Pension contributions on statutory maternity

[MsKitten]

I'm only getting statutory maternity pay from my employer. I have a personal pension scheme that my employer pays into, directly from my wages. Are they require to maintain these payments while I'm receiving maternity pay. Its really not clear from the various government websites what the rules are here.

Also should the company maternity policy explicitly cover things like pension, holidays, health insurance and other benefits?

[flowerybeanbag]

There's no legal requirement for an employer to even have a maternity policy, let alone anything specifying what must be in it.

You say your employer pays into your pension scheme, then say that it's 'directly from your wages'. Who is making the contributions? If your employer makes contributions to your pension they must continue. If they simply deduct contributions from your salary and tranfer them into the scheme for you, it's up to you what happens about your own contributions.

[LisasCat]

I was reading up on this one earlier today. It's not entirely clear, but from what I understand my SMP will in effect be exactly the same as my salary and subject to the same deductions my employer would normally. So in the first instance this means tax and NI, but it also then means other deductions which are already in place, such as my Cycle Scheme payments. For my pension, I currently pay 5% of my salary into my pension, and my employer matches this with 9%. When I go on maternity leave, these 2 payments will continue. If, however, I choose to stop making pension payments, my employer will also be released from their obligation, exactly as if I made that decision outside of maternity leave.

As for other benefits, my health insurance, which is included in my remuneration package, will also continue during maternity leave, and I will contunue to accrue holiday time. The only one I won't have is free school lunches, although if I'm desperate I suppose I could always come into work with a 4 year old and a new baby just to get my free shepherds pie!

[flowerybeanbag]

That's not quite right LisasCat. Your employer is obliged to carry on making their percentage contributions as if you were on full salary, while your percentage contributions will be based on what you are actually receiving in maternity pay. So their contributions will remain exactly the same in monetary terms while yours will reduce in line with your pay.

However it's not clear whether the OP is referring to contributions made by her employer or just contributions made by herself and administered by her employer.