Maternity leave and useless HR ! Please help !

[somethingdidntgotoplan]

Hello,

Please can anyone help me with working out my maternity leave dates !

My leave is due to start on 10th April

I finish work on 3rd April but will be using annual leave to start

Our holiday year runs March to Feb

I get the bog standard holiday allowance of 20 days and bank holidays

I have not taken any holidays before my leave so started a fresh year when I go on leave

With this information can anyone work out what my return date will be - three people at work (all HR and Accounts!) have given three different answers - vastly different !

Any help would be appreciated

How much maternity leave are you planning to take?

Your return date is up to you, and you don't have to officially notify them until 6 weeks before your return.

@WalesStar I will just be taking statutory maternity leave so 39 weeks plus accrued annual leave / bank holidays

@QforCucumber sorry I should've been clearer, I just need indication of date when my pay will end - I don't want to take any unpaid additional leave - all three dates I'm being given don't tally so I'm just looking for others opinions based on the information I have so I can make sure I'm getting what I'm entitled to and also that they're not going to say one thing and then tell my ive been overpaid !

So count 39 weeks from 10th April.
You get 28 days leave, using 5 before you start mat leave, so 23 days left which is 4 weeks and 3 days of holiday before you return to work, and by then you'll be into the new holiday year so just use your annual leave as normal then.

1st Jan 2021 is the date your stat pay will end - so if you use your holiday at the end, you'll be back to work early Feb

If taking 39 weeks you haven't accrued the full 28 days. Check If H R are therefore paying you what you have actually accrued or the full year.
It is up to them.

Will they work it out up the January when you may return or not?

The holiday year ends at end of Feb and I think that's what's confusing matters - so from beginning of March 2020 to end of Feb 2021 I will have not taken any leave before 3rd April 2020

The dates I have been given to return are 15th Feb, 22nd Feb and 26 Feb !

@somethingdidntgotoplan

I printed off a two year calendar and numbered the weeks to work mine out.

So you will take 5 days holiday at the start ending on the 10th of april and your mat leave starting the next week (or are you counting the 10th as a day of mat leave?)

39 weeks would take you to the 8th of Jan

You'll have missed all the bank holidays while you're off so i think you'd have another 15 days holiday to take - 3 more weeks so i have you go back on the 1st of Feb?

Have you asked to see their breakdown as my HR sent me one.

Honestly, this is more stressful than being pregnant - I've now been told the 5th Feb ?!!!

I get 15 Feb.

Start 10 April - take six weeks at 90%
Start 22 May - take 33 weeks at SMP.

This would have a draft return date of 7 January 2021.

As at 7 January 2021 you will have accrued 26.2 days (AL and BH).

Adding these on the end takes you to a return date of 15 Februrary.

Don't forget you can add in paid KIT days (10).

It's not to be etched in stone as baby could come earlier anyways.

11th Feb I've worked out

Leave year march 20-feb 21.

5 leave says used 3-9th April.
39 weeks maternity gives you a return to work of January 11th.
23 days holiday left to take (28-5 used in April 2020)
So you'll start back Thursday 11th Feb.

If the friday is the first day of paid maternity then yiur pay ends on Thursday 7th January. So return date is 8th January. You will have 23days of leave to book which can be added on to the end of the leave or taken before end of holiday year unless company allows for some to be carried over but please note you need to book the leave or it may not be paid. Return date would then be weds 3rd feb. Also maybe worth giving your line manager a reminder to add your holiday to the payroll in January if you don't have an automated system

Sorry Wednesday 9th February is return date if you take the leave. Just to confuse issues are you not working the Friday as its a bank holiday if so your paid maternity actually starts on the Monday but you would have used an extra days holiday before the maternity leave. Only thing that changes is the end of maternity leave so it ends on the Friday 8th so you would be due back on the Monday and would have 22 days left to book still returning on the Wednesday. To clarify this is not a guess payroll is part of my job.

I can still make mistakes though