Hi everyone! Im nearing the end of my statutory maternity leave I'm due back to work 14th of march as I can't afford to take three months unpaid leave! Unfortantely at the start of Jan I fell on some ice which resulted in a badly broken and dislocated ankle! I had to have surgery and screws and plate it's completely ruined my maternity leave to be honest. The question i have is will my employer legally have to pay me sick pay if I'm too unwell to return to work at the end of the smp period! I know I will have to have some sort of physical therapy and am so worried they will try and get me to stay on unpaid maternity rather than pay me sick pay! Can they do this? Any advice would be much appreciated as I'm worrying myself to death over paying bills!