Not returning from maternity leave & entitlements from work
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@Shan thank you! Yeh I’ll deff give citizen’s advice a call! No we don’t have a union unfortunately 😫x
You would need to check your contract and maternity policy/maternity agreement. Usually you have to sign and agree that you will return to work for at least 3 months etc otherwise if you leave you will have to pay back the enhanced maternity pay. You may need to check the commission policy as well. When would you usually get paid out for the commission? Not everyone would be comfortable with this but people do do it, you could get a sick line and use that to run off your pay back period.
Definitely check your commission policy closely - not uncommon for your company to have discretion to withhold that. But equally you could probably argue that if they’re going to withhold it they should at least net it off the amount you owe them Good luck and go you for going back to uni! 💪
Thanks ladies, yeh I said from the start I was more than happy to pay my enhanced maternity back as I just wasn’t happy there and I want to be I. A happy environment for my boy 🤍 I’m just going to accept my loss and just be proud of how much work I put in and what I achieved for the company so heavily pregnant 🤷🏼♀️ I’m looking forward to a fresh start this Monday although I’m so nervous about my big starting nursery! Thanks for your advice 🫶🏻🫶🏻
Citizen advice however ACAS is more geared towards employment contracts and ofc a union representative will be able to guide you if they are or not in breech of their maternity policy or if they are trying to discriminate against you personally . I am in a similar situation i’m basically dammed if i do dammed if i don’t as i’ll need to go off on maternity again and they would probably make me pay it back if I decided not to stay afterwards so I’m actually thinking of quitting beforehand to pursue something else as I wouldn’t have who to leave my two babies wit , if you are indeed liable to pay the 6 grand holidays alone would probably not cover it and you’d have to either keep working for them (without pay) or have a massive debt towards them so I would really start investigating if they are in breech of any maternity policy. It is true that unfortunately some companies will want you to continue working despite whatever happens in your life after having children it is quite heartless
I don't know your arrangement with work but best bet is to contact citizen advice bureau, they tend to have in place free solicitors advice too which could ne useful (specialisation of said solicitor varies according to area) In general though, when pregnant and on maternity leave, we are protected under law Do you have a union? I would say join that to get the added benefit of legal advice and support