holiday entitlement

[bumpy]

hi girls and guys! hope u and ur bumps and babies are doing well, i'm just really hoping for some advice or ideas on where to go for advice concerning holiday entitlement and maternity leave?

I'm having a NIGHTMARE at work trying to sort this out and my employers response has so far been that I am "unlucky" as to when I fell pregnant!!! grr..
sorry if this is a long rant but I need to get this sorted!

basically, where I work the holiday year runs from september to september.

I would like my maternity leave to start on or around the 1st of December which would mean after the 39 weeks paid mat leave I would return to work the following 1st september.

I have been told that I definately cannot add my holiday on to the end as it enters the next holiday year... but also "i cant take it at the start as I havent yet accrued it?!"

I have spoken to ACAS and their opinion is that I should be able to take it at the start as I have worked there for almost 3 years and do not need to accrue it to take it before, but upon speaking to my boss again, she seems to think that i can only take 1 week at the start and will lose the rest of my holiday??

I just want to cry, she is being so unreasonable and i feel that surely it can't be right??

well, i hope you got his far and thanks for reading!!

xx

 

[*Star*]

nope you definity CAN take your holiday before you go on mat leave.

basically, when you are on mat leave (the first 26 weeks i think) you accrue holiday as if you were working there, and as long as you are returning to work after your mat leave, you can take your holiday entitlement (that you would accrue up to 26 weeks of mat leave)

if you google it im sure you will find the info.

 

[charlie84]

Nope i dont think thats right at all
If you dont accrue it then you can take it all before you leave on maternity.

Have a looky here
http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/Parents/Mon ... G_10039631

 

[Jollypops]

As i understand it you are entitled to it by law so they cant stop you taking it.

http://www.workingfamilies.org.uk/asp/employer_zone/e_fs_maternityleave.asp

 

[bumpy]

thanks for your fast replies!

I just think she will do anything to get out of giving them to me, but to hear her say

" if I can get away with not giving them holidays, I will" - REALLY ANNOYS ME!!!!!

I have been honest and told her that I spoke to ACAS and they said i should be able to take them all at the start and she is still trying to worm her way out!

She said.. "if you dont come back, i cant guarantee that you will pay me them back" but the way i see it is i'll be employed by her for the whole hol year anyway til the end of aug so will have essentially accrued them already!!! grrr

sorry for the big rant i'm just really stressed about it!

 

[Jollypops]

She said.. "if you dont come back, i cant guarantee that you will pay me them back"

You won't owe them anything. The only time you have to pay any money back to your employer is if they offer an enhanced maternity package (ie pay you full pay or 90%) then it normally says you have to go back to work or pay money back.

 

[charlie84]

She sounds ever so nice

Dont let it drop hun, you are entitled to it

 

[bumpy]

thanks for ur support and super fast replies ladies!
You would think she would understand that I dont need any unnecessary stress and just give me what i'm entitled to, its not like i'm being unreasonable in asking for extras!!

will keep you updated, i have a feeling this could go on and on

xx

 

[tuck]

You are entitled to holiday leave and you accrue it as normal whilst on Mat leave.

I suggest that your boss has a look at some websites herself else she could land herself with a employment tribunal from you.

http://www.workingfamilies.org.uk/asp/e ... yleave.asp

 

[Julie84]

It depends what your company's policy says.

Mine has the stupid rule about accruing (and my holiday year also runs from 1st September) so when go on maternity leave middle of December I will only have accrued 7 days or something stupid. I have managed to win a bit more holiday back (but not all my year's entitilement) because I said if I wasn't pregnant they'd let me have a week's holiday in October (which I technically wouldn't have accrued) and mentioned 'sex discrimination' (worked a treat! )

The rest of my holiday that I will accrue under my OML and then under the working time regulations during AML I can either carry into the next holiday year or just have it paid to me at the end of my maternity leave.

I'm getting rather suspicious of my company though so make sure I print and keep a copy of all email communications and make a note of all verbal communication. I have no qualms in taking them to court at any point if they get silly (and most of my work is dealing with law firms so I'm sure someone would be willing to help me! )

 

[Mik]

You will continue to accrue holiday pay through all your maternity leave both normal and extended if baby is due after 5th oct this year. This will carry on until you give them your notice (if you do not plan to return to work) so if you were to hand your notice in you would accrue up until your notice period ended and the only way she could get any of your hol pay back would be if you had taken more than you had accrued the same as any other employee leaving the company.

 

[bumpy]

righto... i have finally got this sorted.

I spoke to ACAS and asked about this accrual malarky and they said as long as you've worked for your employer for more than a year, you are entitled to take your whole holiday entitlement from the first day of your holiday year. (ie mine run from sept to sept so i could take them all from sept 1st)

So, i wrote a letter to my boss saying when i want to take my hols and enclosed the stuff from citizens advice and the business link website - she messed about a bit and kept saying i'll get back to you, but eventually said she had taken advice on it and she was going to let me take my whole entitlement before my mat leave starts.

As julie84 said, I kept all copies of my letters and wrote down when I had spoken to her etc and have finally got what i'm entitled to.

so my little message for the day is DONT GIVE UP if ur employers are messing you around... you are entitled to the minimum (at least) holiday entitlement and you should be able to add it onto your leave.

http://www.businesslink.gov.uk/bdotg/ac ... 926&r.s=sc

this link is where I found in writing that you do not need to accrue holidays after the 1st year of working for someone!! hope this helps xxx

 

[Julie84]

Bumpy, that's brilliant. I'm so pleased you have sorted it out and are getting what you want and are entitled to.

Thank you for the link also. My company (who I couldn't say a bad word against before falling pregnant ) are behaving awfully so I will print that link out and put it together with my other complaints in the letter I am compiling for my HR director.

 

[bumpy]

hey julie sorry to hear about ur work situation, it too was stressing me out so know how it feels

i think a formal letter is enough to frighten most employers into giving in and allowing you what you are entitled to..

GOOD LUCK with it and i'm pleased that i didn't roll over and just give in like others in the past who lost all of their entitlement at my workplace!

hope all goes well, keep us posted xx

 

[Julie84]

I handed in my letter today and had a response from HR by the end of today arranging a meeting for Monday morning (our HR department is based at our parent company's offices rather than onsite) and they are coming to see me. There are some other issues surrounding what is currently happening (my manager has taken all my work off me and basically demoted me from middle management to lowest operator level and segregated me from the rest of the office [maybe she thinks pregnancy is catching! ]) so HR have offered to take the meeting off site so I don't feel uncomfortable being in the office. It feels quite a relief that someone has finally listened to me (I made a verbal complaint a month ago and it actually only made things worse.)

I'm so pleased everything worked out well for you bumpy - I hope my company sees the light too! Thank you for all your help.

 

[bumpy]

firstly, good luck with the meeting on monday, i'm sure they will see your point.

I hate that employers can make things like this stressful when we've already got so much to stress about!!

I definately think that sending the letter was the best thing to do as they can't ignore it, and after I made a verbal complaint and made the situation seem worse i know how u feel!

So fingers crossed all goes to plan and work gets better for you as it has (finally) for me.

Let us know how it goes xxx