Can someone explain this maternity pay policy to me?

[AngeloMysterioso]

I think I’m just having a daft day because I can’t make it make sense!

My salary is £15k and I am eligible for maternity pay.

In the company handbook it says-

All team members earning at or above the lower limit for NI contributions will normally under the maternity pay rules be entitled to Statutory Maternity Pay (SMP). In addition, if you have one year of continuous service up to the end of the fifteenth week before the week in which the baby is due, you will be eligible for Maternity Pay. This means you will receive your normal basic contractual earnings (inclusive of any SMP due) for the first 26 weeks of your maternity leave. After 13 weeks you will be paid statutory maternity pay, followed by 13 weeks of additional maternity leave (unpaid).

Can someone explain it to me like I’m a toddler? How much will I be getting and for how long?

Hello!

What's your start date? Dependent on that you'll either receive statutory pay (first 6 weeks at 90%, then 33 weeks at SMP, then 13 weeks unpaid). If you have enough length of service you'll get an enhanced package of your normal pay for 26 weeks (very generous!) Followed by 13 weeks SMP and 13 weeks unpaid. Hope that helps!

It means, if you meet the conditions, you will get your basic contractual pay for 26 weeks, IE more than SMP, then SMP for 13 weeks and then nowt for the last 13 weeks, but you are entitled to stay off on mat leave.

What's your due date? That's would help massively and how long you have worked for.

If you qualify you will get a very generous maternity package!!

My start date was 2nd August last year and my due date is 17th Nov so by my calculations I do qualify for the enhanced pay.

So I get the 26 weeks of full pay then after that 13 weeks of SMP- is that when I would get 90%?

You'd get 26 weeks basic pay, 13 weeks SMP (£172.48 or 90% of your average weekly earnings, whichever is lower) then 13 weeks unpaid.

Yes I think you just about qualify. No, it's just the SMP amount which is roughly £157 a week (from memory so please do check online!). You're enhanced bit is replacing the initial 90% period

If you have worked for a year by the time you have reached the end of week 25 of pregnancy you will get enhanced pay for 26 weeks, SMP for 13 weeks and then unpaid for the rest.

The 13 week SMP period will be the £172.48 or 90% of wages whichever is lower.

Actually sorry, you may not qualify. You EWC childbirth is normally from the Sunday before your due date. So in this case that's 12th November. Count 15 weeks back from that and that date is 30th July so you may be losing out on enhanced by 2/3 days!! I'd double check with your payroll team - sorry

Unfortunately by my calculations you miss out on the better maternity pay by a couple of days. You'd need to be 26 weeks by 2nd August to qualify.

So the handbook says

if you have one year of continuous service up to the end of the fifteenth week before the week in which the baby is due

The week in which the baby is due is w/c 13th Nov. The 15th week before that week is w/c 31st July and by the end of that week I will have been there a year…

I think you're right and you've just squeezed into being eligible. The dates take you back to the 30th of July.

How do I work out the 15th week before my baby is due?

Find the Sunday before your baby is due (or the due date if it is a Sunday) and count back 15 Sundays from there. That is the start of the 15th week before your expected week of childbirth.

You should use the due date on the MAT B1 certificate which your midwife or GP will give you when you are about 20 weeks pregnant.

The 90% will be within the initial occupational maternity payments. By my calculation you need to have been employed for six months before you became pg to be eligible for the scheme.

Here’s how I worked it out… colour coded and everything!

I think I agree that the wording of their policy makes you eligible. Your EWC is week commencing 12th November. Your qualifying week (the 15th week before EWC) is week commencing 30th July. The end of that week (as per the policy) is 5th August. And you do have the required year's service by 5th August.

For women only getting SMP, they get 6 weeks at 90%, followed by 33 weeks at £172.48, followed by 13 weeks unpaid.

Under your employer's scheme, it works out as:

weeks 1-6: SMP at 90%, topped up to normal pay by employer
weeks 7-26: SMP at £172.48 pw, topped up to normal pay by employer
weeks 27-39: SMP at £172.48 pw
weeks 40-52: no pay

So the 90% SMP happens in the first 6 weeks, it's just obscured by the remarkably generous occupational maternity pay offered by your employer.