Furlough pay and maternity allowance - confused :S

[fibeee]

I am not entitled to SMP by my employer (not in job long enough) so was intending to claim MA. Thankfully they made the decision to offer me their EMP.

However I have now been placed on furlough so any money I am receiving under the EMP is coming through furlough. I haven’t submitted my application for MA yet and am now worried that it’s too late and because I am on furlough I am no longer entitled to MA.

Massively confused and hoping someone can advise! Thank you.

[dementedpixie]

If they are giving you enhanced maternity pay then surely you wont qualify for maternity allowance. You get one or the other, not both

[dementedpixie]

you can claim maternity allowance if furloughed. Will the enhanced amount not be more than the maternity allowance amount (£151.20 max per week)?

I am on furlough pay of 80% of my normal earnings. Will this affect my Maternity Allowance?

If you are starting your maternity leave on or after 25th April 2020, the Department for Work and Pensions must use your normal earnings when working out your Maternity Allowance, not your furlough pay.

If you are applying for Maternity Allowance, you must send in payslips covering a 13 week period in the 66 weeks before your baby is due. You should send in payslips with your highest earnings. If you need to send in payslips covering the period when you were on furlough you should let the MA Claims Dept. know so that they can use your normal earnings.

If you have already claimed Maternity Allowance and you sent in payslips for 13 weeks, including any weeks in which you received furlough pay, you should contact the MA Claims Department and ask for your Maternity Allowance to be recalculated to include the earnings you would have received if you had not been on furlough.

[fibeee]

@dementedpixie thank you for the info. My knowledge is that it is possible to claim MA if receiving EMP from employer. This is because it’s not SMP. However this could be wrong. My only source of knowledge is another thread on here.

[Sunsage]

You'd need to ask your HR department I think OP. It seems very uncommon that your employer would pay you EMP even though you don't quality for SMP for you not being there long enough? Maybe I've only ever worked in crappy places that wouldn't ever consider this 😂

So I'm not sure if many others would have experienced this to offer advice!!

[Mammyloveswine]

MA is for when you get nothing from your employer nor SMP.

EMP will be a lot more than SMP or MA si I doubt you can claim both.

[fibeee]

@Mammyloveswine I’m not sure that is correct. See thread below

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/pregnancy/3706133-Maternity-Allowance-after-OMP-runs-out

[Sunsage]

Oh that's good OP!! 🙌

Doesn't seem fair that those getting the basic SMP will end up worse off than those who can get EMP and also claim MA but such is life lol

[fibeee]

@Sunsage no it isn’t fair :(. Had I stayed in my last company I would have been in the same position

[Sunsage]

I'd definitely still chat to your HR or payroll people and see if they can give you any clarity on your situation, it's all very confusing as it is without furlough thrown in too!