have to use my hols before i return from maternity

need help here. employer tried to say a few weeks ago that i was NOT entitled to bank hols while on maternity leave. found out that i was.. now shes saying i have to use all my hols before i return from maternity in a few weeks. i have 16 days to take and she said i have to take them as a whole and i cannot spread them over the weeks. i was working 25 hours pw before maternity and was hoping that if i did take them that i cud take them over the coming weeks and then i wud not have to return til after xmas and still have some hols left. but she said abruptly that she was in charge of the hols and that i had to take them when she says... surely this is not right. thanks in advance.

An employer usually does have the right to decide when holidays are taken. From the employer's point of view, it may be easier for her to have you take the holidays in one block before you return if she already has cover in place for you - rather than have to worry about covering your time off after your return to work. This would be quite common after maternity leave.

Thanks Nutso, also i was a room leader before i left and now she wants to demote me to room assistant. can she do that????

From citizensinformation.ie :

"Under Section 26 of the Maternity Protection Act 1994 you are entitled to return to work to the same job with the same contract of employment. Section 27 of the Act states that if it is not reasonably practicable for your employer to allow you to return to your job, then they must provide you with suitable alternative work. This new position should not be on terms substantially less favourable than those of your previous job.

Otherwise, you are entitled to be treated as if you had been at work during your maternity leave. Your employment conditions cannot be worsened by the fact that you have taken maternity leave, and if pay or other conditions have improved while you have been on maternity leave then you are entitled to these benefits when you return to work."

Would the terms of your employment be the same or similar? I.e. wages, hours, etc?