Do I have to pay maternity leave pay back to employer if I go back and resign immediately?

[Boobz]

I am currently on maternity leave and am due back in mid September after 6 months off, which I have been paid for in full (i.e. full 100% salary for those 6 months). I have been head hunted for another role, and they would require me to start as soon as possible (i.e. I would give a month's notice at my current job and start this new job in mid October).

Do I have to repay any of my maternity pay in this instance or am I entitled to it whether I resign on the first day back at work or not?

Thanks for any help.

it depends i think on your contract. In the job i have, i have to pay back maternity pay if leave within 3 months of returning

Our policy also states that you have to repay the employers bit of maty pay if you leave within 3 months of returning.

sorry, cant help much except to agree with tink. I checked my contract and there was no mention of having to pay back maternity if I resigned. So I resigned...

As tink says you will need to check your contract, I think it's standard to require employees to return for at least 3 months or pay back the amount over SMP.

Could you persuade your new job to give you a golden hello of enough to pay back what you owe? In which case you could give notice before your maternity leave ends and not go back to your old job at all.

Thanks guys. My contract doesn't mention anything about it, so I assume I can just leave...

I wouldn't rely just on your contract, check your company's maternity policy to be sure. They can't make you pay back SMP even if you leave right away, but anything over and above this, they may want paying back.