and the other city slickers next week. I will be bringing along crying thing too.

Whats crying thing - you mean your adorable bundle??

Hi

I am looking to piggyback on this post and get some much needed advise.

I asked the HR when is the earliest I can take my mat leave from and they only calculated the last date based on my accrued leave. This means, I will have to work a week before my due date. HR didn't include the 11 weeks from due date (as mentioned in Gov.uk) in her calculation. I am not enjoying my job (just joined in Dec) and am mentally exhausted. So I really want to start my annual leave early. I also won't be qualifying for the SMP.

Is it normal to not include the 11 weeks when calculating the mat leave start date? Is it within employer's right?

Please help! I am speaking to the HR again tomorrow, so would want to know my rights.

@lisar71024

This thread is almost 15 years old - start a new one and you’ll get plenty of help.