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{"id":5178,"date":"2018-09-15T08:50:06","date_gmt":"2018-09-15T08:50:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.tribunalclaim.com\/?p=5178"},"modified":"2018-09-20T09:00:15","modified_gmt":"2018-09-20T09:00:15","slug":"pay-maternity-pay-back-dont-go-back-work","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.tribunalclaim.com\/pay-maternity-pay-back-dont-go-back-work\/","title":{"rendered":"Do You Have To Pay Maternity Pay Back If You Don’t Go Back To Work?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Going back to work after maternity leave is a difficult question to answer for most employees, especially if you\u2019re sitting on the fence.<\/p>\n

Whether it\u2019s something you\u2019ve always planned for or a last minute gut decision, working mothers often ask if there are potential penalties or ramifications of not going back to work at the end of the maternity leave.<\/p>\n

Here, it is important to consider that unless there is a contractual obligation for you to go back to work once the maternity leave expires, your employer wouldn\u2019t have much legal recourse.<\/p>\n

However, there can be certain instances in which, your employer may require you to return the health benefit premium or the maternity pay if you don\u2019t go back. So, before you decide to send in your resignation letter, let us take a closer look at some aspects of employment law in the UK that allow employers to recover maternity pay and what loopholes there are.<\/p>\n

Overview<\/h2>\n

In the United Kingdom, some employers offer Contractual Maternity Pay, which is better than Statutory Maternity Pay (SMP).<\/p>\n

If you receive Contractual Maternity Pay and decide not to go back to work, you will only have to pay it back if this was specifically stated in your employment contract or the company maternity policy, or was agreed in advance. Also, it is important to not you would ONLY have to repay the extra-contractual pay and not the SMP part of your maternity pay, is these cases.<\/p>\n

Therefore, the answer to your question – whether you have to repay the maternity pay if you don\u2019t go back to work – depends on whether you are offered Contractual Maternity Pay in addition to Statutory Maternity Pay only.<\/p>\n

Let us first look at being paid Statutory Maternity Pay only.<\/p>\n

Statutory Maternity Pay (SMP)<\/h2>\n

There are two different rates at which the SMP is payable:<\/p>\n