Returning to work after maternity leave: your rights

Most returns from maternity leave go smoothly. The problems start when the job you left is not the job you are offered, your hours request gets a flat no, or a restructure has conveniently landed while you were away. Here is what the law guarantees you, and what to do when the return goes wrong.

Your right to your job back

The job you return to depends on how much leave you took:

• Ordinary maternity leave (the first 26 weeks): you are entitled to return to exactly the same job, on the same terms.
• Additional maternity leave (weeks 27 to 52): you are entitled to the same job unless it is not reasonably practicable, in which case you must be offered a suitable, similar job on no worse terms.

"Your job no longer exists" is a claim your employer has to be able to prove. A new person sitting at your desk doing your old work is a very bad look for them.

Asking for flexible working

If you want different hours, days or a hybrid pattern, you can make a statutory flexible working request. It is a day-one right, so you can ask from your first day back, and you can make two requests in any 12 months. Your employer must consult you and can only refuse on specific business grounds, such as a real impact on performance or the ability to meet customer demand.

A refusal has to be more than a manager's hunch. If your request is turned down with no genuine consideration, or refused for reasons that do not stack up, that can amount to indirect sex discrimination. Our guide to pregnancy and maternity discrimination covers the broader protections.

Redundancy while you are away or returning

If a redundancy situation arises while you are on maternity leave, you have priority status: you must be offered any suitable alternative vacancy ahead of other employees, without competitive interview. That protection extends for a period after your return as well.

Being selected for redundancy because you were on leave, or because of assumptions about your commitment now you are a parent, is automatically unfair dismissal and discrimination. If a "restructure" has appeared during your leave and your role is in the firing line, read our redundancy rights guide and get advice quickly, because tribunal time limits are short.

The practical bits people forget

• Holiday accrues through your whole leave. You cannot be made to take it all at once at the end, and if you cannot use it because of leave, it should carry over.
• Keeping in touch days (up to 10) can be used before you return to ease back in, paid as agreed with your employer. Details in our statutory maternity pay guide.
• You do not have to give notice to return at the end of your 52 weeks. To come back early you give eight weeks' notice.
• Breastfeeding on return: your employer must provide somewhere suitable to rest, and health and safety rules require a risk assessment for new mothers.

When the return goes wrong

The pattern solicitors see most often: the returning mother is offered a "similar" role that is really a demotion, sidelined from clients and projects, or pushed towards an exit within months. Any of these can be discrimination or constructive dismissal, and the sooner it is on record the stronger your position. A grievance at work creates that record.

If your return is not going the way the law says it should, tell us what is happening. We will match you with a specialist employment solicitor within 24 hours, starting with a free initial conversation. The discrimination team page explains what they handle.