Maternity coming up...where do I stand...part time contract but working full time hours

[Redovwrcoat]

Hello all, posting here for traffic. Tried the Work board but it's quiet.

Hope you can help. I'm pretty crap at stuff like this.

I'm due end of Jan.

I am officially a part time member of staff but I've been working full time hours since January of this year. The extra hours are added to my wage via a weekly overtime form. I've asked for a full time contract twice but it hasn't transpired.

I asked my manager if my maternity pay or leave would be effected by my extra hours and he said no. I've been told by a friend that this shouldn't be the case, that they should take into account the extra hours I've been doing for nearly 10 months.

I've had a read of the maternity policy and it says:

Maternity Leave - All female members of staff are entitled to 26 weeks Ordinary Maternity Leave and a further 26 weeks of Additional Maternity Leave. You may also be entitled to Enhanced or Statutory Maternity Pay during this period.

Do I fall under the Enhanced Maternity Pay? Am I entitled to anything other than part time maternity pay for 26 weeks? I'm quote confused, any help would be gracefully received x

I believe for SMP it's all calculated based on the hours you worked on average from 17-26 weeks of pregnancy. The enhanced pay is in addition to the minimum requirement in law so I imagine that'll be based on your contracted hours x

Also your OP doesn't actually mention the conditions for enhanced pay?? You need to get more info about that to see if you qualify. Most places have a minimum tone you must've worked there to get the enhanced pay (e.g. in my work, you get SMP if you fall pregnant at least 2 weeks into working there -like every single other job- and enhanced pay if you've worked there a year on top of that

Oh it doesn't mention conditions of enhanced pay at all. I've been there 10 years...

Thank you btw!

I would contact HR or the finance team and ask about the enhanced pay

You need to contact HR to find out what the enhanced pay is. You should qualify having worked there for 10 years but you need to see the wording about what they will give you on top of SMP. My guess would be that it will be based on your contractual hours, so part time. Whether the ‘overtime’ can be used as evidence that you’ve been working full time hours and therefore entitled to enhanced maternity pay at full time, would probably need a qualified person to answer so you might want to chat to an employment solicitor.

Thanks x

Mar pay is calculated using an average of your pay during a specific time in your pregnancy - so as long as they don't reduce your hours to part time during that period of calculation, your extra hours will be reflected in your mar pay.

Mat pay - not mar!

Just looked it up, your smp is based on your average weekly earnings for the 8 week period before your qualifying week (15 weeks before your due date), so like a PP said, 17-26 weeks sounds abut right.

That's really good to know. I've been working full time hours since week 17 up until now (week 21) and there's no sign of reducing hours any time soon.

Many thanks! Will contact HR to confirm.