Hi tatler et al, lets clear this up once and for all:
Maternity Leave is a protected Leave type, so an employee cannot be on any other type of leave while on it. This includes public Holidays which are either tagged on at the end as paid leave, or the employee receives payment for them.
Per your last email Tatler:
1. The legislation protects the right to Public Holidays; of which there are 9 in the year. (The only Bank holidays are Good Friday and December 27th)
2. Whether or not your employer pays you while on Maternity Leave, they must open it up to you to decide whether you want payment for your Public Holidays or time in lieu for any that occur during your leave.
3. Per above, you cannot be on a Public Hiolday and Maternity Leave at the same time, so if employer pays you while on Maternity Leave, it is for this purpose only. Public Holidays accrue during the period of Maternity Leave.
It was your employers decision to pay you for Maternity Leave. While not required to do so, many employers will pay for some or all of Maternity Leave based on collective agreements or best practice.
It is not discriminatory, as only females can take Maternity Leave (except in one exceptional circumstance where a male can on death of mother). All are entitled to Public Holidays, so you should be no exception by virtue of Maternity Leave.
If I refer back to your first post - your employer is correct - you can have the days as unpaid leave or alternatively you can receive payment for them and return to work immediately - you can't have both.
This is correct.