Unpaid Mat leave.

[Kayzr]

How do I go about sorting out unpaid Mat Leave?
I get 9 months SMP. We want to see if we can cope without my wages. I will get about the same if not less per month working.

But I don't want to just give my job up incase we can't afford it. I was told when talking to a friend that legally I can have I think she said 3 months unpaid leave. Though I have a feeling my employer won't agree.

Thanks.

Well my employer worked out the date they said I had to return which is 9 months after I started.

What PrincessToadstool says. Maternity leave is 12 months. You get SMP for the first 9 months of it.

How much of the 12 months off you take is completely up to you - your employer has no say in it at all.

Unless you tell your employer otherwise, they must assume you will take the whole year. If at any point you decide you want to return to work sooner than a year, you must notify them.

They must not know this then as they worked out that I have to be back after 9 months.

Best thing is just to write to your boss or email him/her and say that you understand you are entitled to 12 months maternity leave, and although you initially said you would take 9 months, you have decided instead to take the full 12 mnonths and your new date to be due back is now xxx date.

You are entitled to 3 months unpaid maternity leave at the end of your 9 months. It is worth noting though that if you eventually decide to not go back you will have to pay a proportion of your maternity back to your employer. I know with the NHS you have to go back for 12 weeks in order to not pay anything back. I left during at the end of my mat leave and i got a bill for £4000!!!
Luckily due to the circumstances that forced me to leave the NHS waived this for me.

That's not necessarily the case barnsleybelle, about paying maternity pay back. That would only be the case if the employer has paid more than SMP, and has made it clear in a letter or policy that there will be a requirement to pay some or all of the extra back.

The OP says she only gets SMP, so she will not have to pay anything back.

Exactly what Flowery said

I only get SMP, nothing more than that. I'll write a letter to my manager stating that I will be taking my full 12 months.

Oh i see flowery... thanks

I am on unpaid maternity leave at the moment, so thanks God for my savings and my husband support, money is big issue but I do not want to leave my 9 months old DD2 and go to work just yet.

i took 3 months unpaid at the end of my 9 months maternity, but i told them when i first applied for maternity leave. you need to talk to your hr dept.,

hi kayz!! you ar eas the others siad fully entitled to 12 months, in my letter i have said i intend to return after 9 months, but reserve teh right to take the full 12, and in all reality will prob take 11 months, like you to see where we stand money wise. hope all is welll xxx