Maternity pay - qualification period

[lisbapalea]

Hi there,

Not sure if this is the right place, so I have also posted in Money Matters...

I am 27wks pg with DC2 - told work ages ago and they are fine with it - no issues in sorting out when to leave etc. I am just having a headache trying to work out what maternity pay I would be entitled to as I am in a slightly complicated situation.

I have been working for my company for 14yrs. I came back from maternity leave in 2011 after having DD, working 3days per week. I increased that to 4days per week for 2013 as I took over some maternity leave from my boss, and took on some of her responsibilities, meaning I would work more days. This was agreed on the basis that I would return to 3days when my boss returned to work in 2014.

I am now scheduled to leave for my own mat leave in November, and want to know whether my 2014 maternity pay should be calculated based on 4-days per week (i.e. my salary during my qualifying week - which I understand is 15wks prior to due date), or whether it should be calculated based on what my salary would be in 2014 - i.e. 3days per week.

I gather from various DWP sites that statutory pay would be based on my salary in qualifying week, which is fine, but my company offers quite a good enhanced package, so it would make quite a big difference if that was calculated on 4days instead of 3days. Does anyone have any experience on what the legal stance would be for enhanced pay, or is that very much up to the discretion of the individual organisations?

Before I started digging into this, my employers had said they'd be happy to pay the enhanced maternity pay based on 4days per week next year if I guaranteed I would return to work 4days per week. I didn't agree to this because a) I don't think it's right for them to ask me to make that commitment, and b) I don't actually think I will want to return to work 4days per week.

Sorry this is so long! Would really appreciate any expert opinions!

Thanks.

[prh47bridge]

The terms and conditions for enhanced maternity pay are entirely up to your employer. Check any literature they have given you about the scheme.