Work (council) have sent me a HUGE bill for not going back after Mat Leave. Can I beg with them to reduce it?? Help!

[umberella]

It's over £2000.

Crappity crap. We are so poor atm.

£21k MP

SMP is 90% of average wages in the 12 weeks (or thereabouts) prior to maternity leave, plus 26 weeks at £112 ish. It is just the 50% of normal salary that umbrella has received over and above the norm.

Helpful cat64 I'm sure umbrella is aware other people have financial problems too.

(almost) - only 10 days holiday though..?

Oh no the first 6 weeks have to be 90% so that will be yours to keep

I expect it is 30 days holiday on top

Why did they only pay 10 days holiday? You would have accrued a year's worth surely? Did you work full time?

It will be the 50% for 6 weeks that you have to repay, isn't it? Did you take any annual leave? If not this could offset the total amount.

MP, you are entitled to be paid for the holiday accrued during maternity even if you don't go back - its because you remain an employee entitled to all terms and conditions except salary.

Umbrella, do you have that NHS pregnancy book or the birth to five one, they both have a section in the back which explains SMP and other benefits. It definitely says in there that you get paid holiday during maternity. Unless you earn megabucks I think they have worked it out wrong.

your weekly pay would be £404

so 50% would be £202

X 6 = £1,212

Plus 10 days annual leave @ £81 per day = £810

Grand total owed: £2022

MP - wouldn't you minus the SMP for the 6 weeks from that total as they can reclaim that?

Please pay it back, otherwise some poor buggers are going to find themselves with larger than required council tax bills.

Sorry, I agree with llareggbub. Also, going back for a minimum time is something that was set out in your contract, and 3 months isn't that long. If your new employer had recruited someone from another council not on maternity leave, they would have had to wait for at least a month for notice anyway, possibly more.

Negotiating repayment by instalments is probably your best bet.

She probably got 50% of a weeks pay plus SMP, so no need to deduct it from the total, I'd say.

A long shot, but I'll suggest it anyway. You said you'd got a new job. Have you thought of asking them to pay the £2k? New employers often take on car loans etc from previous employers.

hmm yes you would

so £1,212 minus £720 = £492

(I know you are entitled to ACCRUE holiday but I don't know whether it is a legal obligation to offer payment in lieu of that holiday?)

It's possible you could get the bank hols as well. They'd be paid at my local authority anyway.

I think you will need to ask them how they calculated the amount! But paying it back is quite normal.

Can you withdraw your notice and go back, part-time for 3 months?

hmm according to Working Families:

"On resignation you are entitled to be paid for any outstanding holiday pay that has accrued during maternity leave up to the end of your notice period"

But you really need to ask them how they calculated it, as you are obviously not quite sure about the whole thing. If it is what you state then they may have mis-calculated. You never know your luck!

I would think the SMP should be deducted (unless the 50% was paid on top of SMP). I had a similar deal with the organisation I worked for - was paid 50% of salary for X number of weeks, but part of this was SMP (which the company could reclaim) so my employers just had to 'top up' the remaining amount.

I didn't go back to my original employer, a small vol sector org, for a variety of reasons, mainly that my job had changed out of all recognition. Under my contract I had to go back for 6 months to avoid repaying additional mat pay, so 3 months doesn't sound so bad.

I did negotiate with them and repaid over a year which made things easier. I had put aside some money in savings as I knew there was a possibility I wouldn't be returning. I offered a lump sum and then a smaller monthly payment and they were happy with that.

I am sure that you wouldn't have to pay back the annual leave. Actually - iirc - I got a cheque for my holiday pay for whole year, when I sent in my resignation. You are deffo entitled to be paid for it, even if only for the nine months statutory leave.

So they may have calculated it wrongly.

It was maybe a bit daft to accept the additional pay when you were uncertain about your plans to return. Surely they would be sympathetic to paying by installments?

mp you're a whizz!

toddle off all you smug people please, I'm only looking for help tbh, not smart comments!!!!!!

llareggub that would be a good idea, but the place I ahve moved to is about 6months from bankruptcy. I'm there to stop that happening (ha! the irony), so they couldn't afford it. sob.

I'm still not getting the maths. £220 per week for the 6 weeks at 50%....do I then take SMP from this figure??? Oh god I'm in a spin.

Actually looking at the figures £2,000 does seem a bit high, as you should still be entitled to the SMP.

I didn't realise how unfeasible it was going to be to return mazzystar. Our living costs have gone through the roof over the last ten months. I honestly feel ill. I am so tight that everything apart from our fridge is constantly turned off at the wall etc etc. we really can't afford this

Yes you might owe less

You need to find out EXACTLY what they paid you. Do you have it written down anywhere? They may have mis-calculated the amount though.

Let's do it again

your weekly pay would be £404

so 50% would be £202

Message withdrawn