Maternity repayment - do I have to?

[Mumsupportneeded]

Hi there,
im in need of some advice. I am due to return to work in March after 1 year maternity leave (some enhanced).
A new career opportunity has come up with better hours pay etc that I’ve been offered. My old job paid enhanced maternity leave and are trying to enforce pay back. There was nothing in my contract/ parental/ maternity docs prior to going on leave about the need to repay.
However they did send a doc highlighting the rule for me to sign agreeing to it but I didn’t see this as it was sent during my maternity and not in advance (i have not signed). Am I obliged to repay, even though notice of repayment was made during my maternity leave and i didnt sign agreeing?
Having to do so will meaning staying as it is too large a sum to repay.

Based in the UK

Maternity pay is never in a contract of employment ! It's a policy

Again for people that missed it is not in any maternity parental leave documentation that the company has.

Yes but what I am saying is the repayment element may be covered in other policies so I'd check that. There are other payments which companies often look to recoup on exit. So I agree if it's not in any policy then you're on very solid ground. But just double check

Ummm so they notified you before your baby was born and was before any enhanced pay was provided and paid to you. You went on to accept it. There is a basis that given you knew about it and still took the money you did so in the knowledge of and giving your implied consent to the terms that it would be repayable if you didn't return for the required period.

You've had an opportunity to act on it and tell your employer not to pay out the enhanced amount before they paid it but you didn't. That is a relevant factor and would have been a step in you mitigating your loses etc.

@Mumsupportneeded

You have had a good deal getting enhanced maternity pay plus the possibility to use 10 weeks holiday prior to return date. How did you even accrue that much leave?

They did email you & you seem to know it was sent.

This is why employers are wary of employing women of child bearing age. It really doesn't seem morally right.

I think you should go back earlier & work the 3 months. This would give them time to recruit.

How much would you have to pay back? Have you had some communication about the amount they want back?

Can you offer to pay it back at £5/week? What are they going to do about that? Sue you?

If your notice period is essentially 4 months (the 6 months you are obliged to return to work to avoid paying back enhanced MP minus the accrued holiday) how kind is your notice period? Because if it's 3 months then the new company would only be waiting g for you for a month extra?

I had 12 weeks annual leave following mat leave. Our leave year runs April to March. I get 35 days plus bank hols each year. Went on Mat leave in April, for a year so had 43 days leave to use for that year including bank holidays in lieu, so nearly 9 weeks plus another 35 days (7 weeks) for the return year. I can also buy a week if I want to.

We must return for 3 months. Accrued leave usually covers most of it if people don’t want to return (although I don’t think anyone has ever not returned at my workplace)

Take this new job with a start date of 6 months from now. Go to work and do the 13-26 weeks of duty.

It will be in your maternity policy so by accepting the occupational maternity pay, you are accepting the terms ie paying back if you don’t return to work. It’s very normal to have this pay back clause.

Could you ask to go back to current company 4 weeks early from mat leave? Then new company would only have to wait 2 months. That's not unreasonable as everyone would have to give notice and work it out. Otherwise I think by taking the enhanced money you agreed to the terms they sent you.

What did ACAS say when you called them earlier?

My maternity leave was full pay if I returned to the Company for at least three months. Otherwise I only got SMP and had to return any surplus. Or possibly I got half for the latter six months but nothing if I didn't do the three months, something like that.

This is pretty standard I think. You are obliged to pay it back.

Thankfully I downloaded the policy before going on leave, no mention of it and was changed during my maternity leave. So working on a resolution with them

Did you talk to ACAS today? Interested to hear what they said.

Sorry, but why do you think you are owed free money when you ditch the company?

Could you afford to repay them in small installments? Seems like a better option than returning to a job you don't want to return to.
Not sure if money to repay is enforceable.

Can one blame the employer?

I think it's pretty scurvy to accept the enhanced pay and then bolt. It's a retention tool; they aren't a charity. A person of integrity would repay without being asked.

Please see below

The above was not done and the clause for repayment was added during my mat leave

This is great news!

Do you mean why does OP think they should have to repay maternity pay, when they acted in accordance with the policy applicable at the time and that was communicated to them, and completed the 2yrs service requirement prior to that maternity leave which qualified them for it?

Because in the UK workers have rights and employers have rules to follow. You can’t move the goal post, slip it in an email and then expect that to be enforceable.

It’s also not free money, it’s maternity pay.

I am a HR Director.

They should have included it in the original policy, and your argument must be that it’s not good enough to give you quite important information at the very last minute. However, you had (presumably) a whole year to raise your concerns once you did receive it late. It’s only become an issue now that you want to leave.

With that in mind, the choice comes down to bad blood. There’s no way they’re going legally enforce a repayment, it is just not worth the time, money or the “look” of harrassing a new mother, especially when you could easily tell colleagues they didn’t give you the information.

Therefore, I’d settle on a diplomatic / amicable email (which is late in the game but better late than never) that says something like:

Dear Manager,

I appreciate the unfortunate position that the business is in as a result of this key document being missed in the lead-up to my maternity leave. However, I am in as difficult a position as a result, as I planned my maternity leave on the basis that I knew all aspects of the arrangement.

Had this critical information been in the policy, or highlighted to me during any conversations about my leave or return to work plans, I would have behaved very differently in respect of saving money for my leave. I have also spent my maternity leave feeling quite stressed out by it.

I have enjoyed working with the company and don’t wish to leave on anything but amicable terms, but I am not in a position, nor am I willing to be held to a clawback agreement that I did not have knowledge or nor did I agree to.

Best wishes

Definitely don’t want to leave on bad terms so hopefully coming to a resolution to compromise.

@OnceUponASausage

That's good holiday allowance. I thought only teachers got decent holidays 🤷🏻‍♀️

Surely if OP brought her return date forward & included the 10 weeks she could leave sooner than 3 months needed.