Work say I can’t carry over A/L to add onto maternity leave

[ALquery]

I work in local authority and my annual leave year is the same as the calendar year.

I’m pregnant and my baby is due in September, so let’s say my twelve months maternity leave would run from September-August.

Work are saying that I can’t carry over any of my 2024 annual leave allowance (to add on to the end of my maternity leave), bar three days. They are saying I have to use it all up before the baby is born in September.

I don’t think this is right, but they are adamant. Can anyone confirm if they are right please? Thank you.

Yep! I was about to say, if only I was just starting in the world of work, versus being more like 2/3 of the way. But I don’t think I could do it all over again!

I must have been lucky, I only took 2 weeks out of my 7 week entitlement before my September baby was born.

I used a good chunk before I went back too. As I recall I had a week for an overseas wedding and a fortnight for Christmas, so must have had 9 weeks holiday tagged onto the end of my maternity leave.

Some employers do let you do it.

When were you planning to stop work OP? As others have said, assuming that's a few weeks before the baby arrives, just take the AL then and start ML from your due date or whenever the AL runs out. Most people don't work right up until the day they give birth.

Leave accrued before maternity I can see their point and in that case I'd start my maternity on your due date (allowed) which is what I done and accrued leave prior taken. Any leave acrrued whilst you are on maternity should be carried over? Why wouldn't it, you physically can't take it??

Look at your leave policy, some/most say you can carry over more than normally allowed due to circumstances.... This would fit the criteria, if not chat to your union. And let them mention pregnancy discrimination 🙂

I think this is standard. I had the same. Just tacked it on to the start of my mat leave.

Honestly, if I was your employer, I would want you to use up this year's entitlement before you go off on leave as well.

Sometimes the timings work in such a way that it's unavoidable to have to carry a load of leave over from one year to the next, but it's a nightmare to have to manage when someone has almost 2 years' worth of leave to use up in just a few months, so most employers will want to avoid this situation if at all possible.

If you can take this higher then I would.. what does it matter to them if you take the time off in a chunk before the baby arrives or tacked on to the end of mat leave?

Although if you are worried about making ends meet there is really no need to take a whole year off work is there? I was full time by the time my babies were 10 months having started back part time at around 8 months. It felt heartbreaking at the time but they settled in well with a lovely childminder.

I think it's standard but by the time it came around I really appreciated it as started maternity leave on my due date but was more than ready to stop work 3 weeks before when I had to take my leave.

It matters quite a lot to many employers!

It can be a huge challenge to manage the workload if an employee has almost 2 years' worth of leave to use up in a few months. Not all employers can afford to carry on paying for a maternity cover after the substantive postholder has returned to work, so either the work doesn't get done or other staff have to suck up more to cover the absence.

I think you should be able to take any holiday that would be accrued during your leave after maternity leave. Legally, you're not actually entitled to it before your maternity leave starts as you've not accrued it yet.

You will probably be pleased in reality, finish work earlier so you only start annual leave at 39 weeks perhaps (bare in mind that maternity has to start on the day you deliver so if you go into labour early it could mean loosing a/l. I stopped at 35 weeks because going to work was getting really hard

I gave you advice.

The advice being be careful. As they can make things very awkward for you. Even if they let you carry it over they can refuse to give it to you in a chunk. So you could have to take it over weeks and juggle childcare and work. It's not a battle worth fighting ime.

No one here can actually tell you the answer. Your HR policies will. If they don't make it clear, then you can ask them where it says you have to take it. If it does, the whole post is irrelevant.

You may also wish to explore with them whether they offer the option to total maternity entitlements (smp and employer matenrity pay) and average it over 12 months. Some employers do this and it does help manage your finances.

Check with your union and read the annual leave policy and maternity policy very carefully.

In my experience I wasn't made to take annual leave before maternity as I would have been off work for 2 months solid if using an entire year up. I did have to use any carry over from the previous year though.

I’m not sure how much but I definitely carried some days over as I went on Mat leave in September too!

@ALquery I have read your posts and skimmed the others so I don’t think anyone has mentioned this.

Does your contract state x days annual leave plus BH or x days leave including BH? The difference is subtle but makes a difference. If it is plus BH I do not believe you can be made to take Christmas Day and Boxing Day before they fall = 2 days.

Does the leave policy limit to 3 days carry over? If so they are being consistent with all other staff and have given you sufficient notice.

I would agree 3 days carry over and if your contract is plus BH 2 days for Christmas Day and Boxing Day. That at least gives you 5 days.

I would also agree (in writing) with your employer that your mat leave will start at the beginning of your EWC. Prior to that you will take x days annual leave.

If you agree this and the baby arrives early you have to start your SML from the date of birth and reasonably you could not have taken the planned annual leave so they would have to allow you to carry it over. Obviously if the baby is late you do eat into your SML.

HTH

This is the best advice on this thread.

I've taken two mat leaves and both times my employer expected me to take my full years AL before the mat leave. One was a June baby too so took 1 yrs leave in 6 months. The other was an October birthday. I didn't have any problem with it though tbh, easy to use leave. I took 3 weeks AL before #1 and used some extra days to essentially work part-time for the three or four weeks before that. Took two weeks AL before #2. I'm pregnant with #3 now, another October and with covering school hols for #1 I will struggle to even have enough AL left to take a fortnight before baby is due!

My old work the rule was you had to take it pre mat leave if you were due during q4 (and possibly q3). I took from 38 weeks -40 weeks as hol, gave birth at 39 weeks so got an exception to roll the extra week over.

This was in addition to the 10 days everyone could roll fwd.

I think they are wrong. But please don't take the advice of strangers on the internet. You need to speak to your union rep and possibly pregnant then screwed.

Precisely

Yes they can tell you to use it before maternity leave.

My company don't allow any day to be carry over at all.

You say there are 12 leave days you are being asked to take before you start mat leave? So, you need to start your mat leave 12 days later than planned. You then get paid for the first two weeks rather than the last two weeks.
There's no need for you to take the leave days earlier. You just adjust your formal mat leave dates to accommodate this.
You'll still get the same about of holiday pay / mat leave pay, it's just a bit topsy-turvy.

This is completely normal. You have a full years allowance to use up and if you weren't going on Mat leave you could presumably have used it all in the Jan-sept period anyway - it's not like there's 12 days that you'd have had to save and use in the last quarter in the year.

I took leave 2 weeks before baby and then my mat leave kicked in from my due date. I was able to carry over 10 days with agreement from my manager and then accrued leave while I was off, I think it added up to about a month including weekends and bank hols. Maybe try acas or Pregnant Then Screwed for advice? Have you spoken to HR and read all the policies? Is it just 3 day carry forward for all annual leave not used in the year?