To worry this early about Mat leave ?

[WorryFace]

I’m 13 weeks pregnant and ruining my day off by worrying about mat leave and pay.

My employers (small business) and notorious for penny pinching and although I blatantly qualify for SMP I have his feeling I’ve missed something and won’t get anything.

If I didn’t the maternity allowance form looks really complicated.

Then I see I need to tell them at 25 weeks with matb1 and the appt I get that is 24 weeks so I think what if I get it to them too late and fuck it all up that way.

I’m going to worry this baby away and I can’t stop.

Tell me in an idiot.

If your employer refuses to pay SMP they have to give you a form to say they wont. If you qualify its pretty difficult for them to get out of it. If you don't qualify then maternity allowance isn't difficult to claim and isn't that much less anyway.

What do you mean you need to tell them at 25 weeks with a Matb1? Tell your employers? You need to tell them before that. You can't claim your paid time off work for appointments etc if you haven't formally told your employers you are pregnant.

I feel your pain, I'm 15 weeks and have told my boss - but she doesn't know what our maternity policy as it's used so infrequently and I'm on tenterhooks to find out!

Sorry when I say tell them I mean tell them officially with matb1 when I’ll be leaving etc with a letter

They know now anyway

I thought you could get your matb1 once you'd had the 20 week scan? May be different for different areas but my midwife did it for me ready to collect in my gp surgery. Maybe ask if they can do that so you don't have to worry?

Hi peppa

When I went for my last midwife appt she showed me the back of my pregnancy care record and it said 24 weeks MATB1 for first pregnancies and 20 weeks for second.

I don’t know why !

It’s my first

They do your matb1 at 24 weeks but if you need it early you can contact your midwife and they will do it for you. Don’t worry about that your midwife will understand.

Ok take a deep breath and relax. You sound quite anxious

It’s very difficult for them to refuse SMP if you’re eligible. And if there isn’t any extra pay offered by the company then it’s not the end of the world but they should have a policy you can look at if it’s not on a company intranet.

Ask them for this and in the mean time take a look at the Gov website
www.gov.uk/maternity-pay-leave

And the matb1, I don’t think I got mine until about 26 weeks, I gave it to HR and they said they don’t do anything with it until nearer the end once it’s clearer when I was definitely finishing

Must be different for certain areas, as I got my MATB1 after my 20 week scan (first pregnancy) I also thought you only had to legally tell your employer no later than 15 weeks before your estimated due date?
www.gov.uk/maternity-pay-leave/how-to-claim

It doesn't really benefit them if they do try to refuse you SMP. They claim it back from the government, so in effect they're not paying you SMP, the government is. If they offer enhanced maternity pay then they pay that themselves.

Yes @ 15 weeks thing. Hence worried about getting Mine when I do.

However I have already got my 16 week midwife appt booked in so I will talk to her then.

And I will try to relax. I’m wastIng time worrying which is the frustration part.

I’m so stupid and I know it.

I’m 37 and this wasn’t planned - thought I was infertile.

It’s veey welcome now I’ve had my 12 weeks I’ve fallen in love with baby but I never expected it and to deal with the red tape around it.

I had turned my head around to ‘thank god I don’t have to worry about kids’

Ha ! Life

You need to tell them BY 25 weeks or as soon as practical. It sounds trickier than it is, your midwife gets the form, you just make a copy of it and give it to your HR (or manager if it's small enough that there isn't one), and state your intention about last day. You can still change this if your circumstances change and it is reasonable.

Btw I think it's totally sensible to be a bit worried about mat leave this early. I'm always a bit at the number of women on here who seem to wait until they're 32 weeks along to wonder how on earth they will survive on SMP (but also refuse to go back before 12 months). Congratulations and good luck!