Maternity leave- can anyone explain

[cinnamonbiscuit]

I’m sure I’m missing something , I’ve googled and read lots of info but can’t find a direct answer. I’m due in August, and my boss asked me recently how long I’m planning on taking off this time.

I know that you have to give 8 weeks notice to come back earlier than a year, but what I can’t figure out is- at what point do you have to set a return date in stone? I told my boss that 1st April is a likely return date, but what would happen if I decided I actually wanted an extra month? Do I need to give 8 weeks notice for this also? I’m sure people must decide they want more time when they’re already off, but I just want to know what the rules are and can’t find it in my contract or online anywhere.

I also can’t shake the feeling that my boss is just generally irritated by my wanting to be off longer than I was with DC1, we’ve got someone else off on long term sick leave in my department so it’s a stressful environment atm! So I want to make sure I don’t end up missing a deadline for telling them when I’ll be coming back, really don’t want to add to the stress!

So I just rephrased my Google search and on citizens advice it says- 8 weeks before your old end date if you want to extend leave. So I would need to tell them by the end of January if I wanted to extend it past the end of March, is this correct?

You have a basic entitlement of 12 months. You should tell your employer your return date when you apply for maternity leave - 15th week before due date.

You are correct legally you need to give 8 weeks notice if you want to change your return date.

I never held an employee to this but many employers do.

My suggestion is think about it from your employers position. If you said my return date is 1 August 2024 but I want to return on 1 June 2024, which is in 4 weeks time, they are likely to jump at the chance and not worry about it not being 8 weeks.

If you said I know my return date is 1 April 2024 but I want to move it to 1 May 2024 they are more likely to say we need 8 weeks notice.

I suggest you put the latest date you think you want to return. Then if you are ready to return earlier, contact them, and they may be happy to have you back with less than 8 weeks notice.

@Stemmingthetide thank you, that’s really helpful! I will definitely be giving them the 8 weeks notice either way, my job is quite niche and you can only really have one person doing it at a time (think performing arts). So I can’t come back early if someone else is still contracted to do it if that makes sense, they’d definitely need the 8 weeks. Thank you!

We usually get cover for 6 months then extend depending on what the person on mat leave wants to do. (From an employer’s perspective)

@cinnamonbiscuit that makes sense. I work in a sector where we can be more flexible.