Civil service maternity pay calculation

[MaternityPayQuestion]

Does anyone know how civil service maternity pay is calculated? There was nothing specified in my department's policy so I'd assumed it'd be something like the three months prior to going on leave, but I have now seen that statutory mat pay is calculated prior to the matb1 form being submitted.

www.gov.uk/guidance/statutory-maternity-pay-manually-calculate-your-employees-payments

It makes a difference as I have gone from part time to full time hours (planned pre-pregnancy). Thanks

It's normally calculated using the pay in weeks 17-25 of pregnancy so if you were part time in those weeks your maternity pay will be lower

@dementedpixie Do you mean normally within the civil service or normally generally? It's for the months they offer full pay and not for the months at stat pay rate that I'm concerned about.

It's normally for everywhere unless specified differently in your T&Cs. I've never heard of different dates being used though. Maybe speak to your employer about it

I don't work in the civil service but do work in HR and as PP says it's custom to use the same weeks as the calculation for SMP.

Maternity leave can start as early as 29 weeks so they need to use a pay period prior to that for calculations. I can't see the civil service using different dates tbh

It doesn't say anything about the weeks used to calculate it within the civil service policy I read.

How is a first time mum supposed to know what the customary weeks for calculation are? When I was 12 weeks pregnant I read the civil service policy which had no mention, and this gov.uk page which just talked about 'average weekly earning' not what specific weeks are are used to calculate the average. www.gov.uk/maternity-pay-leave/pay

If I had known I would have changed my hours sooner 😭 I assumed, in the absence of anything being specified, it would be the three months prior to going on leave as it is for holiday pay/allowance when you've worked variable hours.

Oh the link has gone wrong there

gov.uk/maternity-pay-leave/pay

I don't understand why the link won't post!

It's gov.uk/maternity-pay-leave/pay

gov . uk / maternity - pay - leave / pay

Without the spaces obviously!

I’m a civil servant and from my experience it’s calculated between week 17-25. I’ve got friends in lots of different departments and it’s the same for them but ask your HR team if you want to be sure

Smp is based on those dates, company/extended maternity leave entitlement qualification usually are far longer eg average pay over 1 or 2 years. It was 2 years for my company, this means if you have just been promoted you don't get the higher amount

That's actually pretty unusual.

Indeed, in a previous org you could be promoted while on maternity leave and your pay would be uplifted, but that was generous.

I hope that’s not the case in the civil service! We are TTC and I’m on a new salary which I was hoping to receive during the full pay period.

@FivePotatoesHigh i had a small gap between ds2 and dd (came back from maternity pregnant) and I’d had a pay rise during maternity leave. My maternity pay for dd was calculated on the higher salary it’s just whatever you pay is during weeks 17-25

I believe you have to have worked for the civil service for at least 1 year to qualify for the enhanced pay aspect (ie full pay for 6 months) but that’s fairly standard

Incase anyone else comes across my thread in a similar situation by department have confirmed that it is the pay you are getting at the time you go on leave - not what you're getting in the 17-25 week period.

Such a relief for me!

I know this is an old thread but how long do you have to be employed by civil service before you are entitled to enhanced mat pay?

AFAIK it's 26wks at full pay if you've done a year in service at the date you start maternity leave, plus 13wks SMP.

Before a year it's 52wks unpaid, plus whatever SMP / MA you qualify for.