AIBU to lose my rag completely with my employer?

[Edumacator]

I was a science teacher in a secondary school. When I fell pregnant, I told my employer early on because I had a high-risk pregnancy and needed lots of appointments as well as obvious issues of my role (chemicals, fire, fumes but also working in a school with poor behaviour and very frequent physical alternations and incidents). Within a week, my school posted an advert online for a new science teacher to start as soon as possible. I raised it and was told that they’re intending to expand the department - first time that’s been mentioned and the school isn’t growing in student numbers (it’s not a school of choice locally). Not to mention, they wouldn’t expand a department mid-year because they’d have to reshuffle all the timetables and room allocations etc. But, the state of teaching being what it is, they didn’t get any applicants so no one was hired. I’m currently on maternity leave and I won’t be returning - I have a job that’s not in teaching lined up. I just gave my employer my notice to leave at the end of the Easter holiday - giving the required notice. Just got my payslip via email and the bastards haven’t paid me anything this month. AIBU to be absolutely sick to death of this shit now?

So presumably you've contacted them to find out what's going on? What did they say?

That would be illegal.

You should receive SMP for the whole period of your leave, even if you resign whilst on maternity leave. When does your new job start? That’s the only thing that should trigger your SMP to stop. If you’ve not yet started with your new employer you should receive SMP until you start with them.

Of course you deserve to be paid anything you are owed, but it is worth talking to them first to find out why there is nothing paid this month.

That said, I suspect there might be more to your history with them that is causing you to say AIBU to be absolutely sick to death of this shit now? because, on the face of it, there are not enough misdeamenours in your post to warrant such a statement. IMO anyway.

Why would it be illegal? Assuming it's three months full, three months half, then the remainder statutory, that's not illegal.

Because it was in response to me saying I haven’t been paid the statutory pay so I don’t think the assumption that they were including statutory is there. I’m not 39 weeks into my maternity leave, they’ve decided not to pay any of my statutory pay for the last month.

Oh FGS you've screwed them over, they've screwed you over, I can't muster any sympathy for anyone in this story, except I'm glad I don't have to work in departments like this anymore.

Excuse me!?! How have I screwed anyone over?!

OP, you're not responding to my question about what the school said when you asked them about this? Surely that would be your first port of call?

It’s very clear from the OP that I posted here immediately after getting my payslip and before contacting them.

Good grief the responses on this thread are so unhelpful! How is the occupational maternity pay other organisations pay relevant to Op at all?

The only thing you can do is contact the business manager or payroll and ask. Sounds like it is some kind of mistake.

I can't understand why you're annoyed they advertised for another teacher, seems a sensible decision to have someone around to cover all your appointments if there were going to be more than a normal pregnancy. I'm guessing the maternity pay is just a mistake and I'd probably just call and ask them about it rather than start an over dramatic Mumsnet post about it.

There’s always at least one on any thread about maternity leave/pay who seems to think that taking maternity leave is some of attack on an employer.

"It’s very clear from the OP that I posted here immediately after getting my payslip and before contacting them."

But why? No one here can solve the problem 🤷‍♀️

It’s most likely an admin error but I can see why you’re cross. If, after contacting payroll, they refuse to amend things, you should raise this as a complaint. If you are in a union then talk to them. Also talk to ACAS.

There’s a difference between taking leave, and taking leave whilst applying for other jobs and not telling your employer you don’t intend to come back while still taking their money…..

I didn’t ask anyone to solve the problem. I asked if AIBU to be pissed off about it. It’s interesting to hear that so many think it could be a genuine mistake - I assumed that things tended not to be messed up (never had any employer fail to pay me before) but maybe it’s more common to have no pay by accident than I thought. Hence why those comments have been useful to determine how I raise this with them.

You’ve chosen to quit, they clearly don’t care as they already advertised your job once. And payroll has made an error, calm down and let them no about the error. Absolutely no need for the melodrama.

@mincedtart she isn’t taking ‘their money’, the government pays businesses the statutory maternity pay which is then passed on to the employee.

No there isn't a difference.
Both perfectly legal as long as you give your employer the required notice you aren't returning.

I'll never understand this view, if anything an employer is more likely to be in a better position with OP leaving (can offer the role to whoever is covering maternity) than a bloke who just hands his notice in one day and they have to recruit while someone's in a notice period.

ODFOD. Huge numbers of mothers don’t return to their employer after maternity leave.

I know huge numbers do. Don’t think that makes it right.

You realise if you don't go back you pay back maternity anyway? Ffs

Do you have any actual reason why you think it’s wrong? Genuinely?

Try reading the full thread. She’s said about 8 times she didn’t get enhanced maternity pay. Statutory doesn’t need paying back.