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Original poster

Maternity Pay

38 replies

PurpleSock · 23/01/2020 21:23

Please forgive my naivety

Me and my partner have just begun discussing ttc and were looking into the financials of it however, I'm the higher earning and looking at statutory maternity pay, there's almost no way we could live off just that and his wage

I've looked through my companies policies and as far as I can see it's mostly just SMP i would get for the majority of Mat leave.

Is this typical? Curious as to what others got and whether we need to seriously consider putting this on hold for a while

Can someone break this down into idiot terms for me?

OP posts:

Sammy867 · 24/01/2020 19:29

I got 6 months full pay then we did shared parental leave and my husbands policy says he got 6 weeks full pay then 6 weeks 50% So we had 9 months on near enough full pay as I went back to work after 6 months. It worked really well for us. I am the higher earner so we didn’t miss much once it dropped.

ClappyFlappy · 24/01/2020 19:30

Also the 6 weeks calculation is based on your earnings in a specific period, if there was an opportunity to bump up your pay in that period eg by doing overtime that can also help. I know women who have been lucky that they’ve had their bonus paid in that period and it’s bumped up the 6 weeks at 90% nicely.

NemophilistRebel · 24/01/2020 22:27

The 6 weeks calculation - is it done on pre tax earnings or post tax take home?

Interested in this thread?

Then you might like threads about these subjects:

Antenatal & postnatal Employment advice Families Maternity leave

ClappyFlappy · 24/01/2020 22:40

*The 6 weeks calculation - is it done on pre tax earnings or post tax take home?^

Pre tax (as far as I know)

CurbsideProphet · 24/01/2020 22:41

I'm in the charity sector and have the same as you OP - 6 weeks at 90% (no options for overtime, we get time in lieu if required to go over our hours) then SMP. My job coukd go by this time next year, so we also have that to consider. We're saving now while we ttc.

NemophilistRebel · 24/01/2020 22:53

Does anyone know how tax works on maternity pay?

Is tax taken from it so rather than £148 a week or however much is slightly less when it comes through?

Is there tax rebates at the end of the year if you have been taxed at a higher rate on normal earnings before dropping to SMP for the rest of the year?

DelurkingAJ · 24/01/2020 23:05

Tax is often done on a rolling basis (essentially as your pay falls your work reworks how much you could now earn in the year and you pay a bit less tax). I ended up getting a rebate in the last few months as it was the end of the tax year. But if your work makes a mistake then you need to file to correct it. So check! And NI is based on the weekly wage so you don’t get that back.

RainbowMum11 · 25/01/2020 00:30

SMP isn't great, but if you are the higher earner, have you looked at shared parental leave? So you go back to work earlier and your DP takes over the leave.
I know a few families this has worked really well for.

INeedNewShoes · 25/01/2020 00:41

I actually found the maternity leave year considerably more manageable financially than the return to work and paying for childcare. Depending on where you live you could easily be paying over £1000 per month for full time nursery fees.

TheCraicDealer · 25/01/2020 01:09

Ours is just stat as well, same as all our competitors. It was slightly annoying as there have been three colleagues off with MH conditions for 3-4 months who remained on full pay, contrary to the terms of our contracts which only refer to SSP. I don't begrudge them it at all and I'm glad they had that support, but it did annoy me that my employer didn't extend that goodwill and instead stuck strictly to their contractual obligations when it came to maternity leave.

I was lucky though that I get a car allowance as well, which I'm still receiving. That makes things much more comfortable. You might find you spend less when you're not in work anyway; no commuting or parking costs, no buying lunch or coffees out every day, no spending £££ on work clothes, and not being in town every day being tempted by shite you don't need.

ClappyFlappy · 25/01/2020 08:16

You’re fortunate to still get the car allowance @TheCraicDealer it’s still up in the air as far as I know but my understanding is a lot of employers will argue that is “pay” and therefore doesn’t need to be provided.

TheCraicDealer · 25/01/2020 08:48

I know ClappyFlappy- when I first discussed mat pay with them they said I wasn't getting it. Luckily I had already spoken to the only other woman who'd been on maternity before (eight years previous!) and she told me that she'd still been paid it when off. I was able to bring that up and thankfully they backtracked. In my research at the time it seemed such allowances are a grey area and there's no hard and fast rule on it.

ClappyFlappy · 27/01/2020 00:32

I’m glad you’re getting it @TheCraicDealer every little helps x

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