ACAS are awesome!

[chewbacca83]

I would just like to sing the praises of ACAS. I rang them in tears over an issue with my maternity leave/pay and they have clearly explained my rights and that my boss can't force me to resign because I've had to move cities during my mat leave and I'm still entitled to 52 weeks. What a relief. I would thoroughly recommend them to anyone has any issues with work that they want advice with.

glad you've had success OP but i'm curious - why would your boss think you should resign during a period of maternity leave if you move cities? what's it to them?

you can spend your mat leave in Timbuktu for all it matters to an employer, surely? (as long as you provide address info for them sending out important documentation like if you're at risk of redundancy, I suppose)

why would they think otherwise? you might move near to parents to get maternity leave help, or closer to medical facilities for you or a new baby.. it doesn't impact your employer one jot, and since you're literally out on a period of planned leave.. i'm scratching my head on this one.

Basically we have to move for personal reasons which means I won't be going back to my job. I didn't realise that regardless of that I am still entitled to 52 weeks leave which means I have plenty of time to find a new job (that would mean I don't have to pay back my mat pay) and also I accrue my AL for the full year which I didn't realise either.

Just make sure you resign giving enough notice to take you to the end of your leave. You could resign now, giving six months notice if you wanted to. That way you continue to accrue holiday pay.

Absolutely. I checked my contract and I have to give two months notice. I assumed my employer would tell me of my entitlements but I was wrong. Anyone in a similar situation ring ACAS!