I wouldnt go to parttime hours if you can aviod it as it will probably affect your maternity leave payments in the way you described.
Can you take sick leave instead, or use temporary disablilty - I know one mum who used her supers temporary disablility cover and was on 70% full pay for the last 5 months of her pg.
The returning to work part, relating to paid leave and whether you'd have to repay it, is something your employer will have a policy on. When I took parental leave at my old employer is was 12 weeks paid. There was no requirement to pay it back if you didnt return to work.
As far as having another baby/becoming pg while on maternity leave, I think the entitlement to 52 weeks unpaid leave is based on 12 months continuous *paid* employment - I think you need to be back at your job for 12 months before you are entitled to another 52 weeks? But I'm not sure.
Unpaid leave is legislated so I'd ring the relevant government department to enquire.
I think it all depends on your company. I'll be taking my second lot of paid maternity leave in December, and I would only have been back for 8 months. I checked with HR before becoming pregnant again though and they said that I could basically have two lots of continuous paid maternity leave!
The best thing for you to do is to talk to HR. They'll be able to give you all the details you need.
I agree with what everyone said re checking with your HR dept for the guidelines. I know at my company there's no minimum length of service to qualify for paid maternity leave, but I suspect this is not the norm. Also, I agree with using sick, annual or unpaid leave to cut your hours down as opposed to switching from full-time to part-time work. That way you are still classified as a full-time employee for the purposes for your paid leave.
I'm taking some unpaid leave prior to finishing in order to maximise the duration I can work (due to some things going on at work) but also to manage both my health and work performance. So in my last 4 weeks, I plan to work 4 days a week (for 2 weeks) then 3 days a week (for 1 week) then 2 days a week in my last week. When I suggested this as a flexible compromise, my work were very happy with it. As I am out of annual & sick leave, I'll simply use unpaid leave for those days. Sounds like your boss isn't great to talk to, but might be worth trying to find someone good (maybe in HR?) who you could discuss your options with. Good luck with it!
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