To think that maternity pay calculations are unfair

[nomoreheels]

I've been on sick leave during my pregnancy, with severe anxiety due to a conflict with my manager and workload. I had to go off at 6 weeks P.

It has been a struggle to manage on reduced pay once it dropped but I have coped as best as I can, by selling off things when I have the energy and living as cheaply as possible.

I have just received my maternity letter after some chasing and it turns out that my occupational pay will be calculated on an average of my Dec 10 and Jan 11 salary, when I was on 3/4 and 1/2 pay respectively. (I'm now on zero pay and just SSP)

I am absolutely livid. I know there's probably no legal challenge to it, but 90%/40% of my full proper salary would have made such a difference on top of SMP.

Why oh why are the occupational rates not just based on your standard salary? Why is it based on that particular weeks? It really doesn't feel fair. 8 years of hard work and now I am being penalised. It's not my fault I'm ill.

My DP has just found out his contract isn't being renewed after the end of March so we are frightened out of our wits about how we are going to manage the mortgage and bills.

and

I don't know why it is based on those weeks. I know a friend of mine who did shifts worked extra at that time in order to "bump up" her average. Her basic pay is quite low, as an NHS worker she relies on additional shifts, enhancements, etc, so this qualifying period meant it was fairer for her than if she had been given SMP based on her standard salary. Towards teh end of your pregnancy, you are less likely to be able to work extra / more likely to take time off or work reduced hours, so I suppose it makes sense to fix a point mid way and call it the qualifying period. The problem is that no system would work best for everyone. I'm sorry you're having such a stressful time

Jesus, you poor thing! I've nothing to add (sorry!), Im not in the UK and the system is different where I am but that sounds absolutely ridiculous to me (particulary when you are off sick because of your manager and workload!!! - I've had this and believe me, you have my deepest sympathy).

Again sorry I've nothing to add, just wanted to offer a pat on the back

Have you checked your contract to make sure that is right? My HR dept made a major mistake with admin on my maternity pay so you can't be sure until you've checked it yourself.

Thanks all, the nice messages help. Am sat here in tears, just another stress on top of it all. I'm exhausted, have pregnancy insomnia again and quite a lot of pelvic pain... feeling pretty low.

I've gone through my Dec/Jan payslips and done all the calculations again, and it does look correct to me unfortunately. I'm just a bit shocked. I think it would be fairer to be just based on your standard contractual salary but I do see how it could be tricky for people working varied shifts with different rates of pay.

I had to push to get the letter too - my ML starts this Sunday and they still hadn't sent me anything, so I'm only just finding out now even though I was very prompt at sending them my MatB1 etc.

Speaking to anyone from work was making me so stressed out that we've been doing it all via email (with the union involved)but now even the emails are making me feel like crap again!

Deep breaths...

for you. Are you planning to go back afterwards? It sounds incredibly stressful and distressing. I hope the union are able to help.

Erm, who chose those weeks?

I though it was optional which weeks were selected? Obviously you would pick the weeks you earnt more.

Look deeper into it if I were you.

Oh I'm so sorry. I also can't see why they just can't base it on your salary for the year. I had to dig out payslips to apply for maternity allowance as HR waited for two months into my mat leave before letting me know I wasn't entitled to SMP. I earn the same every month - surely it's not that hard.

Try and forgot about it for one night - get yourself a nice meal (I'm a big fan of the M&S £10 deal - we can't afford to eat out but it's a treat), you and your dh agree not to talk about money but all the things you're looking forward to when dc arrives and then tomorrow fire off emails with renewed vigour.

No it's not optional, maty pay based on set weeks

At this rate I don't see how I could go back - the relationship has broken down beyond repair. It took me 4 months just to start to feel a tiny bit better but the mere thought of going to the office triggers a panic attack.

I have tried to make my case but she is head of our office, our head office is in London and don't see the day to day of our regional office and think she is faultless. I have calmly, factually and carefully laid out my side of things many times but it seems to be going to a brick wall. The union has tried to help but says they are covering their tracks within the letter of employment law and that it would be hard to prove a case of being overworked, even though I have raised it a lot in meetings and have been off with stress before. They suggested I just stay signed off and then go on ML. I am too tired to fight it anymore.

My mental health has to come first for the sake of my DP and our DD to come. What the hell I'll do for a job afterwards is another matter, but at least I have the rest of the year to work that out. For now I just want my baby to be healthy.

Right, time to have another look at my worldy goods and see what I can ebay...

nomoreheels is there an option to transfer within your company to another department? (as you mention there are other offices). I've done this (but Im public service and unlike you, line manager was a known bully and her boss knew it)

Thanks for the further replies. Mumsnet cheering me up yet again...

I've got an economical big batch of lamb stew in the slow cooker but maybe an M&S meal £10 this weekend - I agree, it's a nice treat but doesn't break the bank.

I've not told my DP about the reduced pay yet, he doesn't need the stress right now and is at work anyhow. It can wait until the weekend when I've had a chance to think.

Barbie - no chance of transferring I'm afraid, we are a small regional office with core staff of under 10 people. I think that has been part of the problem anyhow - lack of opportunity for interesting progression or options slowly wearing me down, but me being stubborn and staying on because I was trying to be practical about money.

YANBU - as another poster mentioned some people have been known to play the system too by getting bonuses paid at the appropriate time.

IMHO the system is old-fashioned and excessively complex.

M&S are still doing the £5 roast this weekend - a real bargain.

The mat leave system is bonkers and if anyone's smart enough to find out which are the qualifying weeks in advance, yes it is open to abuse. It's annoying reduced pay those weeks, something you may have no control of, has such a disproportionate effect.

I know how you feel, I got a letter from my work on monday telling me I'm not entitled to SMP.

I have been signed off work since last May (I was in hospital for 3 weeks with Guillian-Barre Syndrome) and haven't recovered enough to go back to work. I've also been dx with Fibromyalgia and also have a back injury. I got 2 weeks company sick pay and have been on SSP for 6 months which ran out in december.
I found out I was pregnant in August and my baby is due on 9th April.

Hopefully I can get MA as I was working for the qualifying period, if not then I don't know what we are going to do. I was taking home over £1300 a month and now I get £18 a week DLA :(

Whilst I understand the shock, surely you didn't expect that it would be worked out on what you would normally earn when in effect you have not worked for months and months. Nothing is free in this life.

Aren't there certain clauses to cover problems like these?

Speak to hr and seek some professional advice.

You do know that the government set the qualifying weeks not your company HR? The information on how to calculate it is all over the internet- eg directgov etc, I can't see how you had no idea about this until now? Also, if you have managed on sick pay for the last 9months surely its not that big a difference?

Sorry if that sounds unsympathetic, its not meant to be, I'm 34wkspg myself and only get smp too so having to go back to work after 10 weeks because I cant afford to stay off, BUT I did some research and was well aware of what I would be paid and when...

Sorry it is so unfair. But as other posters have said, it is the government set criteria.

I was very very lucky and had mine the other way round. When I was pregnant with DS, my annual bonus was paid during my qualifying period, so my weekly 90% pay was huge. My boss (head of HR) apparently told the Payroll Manager she wasn't paying it as it was a misake. Payroll Manager had to give her a crash course on SMP and eventually she agreed to pay it (even though of course they get reimbursed by the government).

It is one of those things that work both way and sadly you got the rough end.

Its everywhere on the net re maternity pay and qualifying weeks, surely you looked this up when planning the baby to work out finances etc.

Like another poster has said, if you can live on SSP then SMP isnt going to be that much difference. I;d be grateful you had some sick pay at a higher rate than SSP, most dont get that and have no choice but t return to work and work through their illness.

Oh hurrah, I got a comment from FabbyChic!

First of all gallifrey, I am very sorry to hear about your situation, that's really tough. I must confess I thought that being signed off sick still made you an employee, so I take it SSP doesn't count as earnings? These things can get so complicated. I truly hope you can get MA (and at least it's not taxable then, I believe?)

I haven't been off sick for 9 months coco, it's been 5 months. And I haven't been living off SSP as such, I absolutely would not been able to pay my share without using a small amount of savings I had, selling things, and a bit of help from my mum. I put all of this in the pot and have made it last somehow in addition to DPs wages. And now he's without a job.

Nowhere in my contract or our HR policy does it state anything about the qualifying weeks, only the number of weeks you must be an employee to qualify for SMP. As I'd been there for 8 years I knew I was covered in that aspect. I did look on Directgov but did not spot the qualifying weeks part. There is a lot of information out there.

As I have explained, my mental health has been very fragile - it took me months to even be able to think about work and what to do. Any contact with them triggered panic attacks, insomnia, not eating, and I found it hard not to cry all the time. I also had two major family issues to deal with including a bereavement in December. So my "advice/practical" head hasn't always been the strongest.

But this is not the point - I asked whether it was fair - and I still maintain it's not. Clearly it isn't, if some people can boost their earnings specifically during those weeks, and others are penalised for being ill. If I had been given the correct management and support in advance from my manager and my work, I wouldn't have burned out (again) and wouldn't be in this position. And now I am too worn out from the battle (and they know this) to challenge it. And I want to be careful because I know it will make me ill again.

I'll check with my union rep, just in case there is any case for special circumstances of being off sick, but I'm not holding out much hope. HR are the ones who sent me my maternity letter so I know the calculations have come direct from them.

Just feels like a kick in the teeth after 8 years of working extremely hard. Just because they are doing their legal requirement doesn't make it morally right. But I suppose I shouldn't be surprised, given their past actions.

The qualifying weeks are dictated by the government and apply to every employee who receives SMP. It is just unfortunate that your pay was reduced during the qualifying period.

I did payroll for employees who worked in the stock exchange, and it was quite common for women to plan their pregnancies so that their QW included their huge (and I really do mean huge!) annual bonus. It was seen as a perk of the job if you could time it right.

what makes you think you dont qualify for SMP? I cant see anywhere that they have given you any cause to believe you may have to apply for MA... If this is the case then I definately think you should be debating it as you are still an employee and being paid by them...