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Returning to work after maternity leave

Advice on your rights as an employee if you are returning to work after ordinary or additional maternity leave.


Discuss returning to work after maternity leave on our forums, right now! Or, post a comment below.

Returning to work

You do not need to give notice of your return if you are going back to work at the end of maternity leave. You simply go to work on the day that you are due back:
  • If you are entitled to OML you will be due back to work on the day after the end of the 26 week period.


  • If you are entitled to AML you will be due back to work on the day after the end of the 52 week period.
If you want to return to work before the end of your maternity leave, you must give your employer at least 8 weeks notice of the date you will be returning. If you do not give this notice and just turn up at work before the end of your maternity leave, your employer can send you away until the end of your leave.

Note: if you are entitled to AML but only wish to take OML you must give 8 weeks notice of your return as you are in fact returning early.

The law does not allow you to work for two weeks after childbirth and this period is known as Compulsory Maternity Leave. You will not be allowed to return to work during this time.

When you go back to work

When you go back to work after OML you have the right to return to exactly the same job. When you go back to work after AML you also have the right to return to exactly the same job, but if your employer can show that it is not reasonably practicable for you to return to the same job, for example, because the job no longer exists, you have the right to be offered a suitable alternative job on very similar terms and conditions.

Working for a small firm

If you work for a firm that employs five people or less, you still have the right to AML. As from the 1st April 2007 your employer is obliged to allow you to return into their employment after maternity leave.

Taking additional time off

You cannot stay off work after your maternity leave has ended as you will lose your right to return to work if you do not go back at the end of your OML or AML (if you are entitled to it).
  • ask your employer if you can take annual leave immediately after your maternity leave. Note that paid holiday continues to accrue during maternity leave so you may have some holiday owing to you.


  • ask your employer if they will agree to a further period off work. You should ask your employer to confirm this agreement in writing and to confirm that you will have the right to return to the same job.


  • take some Parental Leave at the end of your maternity leave. Note that you must give 21 days notice to take parental leave and it is usually unpaid unless your employer offers paid parental leave.


  • if you cannot return because you are ill you can take sick leave as long as you follow your employer's sickness procedures.
Pregnant again

If your maternity leave ends soon and you are pregnant again you still have rights. Maternity leave does not break your continuity of employment, so your right to maternity leave for the new baby will be based on your total service with your employer. You may also qualify for SMP as long as you meet the normal conditions.

However, this will mean you will have to be receiving £77 per week or more from your employer in approximately weeks 18-26 of your pregnancy when SMP entitlement is calculated.

If you have already taken OML and AML (a year off) you will be entitled to a second period of OML and AML. However, if you go straight onto another period of OML without physically returning to work and decide to return to work after the second period of OML you will not have the right to return to exactly the same job as you normally would at the end of OML. However, you will have the same rights as you would have had at the end of AML, which is the right to return to the same job or if that is not reasonably practicable, a suitable alternative job on similar terms and conditions.

If you return to work after the end of your first period of AML and before the start of your second period of OML even if you only return for one day your rights are not affected and you would have the right to return to exactly the same job after OML.

Not returning to work

If you do not want to go back to work you should resign in the normal way, giving the notice required by your contract or the notice period that is normally given in your workplace. If you do not have a contract or nothing has been said you should give a week's notice.

Note: You do NOT have to repay any of the SMP you received.

Changing you mind about returning to work

Many women find it impossible to know before the birth how they will feel afterwards, so it is always a good idea to say you are coming back in order to keep your options open. If you decide later not to return you can resign from your job in the normal way. Your notice period can run at the same time as your maternity leave.

Returning part time

You have the right to ask for part-time or flexible hours and your employer has a duty to seriously consider your request. Your employer must have a good business reason for refusing. You may be able to rely on sex discrimination law if your request is refused and you do not think your employer has a good business reason for the refusal.

Since April 2003 the right to request flexible work involves a clear procedure, which both you and your employer must follow. You should make a written application and your employer must then arrange a meeting with you to discuss it within 28 days, unless your request is agreed at the outset.

Your Comments

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I am currently in a situation that I dont know what to do so I need your help please!!!!!! Long story cut short I was due to visit my work which they knew about and got a phone call asking me not to as the others were not getting on and didn't think I should add to it!!!! I didn't quite believe it and spoke to my colleagues they knew nothing about it! I confronted my boss about it and another few things that had been said and she said "at the moment i was technically not a part of the team so had no rights to be there and let others get on with their jobs"" I was really upset and when i found out that they hadn't contacted another colleague who was of at same time with a baby not to come in i was really upset and angry! I am currently still waiting on any contact from my work as this happened two months ago an no contact has been made!
If i was not to return to work do i need to pay back any maternity leave as i do not want to return to somewhere where i am clearly not welcome as there is other issues that are to long winded to explain!

thank you,xx
added by dazzlefairy [Mon 8th Feb 2010 @ 09:25:43]
I'm due to go on maternity leave shortly,At present i work full time ,on returning to work i will be entering into part time.
But my employer says i must work full time for three months when i first return due to me having nine months off ,Is this right? and if so would it be different if i only took six months off? If anyone could advise i`d be very grateful.
added by thulula [Mon 18th Jan 2010 @ 14:41:53]
I returned to work after 7 months off maternity and I have been facing one issues after the other. One month to when I was suppose to resume, I requested to come back P/T or work flexible but this was was rejected by my boss. Then she told me I need to give another 8 weeks notice again (which I had already done) before I can return so this delayed me returning. Since I have been back, there has been one issue after the other - a poor yealy appraisal 2 weeks after returning (when most of the year I was away on maternity), and now she wants to take away part of my job that makes me senior and replace it with basic admin processing jobs. What should I do??Help!! I am going crazy! Do I have bases for constructive dismissal?
added by mongolia [Thu 3rd Dec 2009 @ 09:31:48]
Hello, I have just had a baby now 10months. I have spoken to my employer about reterning to work to the chef job i used to have but asked to have flexiable hours as mu son goes to nursery. My emploer said i couldnt do that so has changed my job discription to a lower position a kitchen porter. I do want to return to a chef but i feel iv been discriminated for having a child. I do work for a large company. Please Please Please could someone help. Thanks
added by rebeccalouise91 [Mon 16th Nov 2009 @ 09:59:32]
Ive gone back to work last monday, the company I worked for was taken over when I was on maternity leave, im a manager of a coffee shop and The new company I work for, well more so my new boss expects me to do 10 hr a day, Im contracted for 35 hrs per week. Im worried that if I dont he will get upset with me, he already has had me in tears in the way he talks to me, he is very rude and seems to get anger very quickley not just with me with everyone, not sure what to do, i came back tork 6 weeks early to help out and im scared, please give me some advice,
added by ZoeS33 [Mon 12th Oct 2009 @ 10:06:06]
hi, ive been on maternity leave for 10months and going back to work now. i was a supervisor when i left and now my manger is telling me i cant go back to work as a supervisor because i can only work part time.im only going back part time because i have to look after my daughter. he wants to drop my pay and be a general assistant. can anyone help me can they do that or is it against the law?
added by claire00 [Tue 6th Oct 2009 @ 12:07:23]
HIya I am currently coming to the end of my maternity leave from a well known supermarket in jan. I have asked to return part time(16hrs) when previously worked 35hrs but my manager is saying not in so many words that i cant return part time to my previous role. I can only return if i take the same hours etc as b4 i left.I can transfer on to another dept but in january they may not hav the hours for me. And if this is the case they cant offer me anything?Please can anyone advice me on where i stand with this. Im feeling pressurised to goin back b4 xmas so i can guarantee having a job in jan.x
added by jenfranklin1983 [Tue 6th Oct 2009 @ 12:07:01]
Hi iv'e recently went back to work after 6 months. Should I still receive my SMP for the 39 wks on top of my part time weekly wage?
added by adelski30 [Fri 25th Sep 2009 @ 11:05:34]
hi, im due back to work after taking a years maternity leave, i have spoke to my boss about returning. im due back in two weeks and would like to do 16 hours., my job originally was 43 hours. i have asked to come back and do 16 hours but all my boss will offer me do is 8 hours. someone else has taken my place at work and i feel very pushed out. do i have any rights and where do i stand on the matter? thanks.
added by kayleighb [Fri 18th Sep 2009 @ 11:06:30]
Hi, just reading some questions below and it doesn't seem i'm the only one with returning to work problems after having my baby.My problem is very simalar to Ellis2. My employer excepted me back on a part time basis but he has now given me a new contract stating 3 months probation period & No sick leave pay. What will happen if i don't sign the contract. I am also a little worried because he seems to be making my work life very difficult i feel he has some one else now in mind for my job. where do i stand??
added by lifebliss [Tue 14th Jul 2009 @ 17:56:50]
Hello, I am a mother of two. one 5 years and the other 11 mmonths. I left work for maternity leave on a Friday and was induced the next day as planned. I returned to work at nights and weekends just 5 weeks after having my daughter. I made a vebal agreement with my boss that I would return to full time after my oldest started Pre K and I had a place in the daycare for the baby. In Dec I was still waiting for a spot for my daughter in daycare and so was working the part time hours. The company layed off 5 people due to lack of work and told me that their was no more work for me to do at the times I had been working(nights andweekends). I waited 6 weeks before filing an unemployment claim. Today, after two appeals submited by my former employer, I was told I had to pay back all the unemployment I have received. has anyone had this problem or one close to it?Is it lawful for the unemployment office to reject the fact that their was no work for me? I know this is the South and every State has a differant law but federal?
added by Packs [Tue 5th May 2009 @ 12:16:26]
hi i am currently on maternity leave i opted to take the full year off, my 9months maternity ends in may therefore i am due back in august.I have now found out that i am 13weeks pregnant again and want to know if i am entitled to maternity pay again and if i need to return to work earlier than my full year off in order to get my additional maternity pay. please help?
added by ejd [Thu 9th Apr 2009 @ 09:26:34]
Hello everyone
Yesterday I came back after maternity. I asked my boss to give me part time but he refused. He said he only had a full time for me and that he had to send away somebody alse to have me back. In fact he did not fired anyone, only cut others hours, he gave me 25 hours only makeing everything so I quit cause I have nobody to mind my doughter and I am still brestfeeding. Can I do anything about that? Where can I turn to get help?
added by Kamilka [Mon 9th Mar 2009 @ 09:27:26]
Hi,

My employer agreed that I can return to work on a part time basis after Maternity Leave on a new contract. They just sent me my new contract saying this will be on a 3 month probationary basis only and they will review this in 3 months time. Does this mean they can make me redundant in 3 months time and not take into account that I work for them for 4 years full time previously. Basically could they get away with not paying me redundancy if I sign this new contract?
added by Ellis2 [Thu 26th Feb 2009 @ 09:27:13]
Hi,

My employer agreed that I can return to work on a part time basis after Maternity Leave. They just sent me a new contract saying this will be on a six month temporary trial basis only and they will review this in six months time again. Does this mean they can make me redundant in six months time and not take into account that I work for them for 9 years full time previously. Basically could they get away with not paying me redundancy if I sign this new 6 month contract?
added by ARL [Fri 20th Feb 2009 @ 09:13:18]
Hi, I am due to go back to work next month and I have been told that if I go back to work the day I am due to and do not have any sickness for 12 weeks I will get all the money back I missed out on in my wadges while on maternity pay, is this true?
added by whitey2 [Tue 17th Feb 2009 @ 09:43:52]
Advice!!!!!
I am due to return to work in March after finishing my maternity leave after the birth of my son, my employer is making things very difficult for me returning after trying his hardest to make life difficult during me pregnancy! I am the longest serving employee in the company alongside my boss who I always got along very well with up to the point that I told him that I was pregnant, which he didn't seem to like at all and wasn't afraid to say so without thinking first of what he was saying!!! Now that I am due to go back to work he want's me to take on a different job to that I had before, I was a Senior Manager but since I started Maternity leave he has promoted someone else to this position in my shop and now wants me to be floating around the rest of the shops and covering people's day's off, it's the same wages as he knows that he can't decrease this but after working so long in this business and running my own shop for so long it's not really the same position, I'll have to work under people that I have trained in!! This probably sounds very childish and I know that given the position that Ireland is in at the moment with no jobs out there, I should be really grateful that I still have a job, and I am but I was wondering if anyone out there knows if my boss is allowed to this or am I entitled to have the same job that I left six months ago? Can anyone give my advice on this please????
added by Dandy [Tue 17th Feb 2009 @ 09:43:46]
i have been back to work, in a small business for just over a year and a half now, parttime well four days a week, and i am still having problems with having my days off ie digs about not working certain days.. when i cut down my hours it was only really giving up one day a week and continuing to work the others and taking off the days i normally took off..i dont get bank holidays off or a day in loe of this i wonder can they do this to me
added by flint [Fri 30th Jan 2009 @ 09:01:17]
I am wishing to return to my job in Feb but dont have childcare for 1 day of the week, I have pointed this out to my employer and requested flexible working and it has been rejected and they cannot find me another job due to the current climate. Is this a legal reason and arent companies supposed to be family orientated? Lots of mothers in our office work part time/home work and I feel I am being treated unfairly.
Can anyone help with any legal advice?
added by LUND [Fri 23rd Jan 2009 @ 08:49:03]
Hi there, i am under enormous pressure from my Senior about what my role will be when i return from maternity leave, and what will i have to offer my employer when i return from maternity leave. I find these comments extremely rude, he has also been bullying me in statements that my work ethic is 'up the creek' and that i am not passionate about my job. I have had a mediation meeting with other senior staff members to which i was intimidated and told that because i am pregnant that i am irrational. I am extremely depressed and overwhelmed that this type of discrimination still occurs in the work place, my husband and i have been trying to have a child for the past 5 years, with gruelling IVF treatment, which is emotionally and physically draining, and now that things are looking good this happens and i am scared of what might happen to my baby if my work situation does not improve. I work in a University for christ sakes where are you safe these days?
added by Shijaz [Fri 5th Dec 2008 @ 09:31:27]
I have been having quite a lot of problems with my job as they are convinced that if I do not return after my maternity leave that i will have to pay back some of my maternity pay. I have worked their for a year and a half and have never been given a contract. I would be happy to hand in my notice while on maternity but they are in talks with their lawyer at the moment and i think they are doing everything they can to make me pay it back. Does anyone know who wrote the above details? Are they set by the government? Thanks
added by angelbay2008 [Thu 27th Nov 2008 @ 09:36:03]
if i don't return to work after my year off,is it true that i dont have to repay any smp?
added by bugs [Thu 20th Nov 2008 @ 09:08:31]
Because of redeployment in my work, my new manager is pushing for me to return part time, I want to return full time and then try for another baby. I have sussed that she wants to give my part time hours to a fellow worker who has been re-deployed to a part time position to make her full time. This does not feel fair how she is pressuring me.
added by waddle [Mon 10th Nov 2008 @ 09:49:29]
I have returned to work part time after discussion with my employer. I have come back for three days, there appeared to be no problem with this. I have now started back to work and have asked me to sign a new contract which now does not give me sick pay. Can this be allowed.
added by smasher [Mon 3rd Nov 2008 @ 10:12:54]
I returned to work on a 3 day week after being Full Time for 5 yrs. I am now requesting to return to FT status after 6 months PT .My employer is refusing even though I stated that I would like to do this in my return to work interview. Is there any legal statement clearly stating that my request is valid and that my employer should acknowledge this? I'm really fed up with how women are treated if they have a child and work. Am I not as employable as I used to be? I can still do my job even if I need matchsticks to help me stay awake..ha ha. Surely there are answers out there?
added by DeeJay69 [Fri 10th Oct 2008 @ 09:08:57]
Hello, i am due to go back to work in 4 weeks! i have a problem with my childcare and need to change my day i go back!!! what will happen if work say they dont need me that day? as this is the only day i will be able to return? please can i have ur advice thanks you
added by sazlou1 [Tue 23rd Sep 2008 @ 08:53:24]
I worked 3 days a week and want to return. BUT when my manager is on holiday or sick my contract says I have to cover for her. Obviously I wont be able to get child care at short notice if she is sick, so I feel I am unable to return to my job and my area manager agrees. Is there anything I can do about this? Should my work be more lenient by law or is that just life?
added by calv [Tue 16th Sep 2008 @ 09:00:19]
I am about to return to work after my maternity leave. I am going back part time but eventually would like to go back full time. Can I ask to have my full time position kept available for me and if so for how long?
added by manx [Tue 22nd Apr 2008 @ 08:37:14]
My baby is due in August and I have spoken to my employer about part time hours he has said that my job is not open on part time hours where do I stand with this, have you got any advise?
added by Sazza [Tue 22nd Apr 2008 @ 08:37:03]
if i don't return to work how will i carry on with tax and insurance and what benefits i'm entitled too what do i do?
added by WHYE [Mon 7th Apr 2008 @ 08:43:22]
II am returning to work after AML on the same part-time basis as before. However, I have asked to work certain shifts eg: evenings and weekends only due to childcare. My employers say this will mean a permanent change to my contract of employment. Is this correct?
added by lolly147 [Wed 26th Mar 2008 @ 13:17:11]
my employer has said i cant have part time hours when i go back to work where do i stand with this have you got any advise
added by amm [Mon 17th Mar 2008 @ 08:39:05]
I am on maternity leave at the moment. If i decide to go back to work then I would want part time. My employers have already given part time hours to other employees but if they refuse me what rights do I have?
added by Goosenik [Fri 28th Sep 2007 @ 09:25:03]
I was to return back to work after 6 months maternity leave on a part time basis of three days a week when it came to it I was struggling with child care so they let me go back just two days until I was able to take on the third day. Four months later I was able to take on the third day and they now have said no. Before having my baby I worked full time for three years at this company
added by tomcat [Wed 2nd May 2007 @ 18:00:34]
I am pregnant with my first child and will need to return to work three months after the birth is this difficult? I have a very stressful job but need the money
added by LiLi1 [Fri 13th Apr 2007 @ 14:54:39]
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