Hi, I understand that you can add unused holiday entitlement to the start or end of maternity leave. However, I get nearly 6 weeks holiday per year, and our current rules state you can only use max of 2 weeks together at a time, so if i took 2 weeks at the start of my leave and 2 weeks at the end, are you allowed to take holiday in the middle of maternity leave or is this up to individual companies? The usual rule is holiday not used is not carried over to the next year, but if i cant take it seems unfair I should loose out?
have you checked to see if this applies to holiday taken on end of maternity leave?
they may allow it in that circumstance? or you could perhaps use it to ease yourself back into work bit by bit?
It really will be up to your individual employer's policy on maternity leave. I know that if people are on extended sick leave with my employer, their holiday still accrues and they take it before they return to work. I would have thought (depending on your company policy) that they might have been able to pay you in lieu, but I could be wrong. Worth checking with your HR department.
It's worth checking what the holiday entitlement will be next year as holidays will probably accrue/be calculated on a different basis while you are on Mat Leave. You can also check with your employer what the rules are for carrying forward holidays
Holiday leave accrues at exactly the same rate when you are on maternity leave but employers are expected to be flexible on their usual policies to ensure you still get your full allowance. You can tag it on to the beginning or the end but not in the middle, as this would effectively 'end' your maternity leave.