To ask about teacher maternity pay?

[secondmelted]

It confuses me.

Basically, what I want to know is how long do you have to have been working somewhere to qualify for full maternity benefits?

I thought it was a full year in a LEA but in an academy it might be different. Then the pay is awful anyway! I’m sure teaching mat pay is one of the worst.

If you're in a local authority school it'll be covered under the burgundy book, which you can Google. If you're in an academy you'll have to check their policies.

Why didn't you post on the 'Staffroom' board, out of curiosity?

Also, if you're LA, your continuous service counts within the same local authority, so you could be at multiple schools but it would still count provided you were employed by the same local authority.

I’ve looked (burgundy book) still not clear. I’m completely happy and willing that this is my idiocy but I just do need to know!

Page 14 of the Burgundy Book:

'Teachers who have completed not less than 1 year’s continuous service as a teacher with one or more LEAs at the beginning of the 11th week before the EWC (estimated week of childbirth) shall have an entitlement:
(a) to 18 weeks’ leave of absence with pay (as set out in paragraph 8 below); and
(b) to take additional leave for up to 29 weeks counting from the beginning of the
week (i.e. the Saturday/Sunday night) in which her childbirth occurs.'

Basically it's a year before 11 weeks before your EWC (the week in which your due date falls).

Cheers!

So have I got this right:

Job starts January 2020

If the baby was due January 2021 I’d be entitled because that’s a year ... or am I wrong!

I think standard is you have to have been there a year PLUS the accruement period. Not a teacher though!

Check with HR in your school or your union. In my day it was 2 years!

No, because it’s 31 weeks gestation that they’re looking at, not the due date.

No, it's a year before 11 weeks before your EWC, not a year before your EWC. So basically, you want your due date week to be over 1 year 11 weeks (round up to 3 months for safety) from your start date.

not less than 1 year’s continuous service as a teacher with one or more LEAs at the beginning of the 11th week before the EWC (estimated week of childbirth)

It needs to be a year by the time you are 11 weeks before your due date I think.

Got it now I think - thanks!

That's continuous service - doesn't have to be in the same school. So moving to a different LA school counts as continuous service. So does maternity leave. Sometimes moving to an academy doesn't count, but you can check your contract.