Can an employer recoup maternity pay (less social welfare deductions) if an employee does not return for 6 months work after the maternity leave ends?

There is no obligation on an employer to pay maternity pay. If it chooses to do so, the terms and conditions of payment will normally be provided for in the employer's maternity policy, Employee Handbook or, less often, in the contract of employment. In the absence of written rules regarding the payment of maternity pay, both employer and employee will refer to the custom and practice that has built up within the Company regarding payment of maternity pay.

Company maternity pay tends to be paid in one of two ways a) monthly during maternity leave through the usual payroll or b)as a lump sum on the employee's return to work. A number of employers have started to introduce what are known as