Do i qualify or not?

[singleteenagemum]

Got a meeting with my head of personnell in an hour about my maternity pay.

Work have said that they won't pay me SMP because i apparently i haven't worked here long enough. I've worked here 27weeks this weeks and according to work i'm 23 weeks pregant. I was under the impression that as long as you had been working for your employer continuously for 26weeks before the 15week before your due date then you qualify...does anyone know if that's right? i'm so confused!

[jessicasmummy]

You must have been employed by your employer in the 15th week before the week your baby is due

To get SMP you must have been:

Employed by the same employer without a break for at least 26 weeks into the 15th week before the week your baby is due. Part weeks count as full weeks.
Earning before tax an average of £79 a week. This is called the Lower Earnings Limit for National Insurance Contributions (NI) and is the amount you have to earn to qualify for benefits. You have to earn more than this amount before you actually start paying NI.


This was taken from the job center plus web site. HTH

[starshaker]

try giveing ur socila security office a call i was in the same situation and didnt qualif however i do get maternity allowance which is basically the same but its the social that pay it

[MissChief]

not sure - but input yr dates into the calendar at
www.tiger.gov.uk

should be able to tell you excactly what you're eligible for
good luck!

[Toothache]

STM - I was working with the company 6wks when I found out I was 5 wks pregnant! And I was entitled to SMP. I'm sure you will be.

[singleteenagemum]

cheers girls. Just trying tiger.gov MissCheif

[LunarSea]

Have they perhaps not had anyone else pregnant for a few years? It's not all that long ago that the regulations changed, and before that you had to have worked for a compnay for (I think) 2 years to get SMP. It's possible that they're just not up to date with the regulations and are assuming that it's stil the same as the last time they had to deal with someone being pregnant.

[singleteenagemum]

i think you might be onto something there. It's the prison service they're always slow

[JulieF]

I'm pretty certain, and I can look it up in the employers guide at work tomorrow, that as long as you started work before the date of your last period you are entitled to SMP.

[singleteenagemum]

Cheers for the advice everyone. All seemed to gto well until just receiving a phone call. Apparently the whole 26 weeks employment thing is just to do with maternity leave and not pay. I have to be employed for 40weeks or more by the time my EDD comes around.

It's so annoying

[LunarSea]

I'm confused now - what we've been quoting to you is the qualification for statutory maternity pay (SMP) as well as the leave and the right to have your job back. It's possible that your t's & c's with your employer would give you more than that if you'd been there longer, which you don't qualify for yet. But you'll still get SMP (90% for 6 weeks, and then just over £100 per week for the next 20 weeks), not no pay at all for the first 6 months you're off.

[JulieF]

But if you are 23 weeks pg and have worked there for 27 weeks you will have been employed by them for 40 weeks by your edd.

You are therefore entitled to both statutory maternity pay (for 26 weeks)and maternity leave (up to 52 weeks)(assuming you earn more than £82 per week

[singleteenagemum]

i know that,but they certainly don;t seem to, it;s getting really annoying now. I'm meant to finish in 8weeks to start my maternity leave, but don;t know if they mean i have work up to the 40 weeks of employment or what. Don't want to talk to HoPersonnell anymore, think she must think i'm really thick or something.

[jessicasmummy]

Go and see the CAB - they will be able to sort it all out for you, or if necessary drop in to your local Job Centre..... you need to know exactly where u stand.

[singleteenagemum]

i spoke to social securit and CAB on phone earlier, they've just said about the usual SMP thing being that you have to have worked there 26 weeks by the 15th week before your EDD. I've relayed to my mananger and she's still saying about this 40week thingy. Grrrrrrr

[LunarSea]

I think there's some confusion here between statutory entitlement, and prison service terms which pay more. I found an old version of the Prison Service Staff Handbook online here . Chapter 12 seems to say that they would pay employees with one years service or more more than SMP, so it's probably this extra which they are telling you you, you can't have.

This suggests that it's possibly standard civil service terms? see here for an example, which is that you'd get the statutory entitlement, but that if you'd worked for them for a year before your mat leave started you'd get 26 weeks on full pay.

There's no question about you being not eligable for SMP (that's a matter of law, not discretion), so do ask them for their written maternity policy and/or a copy of the staff handbook, which will help you to clarify this.

[LunarSea]

Is there a central prison service personnel number you can contact rather than your local one? Or a union person and/or central union office which will have someone who knows about this?

[singleteenagemum]

Thanks so much LunarSea, that's really helpful, will try and find some numbers now. Will let you know.