I work for the NHS under the modern apprenticeship scheme. It's a two year course where I work and train in a hospital and go to college part time. So I'm a year and a few months into the course and have discovered I'm pregnant
. The training scheme and therefore, my contract is set to end August 2010. I've been speaking to my manager about how all of this is supposed to work out and unfortunately, we're not getting anywhere. The actual training aspect is not a concern, because I know I can complete all the necessary components before I go off for maternity leave. So what has us all stumped is what exactly are my rights in respect to maternity leave and pay?
No one has ever gotten pregnant during this training scheme in our Trust, so no one really knows what the rules are. HR is giving me and my manager the run around because they don't know how to handle it either. So here are the facts, I'm due 19 Mar 2010 and my contract ends August 2010. The permanent pharmacy position that I am training for will open for application around April/May 2010. So if I weren't pregnant, I'd apply for the job at that time, and if I was hired (trainees are almost always hired - this training scheme is repeated yearly.), I'd begin working on a normal salary as a permanent employee in Sept. 2010. Up until Sept, I'd continue working in the hospital, receiving my student wages under the original student contract.
I would very much like to apply for the permanent position, but I also want to take any maternity leave due to me. So if I'm eligible for the full 52 weeks, then that's what I want to do. If this means I cannot or should not apply for the permanent position in April, then fair enough, I won't, but what are the rules here? If I did apply for the postion, would they have to hold it for me until I returned from mat leave? My manager seems to think that I must either apply for the position as planned in April, then return from maternity when the post begins in Sept. Or I must leave the company in August at the end of my contract and would therefore no longer be eligible for any maternity pay after August and may have to pay back some of the mat money given to me. Is this right?
I've been doing some research on the internet and found that employees on maternity leave with a fixed term contract must have their contracts extended to allow them to take their full 52 weeks. Then I found out that although it seems I'm on a fixed term contract, I'm not really - apprentices, students, temp workers do not fit into this category. Ok, so which category do I fall into then? Then I found something else to say apprentices are to be treated the same as permanent employees. Ok, but where does the leave me come August? You see my dilemma here? My maternity policy does not cover this specific topic, so this is where the problem is really coming in. Does anyone have any advice on where to turn to for some answers? If anyone has any experience in this situation, it would be great, but I appreciate it's rather unique.
Luckily, my husband's salary allows me to focus more on taking time off to be with the baby, rather than any financial aspect of the situation- however, I do want to put all my hard work to good use and actually work in the hospital for the position I've been training for.
Sorry for the long winded post, but I wanted to give as much detail as possible.
Brigette
