on Maternity leave and had falling out with boss dont want to go back there but still want my 9 months MA HELP

[TLSM]

My DS2 will be 9 weeks old tomorrow and I have had a falling out with my employer - He seems to think I am at his beck and call for the next nine months. I get emails from him at least 3 times a week and have already worked a full day since having Tom! He has now sent me a rude email about work I have done to go into it a little the temp replacement is not terribly good at his job and cant pick up where I have left off on somethings so has said I have left it in a mess which I have not! I have emailed him back this morning saying I think it very unfair to send these kind of emails and if the temp has a problem to email me and I will take him through it! Anyway I can see this going on for the next nine months because my boss seems to think he is paying my MA out of his own money! I have no intention on going back to work for him after my ML but what do I do can I tell him now I am not coming back - if I do does that mean I lose my MA or do I have to keep doing everything he asks for the next 9 months and then say I am not coming back!

TLSM is it Maternity Allowance or Statutory Maternity Pay you are getting?

You won't have to pay either back, but just to get a bit of clarification.

The only maternity pay you would ever have to pay back is if your boss is paying you anything over and above the statutory basic, and has put something in writing saying you hvae to return to work for x amount of time ohterwise you have to pay it back.

Normal SMP or MA you don't hvae to pay back, that's yours now, you've already qualified for it and nothing you can do will change that.

Your boss should certainly not be harassing you on maternity leave. You can (if you are happy to) working up to 10 days during your maternity leave without jeopardising your maternity pay, so if you work any days (which is up to you) make sure you get paid for them on top of your maternity pay.

It might be tempting to resign now, and you would still get your maternity pay anyway, but don't do this. During your maternity leave you are entitled to holiday as well. So if you choose not to go back at the end of your year off, your employer will have to pay you however much holiday pay you are due for the whole of your maternity leave, assuming you didn't take it before you left.

Certainly don't do everything he says. Don't resign now but tell him strongly that you are not working at the moment and he or the temp must not contact you during your maternity leave about work -related issues.

Quite frankly, if the temp is rubbish, that's his problem not yours, he should recruit someone better!

If you are sure you are not going back you needn't worry about annoying him by telling him to leave you alone, or by just ignoring the emails, and you won't lose any money by doing so. The only thing you stand to lose if you resign now is holiday pay, but other than that you can be as firm as you like with him about the contact.

You are entitled to a year off as you know. Assuming your notice period is a month, write to your boss a month before your year is up handing in your notice and telling him you won't be returning. That way he will have to pay you all your holiday, and 4.8 weeks of holiday is definitely worth it if you can manage not to tell him until then.

Thanks Flowerbean the good thing is I have taken my holiday entitlement already (I took a month off before my maternity leave kicked in) My worry is that he will just not pay me if I ignore him or telling him to stop contacting me re work he is like that he holds back peoples salaries when they leave he doesnt pay them their holiday or the commission due 2 former employees have gone to small claims over it! I would have left alot sooner if I hadnt got PG with Tom! - Also he thinks I should do the work he is asking for free

Be strong. You deserve the right to time with your new baby and not to be interupted. Tap into that 'mother lion with her cub' mentality (hard, I know!).

If he doesn't pay you, although it is a horrid thought, the claim for the money is v v simple. A tribunal form can be filled out online and the hearing will normally be scheduled for just one hour. If you wanted, you could also claim sex discrimination, where you may get a few hundred/ couple of thousand pounds for injury to feelings on top. More hassle though. We'd all support you through it .

I'm sure that if you work more than a certain amount of days during your maternity leave it counts as returning to work and your maternity entitlement ends.

I'm also sure that when I went on mat leave my manager said "the rules are that I'm not allowed to contact you it all has to be through HR but I'd like to keep in touch can I email you?". She gave me the impression that it's not allowed for work to contact people on mat leave to get them to do work at all.

You need to investigate/talk to CAB and find out what your rights are. I am sure what he's doing is illegal.

Aha:

For babies due on or after 1 April 2007
You may work for up to 10 days without bringing your maternity leave to an end or losing your SMP or MA. This is to enable you to keep in touch during your leave if you wish to. You can work during ordinary or additional maternity leave but you cannot work during the two weeks of compulsory maternity leave immediately after the birth (four weeks for factory workers).

The keeping-in-touch days do not have to be consecutive. They can be used for any work-related activity including training, conferences or meetings. Working for part of a day will count as one day?s work. Your employers can also make reasonable contact with you during your leave, for example, to discuss your return to work. Any work during your maternity leave must be by agreement and neither you nor your employer can insist on it. Days of work will not extend your maternity leave period. You are protected from dismissal and detriment for refusing to work during maternity leave.

The new regulations on keeping-in-touch days do not say anything about how much an employee should be paid for working, so it will be a matter for agreement between you and your employer. The minimum that you must receive for the week in which the keeping-in-touch day falls is the SMP rate you are entitled to for that week. If your employer pays you any extra contractual pay your employer is entitled to offset it against any SMP paid for that week. When agreeing your rate of pay for Keeping-in-Touch days, your employer should make sure they comply with rules on the National Minimum Wage and equal pay.

Does your work have an HR department you can talk to?

Yes definitely be strong. If he is stupid enough to withhold pay from you we'll bash him for you help you claim it pronto. As chukky pig said, you can work up to 10 days, but you certainly don't have to, and you certainly don't have to for free.

Grrrr!

Did you give him your personal emaila nd phone number to contact you on? or are you checking your work one. If it is the latter, stop now, set an auto response on your email saying you are off work and do not check it for the next 9 months. (i returned to work after 11 months off to 1100 emails and hot the dete key!) Same with a work phone number, set a message saying youa re off and will not answer calls.

If you are being called/ emailed at home then politely tell your boss you are on mat leave and do not want to be contacted, you ahev every right to do this. If you ahev no intention of going back it dioes not really matter if that pisses him off does it but do not umder any coircumstances even suggest taht you will not return to work. If he continues to call I sugget you screen calls by letting the answerr phone pick up and don't call him back. He'll soon get the message!

Good luck,a nd turn yuour work brain off and enjoy beinga Mum

The government pays your boss the SMP to pass on to you, so the boss isn't paying anything. The maternity pay rules are a little difficult for small employers if the leave comes soon after starting, but on the whole shouldn't give the boss any problem at all.

It's not called Maternity Leave for nothing. If he has Forrest Temp in the tell him to get rid of them immediately and get another one. If he withholds pay then a tribuna; request is very quick. The boss has to hold your position open for you so you can return to work if you choose, so there is no benefit at all of quitting now. And judging by your notes, it's probably going to be much more satisfying resigning right at the last moment anyway.