Annual Leave and Maternity Leave

[Lindy Mc]

I have just found out I'm Pregnant, Yay! however I am due 7th November. I started my current employment 21st November. My employer offers 12 weeks paid maternity leave but I fear I will miss out. Are you allowed to use Annual Leave, Sick Leave leading up to maternity Leave? i.e: Start Maternity Leave 21st November and use 3 weeks annual Leave prior to this?

[2015]

Hi, congratulations! I don't believe you can use sick leave within the last six weeks as you should be put on MAT LEAVE paid/unpaid depending what you are entitled to but I am not sure about annual leave. If you will have enough you call your HR to see if they will allow you to use your annual leave up until the 7th then get your Mat leave to kick in. If they don't let you, or you don't have enough annual leave, you might miss out :-(

Also, if you moved from another job in a similar area, you might be able to count your previous job as 'continuous service' for your current job. It is worth checking if this applies to you.

[Wise Enough]

If you went two weeks over due you may be able to pull it off but I think that's the only way. Or find an Ob willing to fudge your dates . It would mean working right up to the end though. I worked to 38.5 and it's not easy.

[Wise Enough]

Although if you put in the request for annual leave now it could help.

[Vixjc]

Hi Lindy - you need to have 12 months continuous service as at the date of birth to be eligible for the statutory unpaid leave, so you need to be on leave that counts for the purposes of continuous service eg annual leave, sick leave. If you take unpaid leave before you reach 12 months continuous service you are not entitled to maternity leave at all (but they may choose to grant it to you anyway).

If you take annual leave immediately prior to your mat leave, the period of mat leave you receive is shortened by the number of weeks annual leave you take. Although a lot of employers don't understand that so it will depend on your employer as to what they do there.

As for sick leave - you can work after the 34th week if you provide a med cert that says you are fit to do so. If you then take sick leave for pregnancy related reasons for the last few weeks to get you to 40 weeks, you are not fit to be at work in those 6 weeks you should be on mat leave and therefore your mat leave should start (if you have crossed over 12 months service) from the commencement of the sick leave and the sick leave should be unpaid. If you have not crossed over 12 months service, your sick leave could be paid but then you won't be entitled to mat leave. Naturally this all depends on how tightly your employer applies the legislation.

So that is the statutory scheme, your employer can set its own rules for when it pays out paid mat leave so you'll need to check the policy and speak to your employer. The Fair Work Ombudsman also has a telephone enquiry line where you may be able to get some if your questions answered.

I wouldn't try fudging your estimated due dates, that is grounds for summary dismissal. Those white lies are always discovered (keeps me busy! I've always got clients calling about their employees having done that sort of stuff). One of your work 'friends' will talk, or a Facebook post will let the cat out of the bag, etc...

Good luck :-)

[ExcuseMyFrench]

It depends on your employer policy.

My employer doesn't let you use AL prior to their paid maternity leave entitlement. It has to be taken after the maternity leave.

HOWEVER I was able to by-pass the policy by just getting my manager to approve my annual leave and then ask HR to start ML on X date.
So HR had no idea I was using AL before mat leave.
Hope it makes sense.

I agree with a PP. I'd request AL now, then it might be more difficult for your employer to deny it later down the track.

SL you can take if you have a certificate. I'm 28wks pregnant and just took 1 week off cause I'm sick.