Maternity pay? Want to leave my job

[Tootersma]

I have worked for my current employer for over 5 years. Am currently 10 weeks pregnant and my husband and I, due to family circumstances, wish to move cities to be closer to our family and therefore will have to leave my job. Does anyone know where I stand regarding receiving maternity pay from my employer? How much longer do I need to work for them to receive MP? We wont be moving for at least another couple of months.

[DebiNewberry]

I don't think you can resign and receive maternity pay from your employer at all? Not sure about SMP though...I'm sure somebody more knowledgeable will be along shortly though.

[Kayzr]

If you leave then you won't get SMP from your employer. You will have to claim maternity allowence which I think you get from the job centre.

[flowerybeanbag]

You can resign and still get SMP for 9 months as long as you are still employed during the 'qualifying week', which is the 15th week before your due date, or when you are 25 weeks pregnant.

Once you've reached that mark, you can then leave employment without losing your SMP.

However it might be worth hanging on a little bit longer anyway. You can start your maternity leave at 11 weeks before your due date - so only another 4 weeks, then you can be still employed for the duration of your maternity leave. The advantage of that is you don't just get SMP, you also get all your contractual benefits for the whole of your maternity leave, including all your holiday. If you then leave employment without returning from maternity leave, your employer will need to pay you all your holiday.

For the sake of a few weeks, that might well be worth considering.

See here all about SMP.

[PavlovtheForgetfulCat]

as flowerybeanbag said, with that in mind, would it be possible for you to stay put a little longer, or stay with some-one in the area, or rent a small flat for yourself for just those few weeks to get yourself to 11 weeks pre-birth? Or commute for that period (don't know how far apart the cities are)