Maternity pay in small business - what does your employer offer?

[Madz66]

Hi ladies,

I've been asked to look into maternity leave policies by my employer. I work for a small company in the private sector and I'm the first person to work there who is of 'child bearing age' so there isn't really a maternity policy in place. The company I work for employs less than 20 people. Would anybody working in a similar small company mind letting me know what their maternity policy is and if there are any restrictions e.g. length of service or repayment of enhanced maternity pay if you don't go back to work? I'm trying to gather as much information as possible to take to my boss so they can make an informed decision when thinking about creating a maternity policy.

All answers are very much appreciated!

Thanks a lot everyone for your help :)

[NapQueen]

23 people in our organisation.
6 weeks at 90% (which is the law)
Weeks 7 to 24 SMP plus half pay (law is SMP)
Weeks 25 to 39 SMP
Weeks 40 to 52 unpaid

Must have worked there since before falling pregnant to qualify.

[flowery]

I've worked with probably 40 or 50 small organisations. I can count on one hand the ones which offered more than statutory minimum.

[MsJuniper]

Statutory minimum.

[Parker231]

All the small organizations I know of offer statutory only. In the same way that they only pay statutory sick pay.

[StylishDuck]

Yep. Statutory minimum here too. Private company, about 20 employees.

[Tentativesteps133]

Private SME, statutory.

[Blankscreen]

I work in a company of 400 a law firm and they pay statutory minimum!! Tight barstards

[YouBoggleMyMind]

Stat minimum

[Moanyoldcow]

Statutory minimum everywhere I worked. Some very big companies and very small and all in between.

[ethelfleda]

Absolute bare minimum at my place!

But that means I don't have to go back... if it were my business if offer more with a clause of having to pay it back if you decide not to return - to attract good staff.