Holiday accrued on maternity
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I have already returned unfortunately. Someone then let me know that I should have holiday accrued to take. Wish I had known as I would’ve taken it extra. They run Jan 21st - Dec 20th. I thought the ACAS website said my employer must allow me to carry it over to the next holiday year if I was on maternity for all or most of the holiday year? I was on maternity end of October 23 until beginning of November 24. I started back to work on the 11th November on part time hours, coming from full time hours
With you being back early enough that you could have taken it last year they may be funny about you using it unless your contract says you can bring some over to the next one.
You cant loose leave when accrued on maternity leave if you didnt have reasonable time to take it before the year end was out, they have to let you take it all....from your dates, you've roughly got a full year's normal entitlement (full time) aswell as what your accruing whilst been back now (these wil be part time equivalent) Call Acas if your having issues, they will advice to your personal situation
@Natalie wasn’t aware that I even accrued it 😩 not sure how I could’ve taken it all though, we shut down for Christmas on the 22nd (my last working day being the 20th). So that being only 5 weeks since coming back?
@Hayley it’s all so confusing, but thank you for your input too! I think I will need to give them a call to clarify completely as it’s all a bit confusingly worded and my contract is an absolute shambles for wording also, she gets away with some dodgy stuff due to the wording in these contracts!
I suppose that would depend on how much leave you get. A lot I know get 4 weeks. Do you not have a maternity policy? It should explain it all in there.
@Natalie it says 5.6 weeks holiday leave in my contract. It just says not normally allowed to take holiday beyond the holiday year in the holiday part, but by saying “not normally” I assume maternity doesn’t fall under normal circumstance
I’m fairly certain you can’t get paid for the holiday accrued but you are entitled to take it. We can carry ours over for 18months at my work. Acas is a really good website or they have a good free helpline (can take a while to get through). I’d read your mat policy and speak to acas before you meet with your manager.
I don't think legally they have to allow you to carry over leave into the following year, but most companies do (mine did). I'm adding 4 weeks of leave onto my maternity leave this year before I go back (carried from 2024) so that still leaves me with this year's allocation to take between June and December
Yes you still accrue annual leave while on maternity leave based on the hours you did before maternity leave - this also includes bank holidays while on maternity leave. Most people tag it onto the end of their maternity leave or before; depending on their annual leave year. Feel free to message me and I can help you work out your entitlement etc. Alternatively ACAS is fantastic so I would recommend giving them a call. There is a sense of urgency as you’ve now returned and your employer can decline annual leave, especially if you haven’t sorted it as ultimately it’s your responsibility. I wish there was a leaflet that was given to new mums by midwives explaining their employment rights, as so many mothers go unaware and employers don’t say anything! X
When you speak to them about returning you can choose to use it to extend your leave (i used some at the end of mine). Depending on where you work and when your holidays run they may not let you take it over or use it any later than that. It depends what date your new hours start from. You accrue it based on your contracted hours at the time. I accrued it for my full time hours then went back part-time.