Paying back enhanced mat pay...help!

[KS2305]

Hi,

I have come back to work (mat leave ended in Jan and I used unused 2024 holiday and 2 weeks of 2025 holiday to extend this) at the end of Feb when my daughter was 9 months old. I have found it very difficult coming back to work as I am required to travel to the office (1.5 hour commute) 3 times a week and juggling childcare etc. I have gone back on my antidepressants to try and help my anxiety/low mood. I have been offered a job that is much more flexible and suited to my situation and I want to take this but I do have an enhanced mat pay clawback clause in my contract (I have to return to work for 6 months or else pay back 3 months mat pay). I signed up to this at the time.

I do appreciate that my employer is well within their rights to ask me to pay this back but a colleague and friend left in December having handed in her notice whilst still on maternity leave and was not required to pay it back. This was, however, her second mat leave and she has been at the company nearly 6 years, compared to my nearly 3 years. Do you think they have still set a precedent in not asking her to pay? Could I use this if they ask me?

Also, if I am required to pay it back, do they have to let me pay this in installments or can they just not pay me for my final salary and demand the remainder as a lump sum?

Would be great to hear from anyone who may have gone through this and how they approached it.

Thanks in advance.

Check your policy it should be in there. I know many companies do follow this. I'm nhs and the policy is quite strict, return for a minimum for three months or pay it back. They can enforce it yes but it sounds like your company are less strict

What is your notice period? It looks like potentially by the time you have worked it out, it should be 3 months returned as it includes holiday.

This. Can you not time it to leave officially 6 months after the end of your mat leave?

I don't think the fact your colleague didn't have to repay means they lose the right to require you to. However, it does suggest that they may have some flexibility on this.

In terms of whether they can take it out of your final paycheck/demand a lump sum: my understanding is that unless they said explicitly in the agreement you signed that they can do this, they should be offering a repayment plan.

I suppose it depends whether her new employer is willing to wait until July for her to start? That seems a long time to me, though obviously it varies by sector.

A 3 month notice period would be quite usual in many professions.

Thanks all! So my notice period is only a month but I have told the new place 3 months, so that I can use this as a bit of negotiating tool should they ask for the money and offer to extend my notice period to cover.

The policy is fairly straightforward, "Any payment of CMP in excess of 3 months (13 weeks) will be made on the condition that you make a written commitment to return to work for a period of at least six months (your return to work does not have to be full time"

Then when I applied for mat pay, I signed this "I am entitled to receive CMP and intend to return to work following my maternity leave period. I therefore accept the payment of 26 weeks CMP at full salary. If I do not return to work for a period of six months following my maternity leave, I agree to the Company making a deduction equal to the sum of 13 weeks maternity pay, from any monies due to me. Where insufficient monies are due to me, I agree to reimburse the Company direct" Which to me tells me that they can deduct the whole amount from my salary but this would not be enough so I would have to pay additional money.

It is justified them asking me, I signed it, I just had no idea how hard it would be to manage the commute, responsibilities, childcare, nursery sickness and everything else and I just really need something more flexible / remote but at the same time not jeopardising my opportunity to progress when the time is right (which would happen here. Even me doing 1 additional day from home a week is seen as not being as dedicated as others and is only a trial).

Sorry essay response!!

You have told the new job, 3 months and they’ve offered you the role? So you can work your 6 months and not have to pay it back. That’s the worse case scenario.

If you are struggling with the commute in that time, then leave earlier. They can take it from your final salary and ask you to repay the remainder. It’s so company dependent that nobody can say whether they will waive it or not. When you hand your notice in, go in for a discussion with your manager and HR. Start with your ideal ask - not paying back your enhanced maternity mention you know other people who haven’t paid it back and could that be considered for you. If not, your second ask is if you can pay back part of the enhanced maternity leave (given you’ve returned for 3 months) and do it as a payment plan with them.

How much £ are you required to pay back after three months and does the reduced commute and new salary compensate towards that if you take new job sooner?

They have offered it to me (as of later Friday afternoon). I have not formally accepted yet.

That is a good plan, thank you. I am just incredibly anxious about it but as you have very rightly said, it can be a series of conversations to get to (hopefully) get to a resolution.

There is nothing in the wording that states if the required amount would reduce on a pro rated basis depending on how long I had been back. If they did accept this then it would be circa £6.5K. It would very much depend on whether a payment plan was accepted and what the terms of this were; as in how much each month was required.

I think perhaps you misunderstood the question.

Is the new job much better paid? If it's better paid and your commuting costs are reduced then the extra salary for three months may to some extent offset the maternity pay you are required to pay back to your employer.

It is a bit better paid so would help towards that money but I would have to pay it back over many months to not impact my 'take home' and be worse off. I will of course do this if I have to.

If they have offered it to you with a start date three months from now, perhaps you can explain the situation and say that if you officially leave your current job before Xth July you may have to pay back your maternity pay, so you can commit to starting then but may be able to negotiate an earlier start depending on how the conversation goes with your current employer.

There's nothing to stop you from asking your employer whether they'd be willing to waive the repayment condition. If they say yes, get it in writing and then hand in your notice. If they say no, just wait it out.

Thank you - this is very sound advice. I've been panicking but just need to have the conversation and go from there.