Redundancy pay and maternity related leave...

Hi,

I have a question regarding payment in a redundancy situation, and was hoping that someone could help. I am due to return from maternity leave on 17th March, but then will be using my annual leave accrued over the last year to give me a return date of 30th April.

I have been informed today that I am now under TUPE consultation as the contract I work on has been lost to another company. Now in all likliehood I will also enter into a redundancy situation as the new company are purely a head office based operation (SE England) and don't have anyone based regionally, which I am expecting (but not assuming) will make my role redundant as I am based in NW England.

Stated in my employee handbook, there is a benefit of 5 'baby days' to be taken upon return from maternity lave, see below:

" Flexible Postnatal Option - ***** offers you as a new mother, the opportunity to take the equivalent of 5 days paid ‘Baby Care’ leave after returning to work following any Maternity Leave. These 5 days can be taken in 1 of 2 ways:
* for the 5 weeks immediately following your return to work, your working hours may be reduced by one fifth (as in ***** Flexible Antenatal Option), or
* five days may be reserved for appointments etc. for the purposes of the child’s immunisations, check ups and doctor’s appointments etc
These 5 days should be taken within 3 months of returning to work and are pro-rated accordingly for those working part-time."

My question is: in the event of redundancy would I be entitled to payment in lieu of these 5 days as per normal annual leave?

I'm just trying to consider all options and would be really grateful if anyone could shed any light?

Many thanks,

Martha x

Simple answer - no. They are entitlements conditional upon returning to work and applicable in certain set ways. Not extra "leave". If you return to leave before (maybe) being made redundant (which is possible) then I would suggest taking them.