Maternity pay for dummies

[kitkat2024]

NC for this.

Please can someone explain maternity pay to me like I'm 5? I'm not really getting it.

I am currently on a career break to complete a qualification and will return to work in March 2025. I am keen to start TTC early next year due to my age (35 in June). If, for argument's sake, I get pregnant in January next year (unlikely I know!) and the baby is due in September/October, I'll have worked for my employer post career break for 7ish months - would I be entitled to statutory maternity pay? How much would that be? More than maternity allowance?

Does this even make sense? Sorry! I'm tying myself up in knots about this as finances are something I do worry about.

Are you still employed while on the career break, even if unpaid? Basically, to get SMP you need to have been employed when you conceive. Then the money you earn around 25 weeks ish is what determines how much your maternity pay will be. The government site is pretty good. https://www.gov.uk/maternity-pay-leave/pay

Following along 😆

Because it's all hypothetical, your best bet is to put possible dates in the SMP calculator and see what it churns out. There's an earnings requirement for SMP, not just an employment requirement, and your dates may be quite tight.

www.gov.uk/maternity-paternity-pay-leave

That said, the maximum weekly Maternity Allowance is the same as the maximum weekly SMP. If you didn't qualify for SMP and had to apply for MA, you would miss out on the 90% for 6 weeks element of SMP and only get the standard amount for the first 6 weeks of mat leave. But then the next 33 weeks would be the same.

Oh yes, @RenegadeKeeblerElf makes a very good point... is this a career break with your employer? And you maintain continuous service with them?

Or would you be starting with a new employer in March? If the latter, you wouldn't qualify for SMP until March 2026.

@RenegadeKeeblerElf @skilpadde My career break is with my employer and I maintain continuous service with them - my old job is left open for me although I will be applying for a higher paid job in the organisation when I'm qualified. A girl on my course who is also on a career break from the same organisation is pregnant but only entitled to maternity allowance so would that be the same for me even if I am employed by them from March? Maybe I should wait til May til starting to TTC? I'm so confused!

@ByTealShaker it's a minefield isn't it???

Your best bet would be to talk to your HR dept, it's quite a minefield and they'll be best to advise on the ins and outs of your particular situation

@RenegadeKeeblerElf would this go against me when applying for a higher paid job though? I know it's not supposed to but I also know the way that some places work!

I get the worry, but of all people HR should be the ones you hope would do the right thing, and presumably they wouldn't be making the hiring decision?

@RenegadeKeeblerElf true, but people talk...I had naively hoped that going for the career break would have meant that I still got mat pay

@skilpadde the gov website says I'd be entitled to maternity allowance but not if I get SMP. Any ideas how I find out if I'm eligible for SMP other than going to HR (which I accept I may have to do)

Did you put dates in the calculator? It will tell you, based on the dates you put in, if you would qualify for SMP or have to apply for MA.

Gov website says you am entitled to SMP if have worked for your employer continuously for at least 26 weeks continuing into the ‘qualifying week’ - the 15th week before the expected week of childbirth. What does this mean in plain english? I think it means I should TTC in March, not Jan?

@skilpadde yeah i did, it said I'd be entitled to MA but not if my employer gave me SMP.

The calculator result would either say that you're entitled to SMP, or that you would be entitled to MA.

Are you sure it wasn't referring to getting SMP from another employer (i.e a 2nd job), like in the screenshot?

You meet the employment criterion, so the bit you need to be careful of is the earnings requirement, and the dates for this.

Could you post screenshots of your output from that page?

@skilpadde that's the result I get when I do it - I'm not sure why it thinks it's for a second job? I will be returning to the same employer I'm taking a career break from; the career break started Jan 2024. Thank you for helping me with this!

Employers assume a pregnancy is 40 weeks long.
The qualifying week is 15 weeks before you are due, so week 25 of the pregnancy (40-15=25)

This is saying that you need to be employed for 25 weeks before the qualifying week. It's just a complicated way of saying you should be employed when you conceive.

If it was me, I would wait until you are back at work before starting to try to conceive.

@Goldpanther thank you for the explanation!

@Goldpanther am I unemployed whilst on a career break? I assume so but as I will still get continuous service it doesn't really make sense?

Don't worry, there's no assumption that you have a 2nd job. That's just gov.uk making clear that, if a woman does have 2 jobs, she can't get SMP for one of them and MA for the other.

Your continuous service should pause while you're on a career break, but wouldn't be broken. You remain an employee, and wouldn't be classed as unemployed.

@skilpadde thank you! I suppose the girl on my course who is also on a career break doesn't meet the earnings requirement for SMP even though she is employed as she is due in January and we are not getting paid, but I think I would if baby was due in September as I'd have been earning more than £123 pw for 8 weeks before the qualifying week. I think I've got that straight in my head now, thank you!

For many reasons it's prudent to be back at work before ttc, for the sake of 2-3 months it's not worth risking it

Yes I think this is correct.

@mitogoshigg what are the other reasons, if you don't mind me asking? My biological clock is going wild right now so I may not be thinking straight in terms of wanting to TTC asap.

I had this situation and you need to have been working for one week before conceiving to qualify for SMP

26 weeks plus 15 = 41 weeks

I think the qualifying week is the Sunday to Saturday 15 weeks before the EWC

As it happens I fell pregnant a month before I was due to start a permanent contract in my job -previously agency- and I didn't care at all I was just happy!

Check our occupational maternity leave too.

Maternity allowance isn't that bad.

@liquidsquidli you're right - I would probably just be happy to have conceived rather than splitting hairs over a few quid. My employer does pay occupational maternity pay too - is this on top of maternity allowance? If so I guess it wouldn't be too bad.