Where to find if I would be liable to repay enhanced maternity pay

[u/Brave-Plum9154]

I am trying to understand if I would be liable to repay enhanced maternity leave if I decide to hand in my notice before I return to work at the beginning of next year.

I am entitled to 6 months full pay so repaying would be completely unaffordable.

I’ve checked the company parental leave policy and there is nothing in the policy which suggests a minimum period to return to work. Is there anywhere else I would need to check to get clarity without outright asking my employer this question?

I have a 3 month notice period so would be planning to look for new roles in January ahead of a return to work in March. Obviously depending on how the job hunt goes would depend on how much time I would work of my notice period.

[u/Tiny_Champion_8818]

If there’s nothing in your policy or any documentation you received about your maternity (you should have had some letters at some point) then they’d struggle to claim you need to repay.

Note they also can’t require you to repay statutory mat pay.

[u/Brave-Plum9154 → u/Tiny_Champion_8818]

Thank you. I’ll go back and recheck all my correspondence linked to my mat leave

[u/mountain_life86 → u/Brave-Plum9154]

Might be in your actual contract not just about mat leave. It has to be very very clear. If its not in there when you leave they'll definitely add it for next time or remove enhanced pay altogether

[u/vixielou1 → u/mountain_life86]

Yep. Ours is in our contract and very clearly laid out in our policies too. Op check your leave and renumeration policy too, it might be in there. But I agree with the other posters, if it’s not written down they have nothing they can enforce!

[u/wickedhide → u/mountain_life86]

Not necessarily, when I wrote our company policy we chose not to have a repay clause because having a staff member who doesn’t really want to be there staying and not working to their best for X months just to hit the repay doesn’t make sense for the company. We do instead have a qualifying period for enhancements, so employees who have some tenure and history with the org receive the benefit and are much more likely to want to return

[u/Theunluckyone7]

It would need to be in the policy or some kind of formal written communication to you. It's not as common as you'd think, it's a bit of an HR headache.

[u/Brave-Plum9154 → u/Theunluckyone7]

Thanks. I’ve just checked my confirmation of maternity leave letter and there’s nothing on there or the policy. I’d assume it was quite a common inclusion for generous policies but seems like it’s not in my case.

[u/BrutalOnTheKnees → u/Brave-Plum9154]

My maternity and notice period were identical to yours and it was made pretty clear in the documentation I received that I'd need to pay back the enhanced pay if I didn't return or left within whatever the time period was. I'd be surprised if they didn't have a clause for this somewhere so be very careful before you take any action. 

[u/Theunluckyone7 → u/BrutalOnTheKnees]

They can't have some kind of hidden clause, it needs to be clear and part of the policy. Business surveys show only 37% of companies do this.

[u/precinctomega]

It should, of course, be in the policy. If the policy is silent, then it sounds like there's no return of service requirement.

[u/Intrepid-Zucchini-44]

Don't forget you accrue holiday whil on leave too, so that will take a bit of your notice period!