Leaving work whilst on maternity leave

[taliasparkle]

Hi all,
I'm currently 15 weeks pregnant and can't wait to get out of the hell hole I work in. So you may have guessed that I don't plan to go back once I've had the baby! However, I don't understand how it works in terms of notice. I plan to take a full year off once the baby is born, and for the last few months of that I won't be getting any SMP. My notice period at work is 3 months. I was going to wait until my SMP runs out and then tell work I'm not coming back. However, with my long notice period will I just simply not get paid for those three months? Or do they have to pay me full pay as they would if I was at work? Or should I just go back, work those three months (ugh) and then leave?
I know it's a bit of a way off but I'd like to get my options straight before I leave to have the baby.
Thanks!

No your three months notice would be unpaid if it falls in the unpaid portion of your maternity leave. You may have holiday pay owing though.

Does your work give you any enhanced maternity pay on top of the SMP? I only ask because my work does and I have to return to work for three months following maternity leave or they make me pay it all back.

I agree with Mister double check you don't have to pay any additional maternity pay back. I do. Returning in two weeks and am going to see how it all goes, I have to work for three months though otherwise I'd have to pay my enhanced maternity leave back.

If you don't have enhanced mat pay and your notice period falls over the last three (unpaid) months of your mat leave then you won't get your salary but remember you may have accrued holiday days that needs to be taken. Some places will pay you what you've accrued over mat leave but others will want you to take it, so you could end up getting paid for at least 20 days, if that makes sense.

You could give notice earlier in ml so you are available to work elsewhere when smp runs out. You accrue leave while on ml so this should be paid up or you could use that after smp period instead of returning as it would still be paid. The issue is if they enhance maternity pay where the extra might be conditional on your return for a minimum period.

Thanks guys. We only get statutory pay, and then a bonus Enhanced payment if we come back for at least 6 months afterwards. So I don't think I'd have to pay anything back. But the holiday pay sounds good. I guess having the notice unpaid is no different from having the last bit of maternity leave after SMP stops anyway. Thanks again! I've got this right in my head at last!

It just makes sense to take the three months unpaid too because you still accrue paid annual leave and it makes the CV gap smaller if you then won't be working (not a concern if you're going to find another job to go to of course). So you give notice 9 months from the date your ML started.