What happens to notice pay when an employee resigns while on maternity leave?

If an employee resigns while on maternity leave, in certain circumstances the employer must pay the employee their normal full pay during the statutory notice period (which is one week for employees with continuous service of one month or more).

The employer can offset the employee’s maternity pay against their full pay. The employer does not have to make this payment until the employee’s employment has ended.

However, an employer’s liability to pay the employee in full for the statutory notice period, does not apply if under the employee’s contract the employer is required to give at least one week more than the statutory minimum notice to terminate the contract. Statutory minimum notice for the employer to terminate the contract is one week’s notice where the employee has been employed for at least a month but less than two years, and then one week’s notice for each year of service up to a maximum of 12 weeks’ notice. The Employment Appeal Tribunal has acknowledged that the effect of this provision may seem odd, but nonetheless, in these circumstances, the employee is not entitled to full pay during the statutory notice period.

As a result, where an employee who resigns while on maternity leave would be contractually entitled to at least one week more notice than the statutory minimum from the employer, they will be entitled only to maternity pay during the notice period – unless their maternity pay period has already expired, in which case they will not receive any pay.

If you’d like further information or to book an HR consultation please contact Karen Scott on 07762 629 448 or get in touch by clicking here.