I work for multiple employers on PAYE. When I went on maternity leave all employers had received my MAT B1 form and corresponded. One employer paid my mat leave.

Upon return from my mat leave the employer that did not pay my mat leave then requested references to evidence that I’d been absent from work due to having a baby (no, the baby wasn’t enough). The forms I had to fill in were the same as when I first applied for my job. Despite contacting them well before the end of my mat leave, it then took them 4 months after I should have returned to clear me to work. I had no case as far as the Union were concerned.

Interestingly, they cleared me for work the week they closed down for Covid, lockdown 1. Consequently, I was not entitled to any furlough from them. The employer who paid my mat leave also chose not to pay during lockdown (guidance was worded should not must, advice they were given said they did not need to pay me).

My frustration is with having to prove I had a baby and reapply for my job then waiting 4 months for it to be processed. Everything was done by the book before I went off, they received my forms.