maternity leave/pay on 1 year contract?

[Newfamily2014]

Can any clever mums please answer this question..
I have a job for a year (was a 6 month contract now extended for another 6 months) but has a set date for ending. Am I entitled to maternity leave/pay?
Haven't told the employer that I am currently pregnant (pregnancy started well into the job) and due to give birth a month and a half after the contract ends.
Thanks for your help!

[confusedandemployed]

The short answer is that as long as you've been working there for at least 26 weeks before the 15th week before your due date and earn at least £112 per week then yes you will be entitled to SMP.

[Newfamily2014]

Thanks confused, as it's a fixed term contract what happens to me having to go back to work for 3 months after maternity pay? Do they automatically have to give me a job?

[dementedpixie]

why would you have to go back for 3 months?

[thatstoast]

You don't have to return to work. Do you mean they offer an enhanced package which you have to repay if you don't return to work? If your employment ends before the birth I don't think you'd be entitled to any enhanced package but you would need to clarify that with your employer.

[Newfamily2014]

I work for the NHS and last maternity leave I had to return to work for 3 months after it, otherwise I would have to pay back all of the maternity pay.
I did get pay on top of SMP but thought that was standard for all. Is that the 'enhanced maternity pay' you talk of?

[PeppermintInfusion]

If the pregnancy is after the contract ends I think you would not be entitled to mat pay from your employer's less it was at their discretion, but you would probably be entitled to maternity allowance which is roughly equivalent to SMP anyway. This is paid by the govt to people self employed or who were employed but redundant during pregnancy etc

[BeautifulBatman]

New, yes, any pay on top of SMP is considered as enhanced maternity pay. You wouldn't have had to pay back the SMP element of your maternity pay though, only what was on top of that.

[dementedpixie]

You wouldn't need to pay back basic SMP but would have to pay back any extra pay you got on top of that

[dementedpixie]

Yes you should be entitled to both leave and pay. Gov website says:

If your contract ends

If you satisfy both the continuous employment rule and the earnings rule, your employer must pay you SMP even if your contract ends at any time after the start of the 15th week before the week your baby is due.

[Newfamily2014]

that's good news, thanks everyone!

I've just found the gov.co.uk website and it asks you to answer a series of questions and as you have all said, it looks like I am entitled to pay and leave :-).
It says that I will get 6 weeks at 90% pay and it goes down after that. Looking back I think that is what I got with my last maternity leave so perhaps I didn't get any 'enhanced pay'.

[Spindelina]

From the NHS employers handbook:

15.7
An employee working full-time or part-time will be entitled to paid and
unpaid maternity leave under the NHS contractual maternity pay scheme
if:
i) she has 12 months’ continuous service (see paragraphs 15.61 to
15.65) with one or more NHS employers at the beginning of the 11th
week before the expected week of childbirth;
ii) she notifies her employer in writing before the end of the 15th week
before the expected date of childbirth (or if this is not possible, as
soon as is reasonably practicable thereafter):
(a) of her intention to take maternity leave;
(b) of the date she wishes to start her maternity leave – she can
choose when to start her maternity leave – this can usually be
any date from the beginning of the 11th week before the baby
is born (but see paragraph 15.8);
(c) is about intending to return to work
(d) and provides a MATB1 form from her midwife or GP giving the
expected date of childbirth.

15.42
Employees subject to fixed-term or training contracts which expire after
the 11th week before the expected week of childbirth and who satisfy
the conditions in paragraphs 15.7 (i), 15.7 (ii) (a), 15.7 (ii) (b) and 15.7 (ii)
(d), shall have their contracts extended so as to allow them to receive the
52 weeks, which includes paid contractual and statutory maternity pay,
and the remaining 13 weeks of unpaid maternity leave.

So as long as your contract ends after week twenty something (which it sounds like it will - you say a month and a half) you'll get the full occupational scheme as well as SMP.