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Maternity rights
Hi,
I work for a very large NHS hospital and am 24 weeks pregnant.
I have been with my employer since June 2011 but have only been in the current department I work in since January 2012.
I started this new job when I was around 12 weeks pregnant and told my manager and colleagues this on the exact day I had my 12 week scan. This job is full-time, 4 full days working 8-5 and one half day 8-11:30.
I know my rights regarding maternity pay and that is all fine, neither I or my manager disputes this, BUT, there is something I'm not too sure about and it's causing me a lot of worry.
Basically, I have told my manager that I will not be able to return to my current role as I will not be able to come back as a full-time employee due to childcare costs. I do want to return to work, I am not just take and run with my maternity pay (which if I do not return to work I am required to pay back in full anyway).
She advised me that my current job role is STRICTLY full-time (which I completely understand, my current job could not be part-time), yet she has said that she is under no obligation to find me an alternative role within the company that would accomodate the hours I can work (which I have not discussed in detail). However, I have told my fiance this and he has looked into it and apparently if I cannot come back after maternity leave full-time they should try to accomodate flexible-working and if they cannot do this, I will not be responsible for returning the money I was paid on maternity leave.
When I discussed this with my manager, she advised me that I would need to find my own part-time role in the company to return to, and when I informed her of my worry that I might not be able to find a part-time job within the organisation and having to pay all of that money back even though I have every intention on coming back to the organisation, she said something along the lines of "you will have to face that problem when it comes" (not word for word, but something to that effect).
I would just like to know where I stand on this because I don't want to put myself into debt over something I believe I am fully entitled to.
This is causing me a hell of a lot of stress as I am worried about becoming unemployed and in debt, just because I cannot afford to put my child into full-time care.
Thank you for reading
I work for a very large NHS hospital and am 24 weeks pregnant.
I have been with my employer since June 2011 but have only been in the current department I work in since January 2012.
I started this new job when I was around 12 weeks pregnant and told my manager and colleagues this on the exact day I had my 12 week scan. This job is full-time, 4 full days working 8-5 and one half day 8-11:30.
I know my rights regarding maternity pay and that is all fine, neither I or my manager disputes this, BUT, there is something I'm not too sure about and it's causing me a lot of worry.
Basically, I have told my manager that I will not be able to return to my current role as I will not be able to come back as a full-time employee due to childcare costs. I do want to return to work, I am not just take and run with my maternity pay (which if I do not return to work I am required to pay back in full anyway).
She advised me that my current job role is STRICTLY full-time (which I completely understand, my current job could not be part-time), yet she has said that she is under no obligation to find me an alternative role within the company that would accomodate the hours I can work (which I have not discussed in detail). However, I have told my fiance this and he has looked into it and apparently if I cannot come back after maternity leave full-time they should try to accomodate flexible-working and if they cannot do this, I will not be responsible for returning the money I was paid on maternity leave.
When I discussed this with my manager, she advised me that I would need to find my own part-time role in the company to return to, and when I informed her of my worry that I might not be able to find a part-time job within the organisation and having to pay all of that money back even though I have every intention on coming back to the organisation, she said something along the lines of "you will have to face that problem when it comes" (not word for word, but something to that effect).
I would just like to know where I stand on this because I don't want to put myself into debt over something I believe I am fully entitled to.
This is causing me a hell of a lot of stress as I am worried about becoming unemployed and in debt, just because I cannot afford to put my child into full-time care.
Thank you for reading
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