Any teachers around this fine Sunday morning?

[crinklyfoil]

Morning.

Considering the practicalities of a second baby.

I start a new job in September 2021 (this year, obviously.)

What’s the earliest a baby could be born in order to qualify for enhanced maternity pay. (Please don’t direct me to that flow chart, if you don’t mind! )

Hopeful bump for any teachers around this afternoon

Your union is probably the best place to go for such advice.

Generally speaking you will need 1 years continuous service by the qualifying week (25 weeks pregnant), so if you start in September the earliest due date to qualify for enhanced Mat pay would mid-end December 2022.

That’s brilliant haro - thanks a lot!

If you work for an academy you need to check your own schools maternity policy - they are allowed to write their own.

It won’t supersede the burgundy book, though.

😂

Okay so you find it funny...

@Sideorderofchips i assume she thought you were joking?! I hope you were joking.

Why on earth woods she not consider growing her family and getting all the information she needs to make an informed decision?!

Would you ask a man the same question? Or is it only child rearing ladies that you think shouldn’t take a promotion/ better job opportunities/ do what on earth she likes..

Weird.

Good luck with the new job/ future family plans OP.

Academies do not actually have to adhere to the conditions outlined in the Burgundy Book, however, not many academies have moved away completely from provisions outlined in the document. Still not daft advice though to check your particular schools policy, if you are in an academy school.

I wouldn’t call it ‘joking’, more (bad!) trolling!

I’ll check chloe. My last HT did tell me once on an unrelated conversation that while they could offer a better package they couldn’t offer a worse one. But he could also have been wrong.

No I just couldn't understand why someone would start a new job and then think about expanding their family rather than think about it before they took the job?

As for trolling think I've been around a bit too long for that.

But hey ho. My post was deleted and I'm sure the one above will be 🙄. Never mind

You work for free, do you

You really do need to check thenindividual policies of your academy here. A freind of mine moved to a new job and then asked about maternoty, she had to have 2 years of service to qualify, so she left after a term and moved to a school that has the same terms as the burgendy book.

I will do, and it wouldn’t be devastating if I didn’t qualify but it would be frustrating of course to just miss out which is why I wanted to check.

@Sideorderofchips

But hey ho. My post was deleted and I'm sure the one above will be 🙄. Never mind

Your post was deleted because this is a website for women.

I am starting a new job, not beginning a prison sentence. There is nothing wrong whatsoever with starting a new job and having a baby around fifteen months after starting this job, then going back to it when my maternity leave is over. That is what women do. They start work, they have a baby, they go back. Why you are attacking me for this is absolutely baffling which is why I thought you were a troll.

There are actually a myriad of reasons why I am starting this job - a change of location being the main one - and this means I missed enhanced maternity pay with this baby. So it would be nice to ensure I qualify this time, given I have been teaching for many years.

I work for an academy & have heard other staff comment that the maternity conditions are not as favourable as other schools.

I think I had to work so many weeks after too - otherwise you end up paying some back. I went back at 4 months with DD - luckily as I only have 19 months between mine. So I was then able to claim maternity pay second time round. So you need to check how many weeks you need to work after as well as before.

I don't think schools have to keep to burgundy book now which does complicate things.

Academies do not have to follow the burgundy book, or match it's provision where provision exceeds their legal obligations. Legally, all they have to do is meet the statutory obligations for maternity pay, so they don't have to offer any enhanced pay for employees not covered by TUPE.

In reality though, this would have adverse implications for recruitment and retention, so most do, but it definitely needs checking.

I had maternity in another school that was still run by the local council.

I can’t see there being any issues with the maternity pay but I will check. In any event it wouldn’t be absolutely terrible if I didn’t qualify but as I say I don’t want to just miss out.

Maternity pay in academies can be significantly different to the burgundy book. They don’t often compare favourably. In some cases academies will stick fairly closely to the STPCD and in others they differ quite a lot. I know of an academy where they only pay statutory sick pay for all staff recruited after about 2015 and where maternity pay is significantly worse. I know someone who worked there briefly a couple of years ago and had assumed their conditions would be based on the burgundy book because that’s what it had been like in the other academy they worked at.
Definitely check your school/chain policy and don’t assume that it will be in line with maintained schools. It might be, but there’s really no guarantee. Your old HT was mistaken.

Your old HT was mistaken.
The Head/school may have still been under the TUPE period but yes, if not, was mistaken (although it’s disgraceful in my opinion that academies are allowed to deviate from the Burgundy Book.)

Well, it doesn’t really matter. I’ll TTC April onwards and if it deviates, it does.