Maternity Cover salary

[Ellypoo]

Hi
I work for a small company, but quite high up in a relatively 'specialised' role, no-one else in the company will be able to cover while I am on maternity leave.
I am trying to find temp cover for parts of my role (not all of it - there are quite a few aspects that I will be continuing to do from home during my mat leave), and have spoken to an agency today.
Basically, they have told me that they are unlikely to find someone for the salary that I am on, even though the new person won't be doing my full job - do you think I'm wrong to be a little bit p*ssed off if my temp cover gets paid more than me? We will also have to pay an agency fee, which will be about £5k and as we will have a 2 month handover before I go on mat leave, they will have to pay us both for that period of time - as I mentioned before, it is only a small company and things have been difficult for a few years because of the economy, so I already feel guilty for heaping this extra cost on them.
So, am I being unreasonable to think that I should get a payrise now, even though I will be going on mat leave soon (and the bus isn't going so great), and be mega pissed off that my temp cover, who will still be coming to me for guidance during my mat leave, will be paid more than me with fewer responsibilities????

Sorry for the long post!!!!

[BooBooGlass]

yabu for expecting a payrse. Presumably you ar ehappy to do your job for the salary you recieve, otherwise you'd be looking for another job. Speak to a different agency. Or just put an ad in the paper. Cheaper all round.

[catsareevil]

It would be normal for a person in a temp position to be paid more than someone in a permament role.

[Grevling]

Ask yourself this. How much would you want to do a role for a year then get sent packing with no redundancy pay not knowing when your next job might be.

Mat cover is usually higher paid for this very fact, also they generally need someone who can hit do the job straight off and doesn't need training, development and can pick up things quickly.

So yes, you're being very unreasonable to ask for a pay rise or indeed to ask a temp cover to work for the same salary as you.

FWIW why are you using a recruitment agency? IMO they don't add anything to the mix, if its specialised then advertise and vet the CVs yourself.

[KatieMiddleton]

If you are on maternity leave and claiming SMP you should not be working. The only exception is 10 keeping in touch days which must be taken as whole days, not 70-80 hours (depending how many hours in a normal working day) to be taken as and when.

Tbh that's more of a concern than the payrise nonissue.

Is it your employer who expects you to be working during your maternity leave or you? Could you go back sooner and split the leave with your dh?

[Lizcat]

Very, very normal to pay temporary staff quite a lot more as others said it is due to the uncertainty. Typically temporary staff in my industry get around 50% more than permanent staff, but off course they are not paid when they are on holiday, they have to pay for their own continuing professional development and are not paid when they are attending it.

[flowery]

"...it is only a small company and things have been difficult for a few years because of the economy, so I already feel guilty for heaping this extra cost on them. So, am I being unreasonable to think that I should get a pay rise now...?"

These two sentences don't really make sense. You are cross on your employers behalf that they are having to pay so much for a temp to cover you because they are struggling financially, but want them to also pay you more.

If your salary when compared to the market rate for permanent staff doing similar jobs is too low, compile some evidence of that and request a pay rise. I'd probably do it when you come back though.

And yes, you shouldn't be working from home during your maternity leave other than for your 10 KIT days, so what's the deal there?