Employee vs employer

[Molliemoo]

I have had my two successful salon for more than 30 years and I have never met a most selfish, obnoxious employee in my time. She was employed by my salon 4 years ago and resigned on good terms since then she has been employed and self employed with other salon before returning back to my employment.

She started in January 2019 and on the day she walked through the door she admitted that she was 8 weeks pregnant to one of my other employees in which time she didn’t acknowledge me that she was until she was a least 12 weeks ( I understand that you now don’t need to tell your employer that you are pregnant when you start at new job) so everything was put in place did her a risk assessment and beforehand a NHF contract of employment which she signed and accepted.

The past few weeks she has been laying the law down commenting that she needs a bed to rest if she gets tired etc. She finally finished for maternity leave a few days ago but now demanding that I pay her upfront for holidays that she had not a accured yet, is it right that you cannot get holiday pay while you are claiming Maternity Benefit (which I am not paying DWP are ) because she was pregnant when she started. She has also informed me that she isn’t returning to my employment when she finish her Maternity Benefit? Basically she has returned to work so she could get her benefit so annoying that employees think that can twirl employers when trying to make a honest living.

 

[Traveller75]

A few years back when I did payroll, staff got holiday pay when on maternity leave. If they asked for it we paid holiday before it was accrued as they would be accruing it anyway. Dont know if that was the correct way to go about it but our accountant never questioned it. Very frustrating situation, I do feel for you. x

 

[Chinju]

I have had my two successful salon for more than 30 years and I have never met a most selfish, obnoxious employee in my time. She was employed by my salon 4 years ago and resigned on good terms since then she has been employed and self employed with other salon before returning back to my employment. She started in January 2019 and on the day she walked through the door she admitted that she was 8 weeks pregnant to one of my other employees in which time she didn’t acknowledge me that she was until she was a least 12 weeks ( I understand that you now don’t need to tell your employer that you are pregnant when you start at new job) so everything was put in place did her a risk assessment and beforehand a NHF contract of employment which she signed and accepted. The past few weeks she has been laying the law down commenting that she needs a bed to rest if she gets tired etc. She finally finished for maternity leave a few days ago but now demanding that I pay her upfront for holidays that she had not a accured yet, is it right that you cannot get holiday pay while you are claiming Maternity Benefit (which I am not paying DWP are ) because she was pregnant when she started. She has also informed me that she isn’t returning to my employment when she finish her Maternity Benefit? Basically she has returned to work so she could get her benefit so annoying that employees think that can twirl employers when trying to make a honest living.

Maybe it will be a good idea to call DWP and find out a bit more about it. They are generally good when you call them with general enquiries. It’s best to hear from the horses mouth - so to speak.

I hope this helps.

 

[AcidPerm]

Make sure she informs you in writing that she doesn’t intend to return and ask for this before you proceed to pay her the holiday pay.
I wouldn’t normally pay holiday pay in advance of it being accrued but wait until it becomes due. However, if you’ve got her leave date in writing, you can easily work out how much money is due and pay it when it suits you.

 

[TheDuchess]

Your salon insurance most probably includes a legal advice helpline, so use it!

I've had to look up the regulations recently. I employ a pregnant staff member who is currently on mat leave receiving maternity allowance. She started working for me when she was pregnant and disclosed her pregnancy at the start. She isn't planning to return. She's only entitled to maternity allowance, not maternity pay from me.

Your staff member will continue to accrue holiday entitlement during her maternity leave and she can take this at any time after her maternity leave finishes. She isn't entitled to receive both holiday pay and maternity allowance at the same time. She's either on mat leave or on holiday leave. When her mat allowance ends she can take her holiday without returning to work first. She will count as being at work, so she will earn holiday entitlement whilst she is on holiday.

Many employers pay holiday pay at the start of maternity leave but there is no entitlement to this and it's usually done when an employee is receiving maternity pay from the employer - not when an employee is claiming maternity allowance as a DWP benefit.

So if you want to play by the rule book, you dont need to pay her holiday pay whilst she is away. She needs to book her holiday in the usual way for after she returns to work. If she resigns you can calculate her holiday pay to the date of resignation as you normally would.

 

[IBUK]

You say she has a NHF contract... they have a support line and they are very helpful... give them a call