what is the earliest i can leave?

[Ellibam]

i am sick of working! and want to know when i could leave?
if i gave notice tomorrow when would the earliest be that i could finish up??

also i work two jobs both of which i could have maternity leave from but i know i would go back to one earlier then the other! would this be against the 'rules' as im undertaking paid employment while on leave from the othe rplace?

[Karina]

As far as I know, you can take you maternity leave as early as you want, but it means you are entitled to a year leave from the day you begin the leave.. so you'd have to go back when bub is younger.

you can do paid emplyment while on maternity leave, but not of theres a conflict of interest... So you wouldnt be able to go work for a competitior, for example.

I think they are the rules anyway. I dont know if its any differnt if you hvae two jobs though.

[Tracey]

I also think you can start maternity leave whenever you like, in our maternity Leave policy at work it says we must give 10wks notice of our intended date for maternity leave, but ofcourse if we had to leave earlier due to medical advice etc we could finish earlier with a Dr's note! But I could have given 10wks notice from the date I had concieved (IYKWIM)...

Also in our policy we have to write a stat dec saying we will not undertake any other paid emplyment whilst on maternity leave! So I cannot do any part time work whilst on mat leave! You should probably check both comapnies policies!???

[Spring Angel]

It may sound like a strange question, but to a certain extent it depends on who your employer is. If your employer is a Pty Ltd Company then you are most likely covered by the Federal Laws, if your company isn't you will most likely be covered by State laws. I see you are in SA, so give your Department or Employment (or equivalent) a call just to check out the process. As a general rule, you need to give notice, about 10 weeks and generally you can't take leave more than 6 weeks before the birth (the legal term is date of confinement). That is unless you have a medical certificate saying that you should stop. Of course, it also totally depends on your boss who may be happier for you to start leave earlier, but no matter when you begin your leave, it is 52 weeks from the date of commencing leave.

Hope it helps.

Spring.

[Tracey]

and generally you can't take leave more than 6 weeks before the birth (the legal term is date of confinement)

Ellibugs,

Where I work it states that the co. can request you to stake leave up to 12wks prior to your EDD (or date of confinement) say if they thought my role jeopardised my pregnancy etc & there wasnt another role for me to do...

It also says we can start leave at any time during our pregnancy, but must notify them of any medical conditions that could harm myself or the baby etc... So as to cover their butts!!

[Spring Angel]

Tracey, you are completely right. Different companies have different policies I was more so talking about what the Legislation says. As I said, it can get so confusing so best just to check with your employer or employment department.

Good luck and I hope you get to leave as soon as you want.

xxooxx
Spring

[Beckibee]

Yep, I hit that technical snag too. *sigh* I was really ill and ended up leaving work at 16 weeks pregnant, thus forfeiting my maternity leave as they had been told (and I was WAY too sick to argue) that you couldn't take maternity leave more than 12 weeks before your due date.

[Ellibam]

well i have given notice that i would like to work until 29th june(i would be 36ish weeks but that it might change! which i know it will i will be giving notice in 6 weeks so i will finish up when im 31 weeks!! if i dont spit it before then!
thanks girls for your help!