Holiday Entitlement When Returning From Maternity Leave

Employees continue to accrue both their full statutory annual leave entitlement of 5.6 weeks plus any additional contractual entitlement throughout both ordinary maternity leave and additional maternity leave.  This also applies to employees who take paternity and adoption leave.

For full-time employees who wish to return to work on a part-time basis after such leave, the holiday is calculated at their original contractual agreement and then adjusted from the date they commence the part-time employment.

Here’s an example based on the holiday year beginning from the 1st of January:

A female staff member is considered to be a full-time employee from the 1st of January to the 31st of October, when she returns from maternity leave.  However, from the 1st of November she wishes to work 2.5 days per week. 

Her holiday entitlement from January to October will be 28 days / 12 months x 10 months = 23.33 days.

For November to December it will be 2.5 days x 5.6 weeks = 14 days / 12 months x 2 months = 2.33 days.

The total annual leave will be 23.33 days + 2.33 days = 25.66 days for the year.

Date published 5 Dec 2012

This article is intended to inform rather than advise and is based on legislation and practice at the time. Taxpayer’s circumstances do vary and if you feel that the information provided is beneficial it is important that you contact us before implementation. If you take, or do not take action as a result of reading this article, before receiving our written endorsement, we will accept no responsibility for any financial loss incurred.