To not ask about maternity pay at interview

[Browncoo6]

About to have a final interview for a new job. It will be a good salary uplift if I am offered the role (£10k more) but looking at the overall package I’m not sure. In my current role I get 9 months full maternity pay, 3 months half pay. DH and I are looking at starting a family within the next 2 or 3 years and I feel this is a consideration.

I don’t know why maternity package the new company offers and can’t find this info online. DH has suggested I ask at the interview! As unfair as it is, surely there is no way I can do this and stand a chance at the job? Would you or have you ever asked?

I got the job, then asked to see their policies before I accepted it. They did send them albeit with a question as to why.
It put me off them and I stayed put

Don’t ask at interview.

If you’re offered the job ask an administrator to make details of their sickness/ pension/ maternity package available to you. That way it’ll go unnoticed

Definitely ask for their benefits package, but don’t specify maternity leave . It’s not unusual to want to look through and for me it can be a deciding factor when taking a new job .

9 months full and 3 months half? If you take this new position can you PM me your old one? Haha.

I get 3 months full, 6 months SMP, 3 months NIL. However, in my profession this is the best any company offers which is why I chose them. I researched before applying for the job. Is there no way you could find out? Google usually has the answers.

If you ask, I suspect they will assume you intend to avail of it shortly and it will possibly count against you. Rightly or wrongly, it most likely will.

In most places, you get a copy of the company policies on pensions, sick leave, maternity etc. before signing it? You can always ask if you get a contract under the guise of pension policy, code of conduct etc.

Oh so to answer your question, no don’t ask them in the interview! As a PP mentioned, even though they shouldn’t, they are less likely to offer you the position if they think you are just going to go off on maternity the year after.

Your current mat leave pay is really exceptional - same kind of package as top consultants etc.
I’d say it’s unlikely you’ll find something comparable.
You can ask for benefits package and policies when they formalize the offer (usually after verbal acceptance- you sign up to policies when you sign a contract I think)

I recently left a role that had good mat leave benefits (not as good as yours but still good) for a company that on paper has a much better salary. However, now I’ve got in role and looked in detail at the parental leave policy, it seems like it will be challenging for us to have another child.

If your goal is children- and soon- then see if you can get offered the job and use the offer to negotiate up your salary at current employer. Then start trying. If you’re unhappy when you come back from mat leave then start looking for a new role and leave (or try again for another baby if that’s the plan)

@topcat2014

If it's private sector just assume smp only x

That's not true. I get 6 months full pay, then 3 at 90% of full pay, then SMP.