Starting new job pregnant - maternity benefit eligibility

[befuddledmum]

Hi all,

I'm new here and am hoping someone could give me some guidance around my current situation.

I accepted an offer to join an investment bank from 1 Feb. While working through the notice period of my previous job, I found out I was pregnant! This is very exciting as I had a miscarriage a few months ago. However it means I will now be starting my new job pregnant which is definitely not ideal. If the pregnancy goes well, I would go on maternity leave shortly after my probation period (6 months).

I am keen to understand whether I would be eligible for any maternity pay as I understand many companies say the maternity benefits are subject to 12 months of continuous employment prior a certain point of your pregnancy.

Are there any fellow bankers out there that can share the maternity policies of their companies? I would also be keen to understand how this situation is handled in other industries.

Will I get anything? Should I work on the assumption that I will get nothing?

Thank you so much for your help!

Although not in banking but in another similar industry I started my job being 7 months pregnant (yes). I went off mat leave within 2 months (got SMP from previous employer and nothing from new one either so only MA after).

I fell pregnant while still on mat leave (ikr) and 2nd time around I got the full package which was super nice. Came back to the team basically after 2 years of mat leave (1 year 1st child 6m second child as I felt taking a full year would be taking a piss).

Hope it goes well for you :)

@lwonder08 You make a good point. If iI will likely end up with just MA no matter what, I should let them know sooner than later. My goal is definitely to prove my worth. They went through quite a lot of trouble to get me on board so I doubt they would want to get rid of me because of this. But again, you never know what people are like so I like to be prepared for the worst case scenario.

@ZooKeeper19 Awesome! That's definitely good to know that time spent on maternity leave is counted towards years of service.

I work for big 4 accountancy and we have no minimum period for enhanced mat pay (which is full pay for 6 months!) so its not unheard of but I've no idea about finance.

Congratulations on your pregnancy.

@whyyesyabu That's amazing! I am asking around also to see what other companies are offering so that when I try to negotiate for it, I can give examples of what other companies offer.

I'm technically joining a new subsidiary that is owned by an investment bank. There is no obligation for the new company to follow all policies and I will be the first to take maternity leave. I wanted to gather market intelligence and help them set a good policy for all future working mothers in the company. Wish me luck!