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Original poster

NHS maternity pay help

25 replies

cluelessftm7 · 14/04/2021 10:52

I am a band 3 within the NHS and work full time. My salary is £21142. I am due in October so will likely be finishing work end of September. I'm a bit confused about maternity pay and working out roughly what I will get per month, can anyone help? I'm planning on taking 9 months off. If I opted to spread it over the 9 months is anyone able to help me work out what I'd get? I need to start planning finances and budgeting etc and I really need a new car so unsure if I would be to afford monthly finance payments. I'm only just under 15 weeks so a bit early to contact payroll as I haven't even told anyone at work yet. Thanks in advance

OP posts:

Original poster

cluelessftm7 · 14/04/2021 11:59

Anyone?

OP posts:

Soontobe60 · 14/04/2021 12:01

Surely it depends on how long you’ve worked for your current employer?

Soontobe60 · 14/04/2021 12:02

maternity.money/nhs-maternity-pay-calculator

Here’s a NHS maternity pay calculator.

Interested in this thread?

Then you might like threads about these subjects:

Antenatal & postnatal Employment advice Families Maternity leave

Tibtab · 14/04/2021 12:04

You can phone HR and they can let you know, I had mine averaged over 12 months.

Clevs · 14/04/2021 12:08

My payroll department gave me a breakdown of what I would get each month if I spread it over 9 or 12 months. They couldn't do it until a certain number of weeks into my pregnancy though and I can't remember how many weeks that was.

Original poster

cluelessftm7 · 14/04/2021 12:13

I've worked with my trust for 2 years, long enough to qualify for it. I must be really thick but I just don't understand that calculator, it defaulted my pension to 7% when I only pay 5.6%, when I altered it the payments changed drastically, to like half the amount. It says from December (only 2 months into mat leave) I would only get £600-£700 a month? How can that be right then £600 is SMP, where is the test to cover half my wage? 🥴 so confused.

OP posts:

HRHUppity · 14/04/2021 12:15

You get more than you think! I didn't average mine but for the weeks I was on half pay I got lots more than half of usual net amount because of SMP and your tax, NI and pension deductions are lower. Now I'm on SMP only I've ended up with a pretty nice tax refund! I'm a higher rate tax payer though which may make a difference.

FiveGoMadInDorset · 14/04/2021 12:34

Phone or email your payroll department, there will be someone there who specialises in maternity pay

gretagreengrapes · 14/04/2021 13:12

I work for the NHS too and have had my pay spread out - I just asked payroll to send me the figures of what it would be if x,y,z and they did.

devildeepbluesea · 14/04/2021 13:17

@Clevs

It will probably be after your 25th week, as that is the qualifying week for calculating maternity pay.

Original poster

cluelessftm7 · 14/04/2021 13:40

I will contact them next week although I hope they are not unable to give me any idea before 25 weeks as I really need to organise things before then!

OP posts:

Soontobe60 · 14/04/2021 23:36

@cluelessftm7

I think you must have done something wrong. I’ve done it with your figures and pension, assuming baby is born 14th October. Your salary drops to £600 in May. When would you start your mat leave?

Original poster

cluelessftm7 · 15/04/2021 08:35

@Soontobe60 I just changed the percentage of pension I pay and somehow it halted my earnings so must be doing something wrong but not sure what I'm planning on starting maternity leave at the end of September.

OP posts:

Original poster

cluelessftm7 · 15/04/2021 10:38

So I've tried again and it seemed to have worked when changing details such as pension contributions however it's a lot more than I was expecting and seems a bit too good to be true? Up until April it's little difference to what I get paid usually and only £100-£200 less. Does this sound right?

OP posts:

miniGmummy · 04/07/2021 11:52

Hi everyone,

New to Mumsnet and have a question for you lovely lot.

How on earth do you calculate NHS maternity Pay and SMP?

I am a band 6 on 33176 and plan on taking a year. I work 2 weekends a month. I am too early to ask my HR/payroll but want to see if its viable for me to take a year.

Look forward to any help thanks :)

NavigatingAdolescence · 04/07/2021 12:05

Not enough info given to give figures.

They will take your gross pay from the 2 pay period covering weeks 17-25 of your pregnancy. Then you get:

8 weeks of full pay (includes SMP)
18 weeks of half pay plus SMP
13 weeks of SMP

You should be able to calculate the above.

Do you get paid the same every month? If you post the gross figure from your payslip I can help with the calculation.

miniGmummy · 04/07/2021 12:34

@NavigatingAdolescence

Hi thanks for responding :)

Roughly 2190 take home, thanks for your help x

NavigatingAdolescence · 04/07/2021 12:42

I need the gross figure, not net.

miniGmummy · 04/07/2021 12:56

3174.61 :)

NavigatingAdolescence · 04/07/2021 13:10

If that is the same every month then you’ll get

£732.60 per week for your 8 full pay weeks
£366.30 + £151.57 per week for your 18 half pay weeks
£151.57 for the remaining 13 weeks

That’s £17152.87 gross which would be £1905.87 per month over 9 months or £1429.41 over 12. They work out at about £1500 and £1250 respectively after tax, NI and pension.

WhiteHorse92 · 04/07/2021 14:37

I'm on the same pay band/pay point as you (plus unsocial hours enhancement) and currently on maternity leave for a year so currently going through this. The previous poster has pretty much covered it, the only thing I will add is if you decide to go for 'equal payments', that only counts for the occupational maternity pay (OMP), so regardless you will only get SMP from 8 weeks and that will be the same until week 39 and then you will get nothing for the last 13 weeks if you take the full year off. Something else I noticed is that when they deduct pension from your payslip they do it as though you aren't on equal payments so you lose quite a big chunk for the first 8 weeks, if that makes sense? Then you'll get more generous payments after week 8. I'm reaching the end of my OMP but I've received £1900 per month after deductions for the last few months, as an example. Hope that helps!

miniGmummy · 05/07/2021 14:08

@NavigatingAdolescence thanks so much for your help really appreciate you doing that for me thanks.

@WhiteHorse92 Thankyou for your response, ok that makes me more relieved. As long as I can cover my mortgage and bills etc any extra is a bonus :)

WhiteHorse92 · 05/07/2021 14:46

No problem. As the previous poster mentioned your OMP is calculated based on what you earn in weeks 17-25 of pregnancy, so if you have access to overtime/extra unsocial hours you can increase your OMP by doing those shifts during that period. I've told my work that I'll be returning beginning of January but at any point I can change my mind and go back earlier if I want to.

Grj · 24/10/2022 18:24

Are you able to work mine out for me please? X

disneyreg · 06/03/2023 12:29

Sorry I know this is an old post just wondered if anyone could help... so I understand mat pay enhancements are worked out from 17-25 weeks of pregnancy....from weeks 21-24 I will have been on annual leave, I get Afc absence pay on my wage slips - will this be accounted for in my maternity pay does anyone know? Or is it just worked engagements that go towards?

Thanks in advance

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