Returning after maternity leave

Yep you can deffo change your mind as to how long you are taking, I know plenty of people who did! I returned from full time hours to part time and I’m pretty sure you just have to return it doesn’t matter what hours you return on x

You can take off as long as you want as long as you give 8 weeks notice to return. The enhanced pay part will be dependent on your company's stand on it, but I can't imagine they'll ask for it back as long as you're returning in some capacity.

I both extended my leave and dropped my hours with my first. I extended by a month and did a couple of kit days to make up for not getting paid for that period. I then dropped to 35 hours. I’m a midwife. Where I used to work it worked out that you have to do a make up shift once a month if you work full time as 3 longs only make up to 37hrs. It’s very hr dependent though from what I’ve heard

Policies will differ by company but if I want to return earlier I have to give at least 8 weeks notice. I also reduced my hours after the birth of our first child and had to submit a formal flexible working request via my manager stating the new hours I would like them to consider, again with at least 8 weeks notice. I didn't have to pay back the enhanced part despite the change in hours as I just had to return in some capacity x

@Elena thank you, that's what I thought. I'm sure others have returned on part time hours x

@Liv the policy only states that I have to return for 3 months, it doesn't specify what hours are expected. I'm going to see if HR can clarify though

@Ceri-Ann that's good to know thank you. I work as a special needs teaching assistant, and think I'll just have to request a change in hours

@Kirsty thank you, that's good to know. I think the process will be the same at my work. I'm meeting with HR to get it clarified anyway. I'm not starting my maternity leave until the start of June, but I want to know it all before I go off x

I would take the full. 12 months off

I was recommended to use the earlier start date by my employer, then lengthen it if I wanted to but your work might be the opposite! I just went with 12 months in the end though as I knew I didn’t want to come back earlier. Ask for clarification from your HR, but how enhanced mat pay worked for my employer was the 3 months return period was prorata. So for example, if I had come back at half my normal hours I would have had to return to work for 6 months instead of 3. But that only really matters if you’re thinking of leaving your job!

@Jay I'm hoping to be able to take 12 months, but we're not sure we'll manage three months without pay

@Rhiannon I'm hoping to be able to have the 12 months off, but I'm not sure if we can manage without pay for the last 3 months. I'll definitely ask for clarification from HR, it's interesting to know how other companies have worked it all out. Unfortunately if work carries on the way it is going, in terms of the constant understaffing to dangerous levels ect I will be looking to leave next year

Yeah my work changed massively while I was on mat leave, I ended up going back full time so I could do my 3 months then leave 😅 You’re also entitled all the annual leave & bank holidays accrued over your mat leave, I accrued enough to take a further two months off at the end of my mat leave so I only had to be back working for 1 month in the end.

You can request to change your hours and the company will approve if it's within their interest! I work 35 hours over 4 days and have Mondays off with my child.

I can only comment on what it is for teaching, but the 13 weeks to return is pro-rata to what you were doing before mat leave (i.e what your enhanced pay was based off). So 13 weeks at 5 days a week = 65 working days, if you go back 3 days it's 65 working days ÷ 3 per week = 21.7wks (21w 2days). You can change your return date, either extending it or reducing it, with 8 weeks notice. Annual leave also counts as returning so you can tack on any accrued annual leave at the end to count towards the 13 weeks (unless you're also a teacher of course and we don't accrue annual leave, in which case use SPL to get your holiday entitlement).

I extended my mat leave but three months I requested to reduce my days to four days instead of five days it got declined I also have to work 6 months before I can leave If I decide to leave

Just a thought. If you're a teaching assistant I assume it means you have school holidays off? If so look at whether you can do shared parental leave to "return" to work for the holidays so you get paid during those periods and don't run through all the 39 SMP weeks so fast

@Carys I'm a SEN/D teaching assistant, so slightly different to teaching but the basics are probably the same. I'll see what HR have to say about if I was to reduce my hours upon returning. It only states I have to return for 3 months after maternity leave, but no further details given so I'm hoping HR will be able to shed a bit more light on it. I also don't accrue annual leave, but I will look into the SPL part too. Thank you

@Fiona yeah, I get all school holidays off. I'll have a look into the shared parental leave aspect and see if I can make use of it. I'm not due till the end of June, so I have a bit of time to figure it all out

@Chelsey You'd have to ask HR/payroll regarding SPL as it depends on how they'd pay you. TeacherSPL website have a document with some information for support staff as term time only contracts can work differently, but there's some questions to ask. Being due June, if you would benefit from SPL, you could return for 5 weeks (Christmas, Easter + 1 half term) potentially on full pay and it would also extend your stat pay by that much. You do *technically/legally* accrue holiday, but they can argue it has to be taken in school holidays.