maternity pay

[Redken24]

hi,
FTM - do most employers pay Occupational maty pay and then get stat maty pay as well? its all so confusing

[Diddlydokey]

I just got basic SMP.

I know a few who got SMP plus a certain % of their salary on top

[flowery]

It shouldn't be confusing! Your employer's maternity policy ought to be clear about whether they pay anything on top of SMP. Some do, some don't.

[Redken24]

thanks - i have scoured it again (slower) and can see it says it does?
just worried about money already x

[LIZS]

If you get occupational maternity pay that includes Smp so you don't receive that in addition. Not all employers offer more than Smp and those that do usually put conditions on it as it is intended to improve post ml retention.

[Tfoot75]

What pp said. You don't get both, your employer claims smp from the state and pays this to you in your usual pay slip. If they pay enhanced maternity pay on top of statutory they will top this up to whatever your contract states. It should be written quite simply. Smp is 6 weeks at 90% average pay or full pay, whichever is higher I think, plus a further 33 weeks at statutory rate and a further 13 weeks unpaid. If your employer is offering anything more than this it is enhanced.

[flowery]

"If you get occupational maternity pay that includes Smp so you don't receive that in addition"

Not necessarily. Local government employees get 90% for 6 weeks, then half pay plus SMP for 12 weeks, unless that exceeds full pay. The point is the OP's employer's maternity policy should be clear about what they offer and under what conditions they offer it.

[Redken24]

Where an employee intends to return to work the amount of contractual maternity pay receivable is as follows:
i) for the first eight weeks of absence the employee will receive full pay, less any Statutory Maternity Pay or Maternity Allowance (including any dependents’ allowances) receivable;
ii) for the next 18 weeks the employee will receive half of full pay, plus any Statutory Maternity Pay or Maternity Allowance (including any dependents’ allowances) receivable, providing the total receivable does not exceed full pay;
iii) for the next 13 weeks, the employee will receive any Statutory Maternity Pay or Maternity Allowance that they are entitled to under the statutory scheme.

[flowery]

Ok so that's very similar to the local government scheme then. Full pay for 8 weeks, including SMP. Half pay plus SMP for 18 weeks unless that equals more than full pay, in which case you'll get a total of full pay. Then after that SMP for 13 weeks.

[JacquettaWoodville]

That's a pretty generous policy.

SMP is 90% of full pay for six weeks, so I think it's slightly badly phrased to say they will top up to full pay for 8 weeks (6 of which they will only be paying 10% from their own 'pocket', 2 of which they top up from £140-ish per week). Thereafter it's half pay plus SMP (at the £140-ish per week or whatever the current rate is).

[JacquettaWoodville]

x post with flowery, who put it better

[Jackiebrambles]

Looks pretty good to me! Most employers only offer SMP.
Sounds like some of it might be payable back IF you don't return to work. That's what the first sentence looks like to me.

[Redken24]

thanks for all the replies ! I have 0 experience with any of this, i thought that i would have to return to work once i went onto half pay ... thanks guys x