Maternity Leave

[phleb]

Hiya guys

As some of you know i am on maternity leave. I started this on 22/12/2013 and due to go back to work on 20/12/14. I phoned pay services yesterday to tell them i wont be coming back and want to tell them now, so i have nothing to pay back. She said i owe them £600. That cant be right as i still have 8 months to go, so how could i owe them something now. Surely she made a mistake. I didn't sleep last night. the reason i called them was because i didn't want to be overpaid, its easy to be overpaid but hard to pay back.

I will contact my manager next week so i can discuss this with him, but i am so stressed.

What do you guys think, is this correct.

[black_cat51]

it depends on you occupational scheme, which is what they are asking for back. You are NHS, right? if so, you would have been paid full pay for the first eight weeks. under the occupational scheme. If you are not going back, you are not entitled to it

[rockyracoon]

I'd ring them back and ask for a breakdown of everything, what you were entitled to and where they think they overpaid you.

[China Doll]

Yes it probably is, they're generally pretty good at working it out but ask for a break down. It does say in the maternity leave policy at the NHS I work for that if you decide not to go back then you will end up owing them maternity pay.

You need to dig out your policy and read through it properly. Off the top of my head it's something like 1-8 weeks = normal (give or take) pay then 9-20 weeks = half SMP/ half pay and then the next three months (ish) at just SMP with no pay. The last three months are unpaid. If you took annual leave prior to going on maternity leave then you may also owe for that as you accrue leave, therefore in December 2013, you had not accrued all your leave for 2013 so you may not have been entitled to all the leave you took now that you have decided to leave.

It's complicated but your manager can probably help break it down for you. In my opinion, it's always worth going back to work for three months when your maternity leave is up so you don't run in to these problems. 3 Months isn't very much time at all.

[black_cat51]

especaially if you only go back part time and you use up leave

[rockyracoon]

I went back to work for 3 months otherwise I'd have owed about £5k.

[China Doll]

Aye... And actually, NHS is a very generous maternity package I think considering what other women get (I was shocked to hear that after 8 weeks, one of my sisters mums went straight to SMP or something, I thought maternity pay was the same everywhere but it's really not!)

[rockyracoon]

My package was very good considering it was 15 years ago, hence the £5k figure, which I actually think is on the conservative side. I decided that I didn't really want to go back after about 3 months and wish I'd have had the foresight before I took the money. You live and learn as they say.

[phleb]

What I will do is ask manager for a break down, and then what I am paid after that I will save so I pay it back if required to do so. Its ridiculous that they make It so complicated. Initially I was hoping my mum would look after my baby when I go back, but seeing as she has been pretty poorly recently and forgets things, I cant risk leaving baby with her. Childcare is so expensive, and I wont want to leave my baby with strangers.

[phleb]

first she said I don't have much to pay back, then she said oh it seems you might owe some back, she said she was working it on roughly.

[black_cat51]

your manager wont have a scooby, and will just refer you to HR

[vodkancoke]

I'm no expert in these things since I have never been pregnant,but could you not just stay and give them a month's notice before the end of your maternity leave? Would you still owe them money that way?

[black_cat51]

yes, you have to go back for a period of 3 monthsin order to keep the occupational benefits