Do I get maternity pay if I am made redundant?

[potoroo]

There are rumours of redundancy packages coming up in a few months for our company, and I am going to seriously consider taking one as they are quite attractive.

Does anyone know whether the company would need to pay out my maternity package as well? I haven't told HR I am pregnant yet, but I will do so if they need to take that into account.

[3xamum]

I don't know is the honest answer but you should still be entitled to the goverment paid maternity benefit on top (the £110 a week jobby)

[uwila]

If yu work until your qualifying week you will get mat benefits.

If I were you, I would hand HR a letter informing them of my pregnancy in the hopes that it kept me off the redundancy list. But, do it in writing so they can't say they didn't know you were preggers.

My guess is that if you haven't told them you are pregnant yet then you haven't made it to the qualifying week.

[MrsJohnCusack]

am racking my brains - I was made redundant whilst pregnant a couple of years ago - and seem to remember they had to pay all the maternity pay. In the end though, the maternity pay period overlapped with my 3 months notice on full pay, so I didn't get it for the overlapping period, as the full pay was more than the maternity ITSWIM so it was subsumed into my full pay. If you are made redundant during your maternity leave period, they would have to pay any outstanding amount owing to you in the final package (including any holiday allowance recalculations).
This is all to do with statutory minimum pay as that's all my company offered. However I would imagine that they would need to do the same if they do offer an enhanced package - you should be paid all that you would have recieved had you not been made redundant (save any period where maternity overlaps with full pay notice)

[MrsJohnCusack]

yes had forgotten about the qualifying week
def tell HR ASAP. I found out about possible redundancies when I was about 7 weeks, but the faffing about/consultation period etc. easily took me up to past the qualifying week before I agreed terms

[potoroo]

Thanks everyone.

I am only 5 weeks, but I should be in the same situation as you were MrsJC - with my notice period and the 3 month consultation period (it is a large company and they will definitely make more than 100 people redundant) I should just make it into the qualifying week.

I think after 2nd child I might not go back to work, so getting a redundancy package would be a bonus.

I've now got to decide whether to tell my new boss (we've all been shifted around in a re-org)....

[uwila]

If you tell them (and I would) then do it in writing. I was in this exact situation when I was pregnant with number 2. I kept it a secret for some time, and then when things got to the point where I thought it was in my interest to be the pregnant chick I asked if we could have a chat. I walked round with a formal letter and hended it to him in a friednly chat kind of way. In the end, he was quite good to me. I sa around doing nothing on overhead whilst other round me were laid off and resigned in large numbers. I think I was safe because I was pregnant and it looks like unfair dismissal even if it isn't.