Resigning during mat leave

[Mamabearwhere]

I’m half way through my mat leave (of 12 months). Contract days I need to give 3 months notice if I don’t wish to return. Does anyone envisage any issues with resigning early? I.e month 6 rather than month 9?

Will I still be eligible for my full mat leave and accrued leave etc?

Sorry if this is silly and basic question

Contract says*

Sorry I don’t think my post was clear. What I mean is can I let work know now that I won’t be returning in 6 months time? Or should I wait and tell them in 3 months?

Some employers will require you to pay back any maternity pay above SMP so worth checking

Well they could ask you to leave early, so I would wait

Also check your contract if you have received any advanced maternity pay

@mamaes nothing in my employment contract at all. If there any other way of checking without directly asking HR?

Do you have a company handbook that might have a policy in it?

Id leave it
Give your notice at 10 months in youll accrue leave up to end of mat leave period which will need to be paid to you

In terms of paying anything back are you on enhanced company pay? You dont need to repay smp

If you've only been paid SMP you'll be fine from a payment perspective. But if you've had enhanced mat pay then they could claim it back. There should be a policy available

There is a handbook but has no mention of repaying enhanced mat pay

I'd be surprised if any company worth their salt didn't have it written somewhere that EMP would need repaying.

You need to check with HR. It's usual for companies to require you to return for a period in order not to have to repay a proportion of any enhanced maternity pay. You continue to accrue annual leave so unless you have a very good reason I'd advise you resign at the latest date so you get paid for accrued leave.

You can give notice now and give more notice than your contract says. So even if it's three months, you can give more notice than that - there's no reason you can't. They can't do much about it as they'd have to dismiss you, and they'd need a reason/ process to do that, they can't just do it because you resign unless they fancy paying you the financial equivalent of the notice you give.

You'll be accruing holiday and other benefits whilst on mat leave so best to have your end date as late as possible so you accrue the maximum amount (your accrued holiday will be paid out to you).

As others have said just check if any enhanced mat pay would need repaying. Do they have a maternity policy/ is there anything in the contract?

Most companies require enhanced mat pay back if you resign.

Yes it is very unlikely that they will let you keep enhanced maternity pay. Ask HR, to be absolutely sure. The "it wasn't in the handbook" excuse won't fly, especially since you can ask HR. So it is on you, not them.

Why not just ask HR for a copy of their maternity policy? Details about enhanced maternity pay should be in there. It’s quite remiss that they have not given you a copy already.

Give as little notice as possible.

Legally you only need to give 1 weeks notice and most places will just pay you in lieu of notice if you're leaving after maternity leave.

If you resign now they could say you've left from month 9 rather than 12 so you lose those 3 months holiday pay.

I left after maternity leave and resigned on the day that I had to for my notice period.

@BritishDesiGirl

Yes it is very unlikely that they will let you keep enhanced maternity pay. Ask HR, to be absolutely sure. The "it wasn't in the handbook" excuse won't fly, especially since you can ask HR. So it is on you, not them.

Actually it's not a legal requirement for a woman to pay back any enhanced payment. If it was not made clear to the woman at the start of her leave - in the policy, in the handbook etc then the clause doesn't exist. It's not a universal thing.

My company didn't have it so I could resign and keep my enhanced pay.

@Twizbe

Give as little notice as possible.

Legally you only need to give 1 weeks notice and most places will just pay you in lieu of notice if you're leaving after maternity leave.

If you resign now they could say you've left from month 9 rather than 12 so you lose those 3 months holiday pay.

I left after maternity leave and resigned on the day that I had to for my notice period.

Unfortunately that's not true, you have to give at least the notice in your contract, regardless of if you're on mat leave. You can also give more notice than required and they can't ask you to leave early without paying it out (as otherwise it's a dismissal and they'd need a reason to dismiss you/ go through a process - and you can't dismiss someone just because they resigned).

I forgot to add that shorter notice periods can happen if both parties mutually agree. So it can be one week (say you hand in your notice a week before you're due to return) if you're employer agrees to that, but they can also request the notice in your contract, there's no obligation to agree to a shorter notice period.

Just stepping in to say that my (reasonably large - approx 500 employees) employer didn’t require enhanced maternity pay to be paid back if you didn’t return. I resigned whilst on leave. I gave slightly more than the 3 months notice - just be clear in you notice letter when your notice period ends. Also be aware that a notice cannot be unilaterally withdrawn, so is it worth waiting until you actually have to give notice just in case anything changes?

You should have been given something in writing when you went on ml with any conditions attached to enhanced pay. You continue to a crue leave until your leaving date which should be paid if not taken. Assume your omp ceases at 9 months ?

Thanks everyone. There’s 100% no mention of returning enhanced mat pay. I have the maternity policy and handbook and it does not state that so from that aspect I’m fine. If I was to ask HR I guess it would be obvious of my plans if not wanting to return and I don’t want to give them the chance to end my contact early etc even though I know it’s not easy for them to just dismiss me.

I will however take on all the advice that I should give as little notice as possible so will wait. Due to my length in service I have to give 3 months notice so will hold out a bit more.

I'd be surprised if any company worth their salt didn't have it written somewhere that EMP would need repaying.
Just to say I received EMP from a FTSE100 company and didn't have to pay it back. I attended a back to work interview at the end of my maternity leave and as they couldn't accommodate part time we agree to part ways. I was on 3 months notice, but I didn't give them that, it was more like a month. In my situation though I didn't get the EMP for the full 12 months, just 9 months full pay and then 3 months on SMP.

It would be surprising if your company doesn't have a maternity leave policy. I would email HR and ask them to send you a copy. You don't have to say why you want it and there are lots of reasons why you might want it other than to assess your position re resigning.

If the policy (and your employment contract) doesn't say they can claw back any enhanced mat leave pay then they can't. As others have said, you accrue annual leave while on mat leave and so it would be beneficial for you to resign as late as possible so that you get that leave paid back to you when your employment terminates.