Maternity pay bullsh*t for teachers

[Teacherprebaby]

My school (state/academy), offers 6 weeks at 90% and the remaining at SMP so £185 a week. This is discrimination against women who want to have children. Am I being unreasonable to bring this up with my school?

I'd like to hear from other teachers please. Is it the same in all state run academies?

Academies can set their own conditions.

I got mine before the school l was at became academies. It was much better then.

Mine was something like 2weeks full, 4 90% then about 12 at 50% plus smp. X

I thought it was the same everywhere?

You're right though, its not enough

Look into Shared Parental leave - there is a whole website set up for it.

That’s the gov minimum, pretty standard in most places but definitely should be more. Don’t forget : months unpaid

It’s not discrimination if the policy applies to everyone though it seems low?
Burgundy book says 4 weeks full pay, 2 weeks 90% then 12 weeks 50% plus SMP

it varies WILDLY. MTPT project is working on this info. Lambeth LA for example seems to do 24 weeks half pay not just 12.

Absolutely not 😥 I just find it so unfair xx

This is statutory maternity pay and what most companies offer, unfortunately. It is shit but it’s the legal ‘minimum’

that's just statutory maternity pay. It is the same for everyone who only gets statutory.

Look at the teacher shared parental leave website. You can go back to work/use shared prenatal leave for the school holidays, so you are paid for them. It's a bit of a loophole. Your partner doesn't have to take any time off work. I was paid for an extra 3 weeks using this system.

Hi im on maternity as a teacher. From your post im not entirely sure if you know about the statutory maternity pay you get from the government? So you get 500 quid a month from the government ( I think up to 6 months) could be wrong, and about 180 odd quid a week from the school. Last month I was paid 1600 odd ish in my third month of maternity, my usual pay is 2040, I work 4 days a week. If I was you I would sit down with your finance manager at school and they can tell you how much you would get paid each month. you can also pause your maternity ever school holiday and “ work” your not really working but you get paid in full those weeks and then restart your maternity at the end of the holiday. Eg you could pause maternity for the Easter hols for two weeks- get full pay then restart maternity at the end of the Easter hols from where you left off.

My state run academy follows the burgundy book.

The primary school my daughter teaches at, isn't an academy, and maternity pay is minimal- onto SMP only, after 2 weeks full, 2 weeks 90%, 8 weeks 50% or something like that. It's been a major factor in her going back to work at 4 months - can't afford any longer on SMP only!

I know. My sibl8ngbwho is a nurse got a much better in nhs!!

Hi OP,
I get 4 weeks full, 2 weeks at 90%, 12 weeks at 50%+SMP and 21 weeks at SMP only (which takes you to 9 months). The remaining 3 months are unpaid.

I will be doing shared parental leave, I would seriously recommend looking at this. Google 'teachers spl" for more info 😊

How is that discrimination? That’s SMP isn’t it? Loads get this in many jobs.

What you describe is statutory maternity pay. It is entirely legal if it's what is stated in your terms and conditions. It is what most new mothers receive. You should get contractual holiday.

Same everywhere OP, why should teachers be different?!

Teachers under the ‘burgundy book’ terms and conditions (most state school teachers) get much more than that. OP is unlucky to worth in an academy which can cut costs on things like this.

It’s shit, but it’s not sex discrimination, unless they are paying more to men who have children? It’s the legal (statutory) amount.

It's discrimination against women. You need support from your partner (usually a man) to be able to afford to live. It's shocking that women have allowed this to continue for as long as it has!

That's not the point. Yes we 'get it'. My point is that we should not accept it!

You can ask for the t&cs before starting a job. You don’t have to accept it. Some teaching jobs have better mat pay. Some other jobs have better pay too, and others are stat pay only, much like sick pay. I chose a job that had a good maternity package and turned down another which didn’t.

I've been googling and I cannot see this anywhere.