Maternity Leave and Annual Leave

Wishbone Ash

Hi, I'm looking for some help in resolving a matter at work.

Our Annual Leave year (2009/2010) ends at 8am on Saturday 3rd April. A colleague who is on Maternity Leave at the moment will have 7 days Annual Leave outstanding from 2009/2010 as she does not resume duty until May 2010.

Our senior manager has informed her that she cannot carry these into next year and must forfeit them. I'm 95% sure that he is incorrect and I have made representations on her behalf. He argues that she should have taken all outstanding leave prior to going on Maternity Leave. I don't feel that this is reasonable as her leave is allocated by seniority in service and she is relatively junior (non-officer grade in public service). The 7 days Annual Leave outstanding would have been allocated to her for March 2010 but this would have been done in January 2009 - 4 months before commencment of the leave year and 14 months before the leave itself.

He said that he is prepared to concede if I can provide any written proof that she is entitled to carry the leave into next year. I've checked the Statute Instruments and Citizen's Advice etc. but I can't find anything definitive on carrying leave from one year into the next.

Any help would be appreciated. Thanks.

seamus

She not legally entitled to carry the leave into next year, however her employer is legally bound to ensure that she has taken her leave before the end of the leave year.

If she has not taken all of her annual leave, then it is the employer who is at fault, not the employee. There is a provision which allows time to be carried forward for six months if both employee and employer agree.

However, she is still only entitled to the statutory minimum of 20 days annual leave. Anything above that is at the discretion of the employer and she is not entitled to carry it forward.

Info here

Wishbone Ash

Thanks Seamus.

seamus wrote: »

then it is the employer who is at fault, not the employee

mmmmmm...... then I could be deemed to be at fault as I would have been obliged to inform her. :eek: I didn't as I just presumed she was entitled to carry it but we changed bosses mid stream and the new chap is fussier. (There are 7 other staff currently on Maternity Leave but their leave is all in order).

seamus wrote:

There is a provision which allows time to be carried forward for six months if both employee and employer agree.

The employer is strictly against this as it places pressure on the following year. Over 800 staff have to have annual leave allocated and with the moratorium on recruitment and cutbacks it's difficult to allocate all leave entitlements and still run an adequate service.

seamus wrote:

However, she is still only entitled to the statutory minimum of 20 days annual leave

She is a shift worker so her entitlement is 32 days annual leave which is 16 working days.

seamus

My only suggestion really is that you could come to some arrangement that allows her to extend her maternity leave by the same number of days annual leave that she's due. Fully paid of course.

Yes it kind of is your fault for not sending her off on holidays

Though I can see how it would be easy to not spot this when maternity leave gets thrown into the mix.

nowst

The Person on Maternity Leave is entitled to be paid for these holidays - if the employer wont actually let her take them.

That why most employers let you take them at the end of your ML -