Can someone explain Maternity Pay?

[TwllBach]

I am trying to do a rough budget from now until 2020 and I want to factor in at least one maternity leave.

I am a primary teacher and the way I understood it was that you are entitled to 52 weeks, but with nine months of the year at full pay?

I have done a bit of googling and found the following:

4 weeks at Full Pay
2 Weeks at 90%
12 Weeks at 50% pay
21 at SMP only

Does that look right?

[SanityClause]

It depends on your contract.

Statutory maternity pay is detailed here, but any contract you have overrides SMP (but it can't be worse than SMP, IYSWIM).

[snotfunny]

That was the maternity entitlement I had as a teacher, yes. Hence I went back after 6 months.

[RegainingUnconsciousness]

Yep, Twll, that's what I got. (The gradually reducing one, not the full pay for 9 months - can you imagine?!)

However, parental leave is changing in 2015. I don't know the details but it might have knock on effect on maternity pay and/or what you might do with your leave (I think you can effectively share maternity leave with your partner).

[noblegiraffe]

Yep, it's 9 months with any pay, not full pay, the last 3 months of the year are unpaid.
I also had to go back to work for an agreed amount of time otherwise I'd have had to pay back the 50% pay.

[TwllBach]

Ha, now I think about it, 9 months on full pay does seem quite generous....!

And noble I'm sure some of my colleagues have had to come back for a week/fortnight before the end of term so they get paid over teh summer, or something similar

[TwllBach]

I have tried using the SMP calculator but its given me a figure of £17,964.79 and that can't be right, can it? That must be for the whole year, not for the 21 weeks that I would be entitled to it.

It's all a bit confusing, ha.

[noblegiraffe]

It's half pay plus SMP I think, does that make more sense?

[TwllBach]

I have scoured the boards and in 2011 SMP was £128.73 a week

So for the 12 weeks it would be half pay plus £128.73 a week
Then 21 weeks at £128.73 a week

Or whatever SMP is now.

Gosh... It is all quite complicated.

[TwllBach]

Right, so I have spent some far too much time working out what I thought it would be, based on 2011 figures and being on MPS 1

And I have figured it out at being £7,486.88 for the 39 weeks. Does that sound right?? It's a lot less than I thought it would be....

[noblegiraffe]

SMP is £136ish now. Do you calculations include tax and pension contributions?

Don't forget you'll be getting £80 a month child benefit too.

[TwllBach]

No, FFS ha. So if I do the calculations instead on MPS1 at approxinately £17k per annum that should account for it shouldnt it, because that is minus everything that comes out.

I am planning, ideally, to give birth between September and November 2015 and I know that it is miles away, but I like to be prepared. I know the figures will have changed slightly by then as well, but not by much I'm guessing. I certainly can't afford/am not in the position to have one before then, unfortunately.

unless it were to happen by accident...

[RegainingUnconsciousness]

You don't have to come back for any length of time to get paid over the holidays. You can specify your return to work as the first day of the holiday and receive full pay.

I did. I officially took 4.5 months leave, returning (something like) 25th July, so then had the summer hols on full pay. Which made the whole thing a bit more affordable.