To ask what your maternity pay scheme is like?

[B1993]

As a teacher, mine is set out by the burgundy book:

For the first six weeks, you get 90 per cent of your average pay. After that you get the basic rate of statutory maternity pay, which, at the date of publication, is £151.97 per week, for up to 33 weeks. The remainder is unpaid.

Just wondering how this compared to other jobs and industries?

Min wow now fulll pay for a year, al no at enough to tempt to have another one.

Was six weeks full, six weeks 90%, six months 50%and then stat

Fucking spelling! My firm now pays a full year at full pay...

Work at a university after a year service I get 18 weeks full pay, 21 weeks SMP, remainder is unpaid

I work in a pharmacy, yep I get the exact same as you! Nothing extra at all from the company 😒

Teachers’ mat pay is actually quite generous

Thanks for all the replies! So interesting to see how wide the scope is, but does seem a bit unfair that some are so low compared to others.

RE teachers pay, it’s been a few years since I had mat pay with my first so can’t remember getting more than I outlined originally - maybe I’m wrong? 😅 Having looked back at the NEU’s website I stand corrected and it is as follows:

For the first four weeks, you will be paid at 100 per cent of salary if eligible. Weeks 5 - 6 are paid at 90 per cent of salary if eligible, and weeks 7 - 18 at 50 per cent of salary plus the standard Statutory Maternity Pay rate of £151.97 per week. The remaining 21 weeks are paid at the standard Statutory Maternity Pay rate.

@Skodacool, this doesn’t seem at all generous to me given that so many of the women on here are getting full pay for 26 weeks up to a year… I suppose it’s a matter of opinion, so we’ll have to agree to disagree.

I like the idea of being able to average your pay over the full 52 weeks so you can budget more easily.

Stat Mat pay both times, different private companies. My company now may have been different, they've been the most generous with perks but I'm too old to have anymore babies. I've never worked anywhere with more than stat holiday entitlement either.

Housing association

2 months full pay
4 months half + statutory
3 months statutory

Lawyer. First 8 weeks full pay then statutory (£150 a week, last 3 months unpaid). Bloody shocking and even though I like my job and boss will be looking for somewhere with a better mat package.

Higher education support services - 26weeks full pay, 13 weeks statutory, 13 weeks none.

@Skodacool not sure how teachers may pay is generous as it is only a very tiny amount more than statutory?!
I’m also a teacher op, slightly jealous that other parts of even pub sec get much better pay than us! Not that it matter for me anyway now but still. I returned from maternity leave in September to a promoted post and I’m still so poor with childcare costs, it’s barely any different to being on mat leave.

@MissBPotter couldn’t agree more! I only really asked the question after BIL and partner had their second a couple of weeks ago and she said she gets full pay for the first 6.5months, then 50% for the next few. Looking back at my mat pay and what I’ll get when this baby arrives, I think it’s pretty terrible really.

And the childcare costs are ridiculous too, as you said. I reduced my hours to part-time after I returned to my normal position for the first 6 months after mat leave, but when DS was in full time nursery it was over £1,300 a month! 😱 That was a couple of years ago now, so dread to think what the costs will be this time around.

Teacher in Scotland 13 weeks fully pay then onto stat. Better than many but still feels like peanuts. My wage is the bigger one so to drop down to around £600 a month hurts!

Banking, 6 months full, 3 statutory and 3 unpaid. I have the best of all my friends across the public and sector.

And here I thought the NHS one was better than most - but plenty on here get 6 months full pay! Soke even 1 year full pay!
I'm currently facing not being able to afford a while year off
We get 8 weeks full pay
18 weeks half pay plus SMP
Then it's the standard government mandated SMP 13 weeks and then allowed 13 weeks unpaid

I think it should be compulsory for companies to detail their maternity/adoption/SPL package on the external website. I've moved jobs several times, always to a job that promised an 'enhanced' package but then you start the job and discover that enhanced can be six weeks on full pay but only after you've worked there for two years then SMP, right up to six months full pay from the moment you start working there.

SPL or paternity leave is just as bad. I had a good maternity package but we'd have preferred to do SPL (which was quite common where I was working). But DH's work only paid statutory paternity pay for two weeks (which he took and it cost a fortune to make up the difference with his usual salary), and then just the statutory package for SPL, so we couldn't afford to do it.

@RidingMyBike that’s what my work place has done…it’s a blanket 14 weeks full pay for everyone and applies no matter which way you are welcoming a new child or if your partner is welcoming a new child, whether that be through childbirth, adoption, surrogacy, or due to unexpected custody arrangements.