The policy here states the unpaid maternity leave must be taken no earlier than six weeks before the date of your baby's birth and no later than the date of birth. So I can't see how an employer could insist you take annual leave first and still satisfy the law. Some employers give annual leave at the end of the maternity leave component, if a mother wishes to extend her time off, but insisting on it before could mean they are breaking the law. Imagine if you gave birth a couple of weeks early and they still had you on annual leave? You wouldn't be taking your maternity leave as the law stipulates.
I think they can legally require you to only take 12 months, they don't have to allow you to use your annual leave after your maternity leave, but that would be the only thing I could think of.
Update: I read the Fair Work stuff and it seems for pre-adoption leave they can require you to use annual leave. That's the only comment on annual leave that relates to maternity leave on the website.
Last edited by Jennifer13; October 27th, 2010 at 10:42 AM.
Reply With Quote
Bookmarks