To think I can get another job during maternity leave

[Stillhere3]

We are struggling quite a bit with money at the minute and I was wondering if it would be possible to get a little job over Christmas to supplement my lost income. Would it need to be self employed/freelance or is it possible to work for a company while on maternity leave with my current company?

Are you getting maternity pay? Once you return to work maternity pay stops.

This is why people shouldn’t seek employment advice in AIBU.

OP, you can work for someone else whilst on mat leave. You can’t work for your current employer.

You could do self employed work if you are receiving SMP. You can't work for another employer unless you were already employed by them during your pregnancy

If you do any work during maternity lear you are no longer entitled to SMP.

The money for SMP is administered by your main employer but comes from the government and HMRC would notice if you have SMP going out via one employer while being registered for tax and NI with another employer.

If you did self-employed cash-in-hand work and fraudulently didn't declare it you might get away with it.

It's fine in the last 3 months of maternity leave which has no SMP.

If she starts a new job with a new employer she will no longer get smp from her existing job. She would need to already be employed by the other company in order to work for them during her maternity leave

https://maternityaction.org.uk/advice/rights-for-parents-with-more-than-one-job/

Depending on your Mat leave T&Cs you might have to declare it- certainly to payroll as your tax etc might change.
finances aside, who’s be looking after the baby whilst you were working? Is it your first? You don’t want to burn yourself out 🙂

Sorry I should have added more information, yes I currently receive the minimum amount of statutory maternity pay and am not employed by another employer. It would involve me applying for a temporary job over Christmas as I feel awful putting all the pressure on DH to pay for bills as he is struggling. Please no comments on how ‘this is why you should save before having a baby’

My understanding is that you can't take on any NEW salaried/employed work with another employer while on maternity leave and receiving SMP but you can work self-employed/freelance without it affecting your SMP. (You would need to check your contract of employment, however, to check that working self-employed/freelance is allowed while working for your current employer.)

Note to PP: self-employed/freelance doesn't equal 'cash-in-hand'! If you are working self-employed/freelance, you should be keeping accounts and declaring your earnings to HMRC, including any payments received in cash.

I did this - although it was a while back and it was on a self employed basis so the money could have been earned at any time during the financial year plus low enough not to need detailed tax return but enough to keep the wolf from the door

Would you be eligible for UC?

You need to check your contract with your current employer. Most employers have a clause in their contract that states that any additional jobs must be agreed by them. There was an AIBU from someone in the same position as you who was facing a disciplinary and a formal warning for taking on a second job whilst on mat leave as she hadn't cleared this with her main employer

If you start a new job you'll no longer be eligible for maternity pay.

I'd also check your contract as you may find it goes against their T&C's to be working elsewhere while on leave.

This is wrong.
You can work self employed. It wouldn’t be fraudulent either. As long as you register as self employed and fill in a self assessment tax return (very straightforward to do yourself without an accountant)

In addition to above, just to clarify, you can’t start another employed roll. Only a self employed one

I did some self employed work during my maternity leave from my employer.

It definitely wasn't fradulent. I declared the self-employed income on a tax return and paid tax on it.

It didn't break the terms of my employment. My employer knew about it and was happy with it.

It didn't affect my entitlement to SMP. I checked this with HMRC before I took the self-employed work on.

A PP is right - you won't get a great deal of accurate advice on AIBU on this sort of topic.

Could you do some keeping in touch days to get some extra cash?

This is why people shouldn’t seek employment advice in AIBU.

https://maternityaction.org.uk/advice/rights-for-parents-with-more-than-one-job/

Can I work for a new employer if I am receiving SMP from my old employer?
Before the birth: you can start work for a new employer and still receive SMP from your old employer before the birth (regardless of whether you were employed by the new employer in the 15th week before baby was due).

After the birth: once your baby has been born you cannot continue to get SMP from your old employer if you do some work for a new employer, unless you were employed by the new employer in the 15th week before your baby was due.

If you do some paid work after the birth for a new employer who did not employ you in the 15th week before your baby was due, you must tell your old employer to stop paying your SMP. If you were paid your SMP in a lump sum, you must return any overpayment to your old employer.
If you go on maternity leave with your new employer then you can continue to get SMP from your old employer.
Once your SMP period has ended (with your old employer), you can work for your new employer or work up to ten keeping-in-touch days during the remainder of your unpaid maternity leave with your new employer.
You can find Government guidance on working during your SMP period here if you need to show it to your employer:

3.12 Working in your Maternity Pay Period

If you are getting SMP from one employer and, before your baby is born, you do some work for another employer, your SMP is not affected.
Your SMP will stop if after the baby is born, but before the end of the Maternity Pay Period, you work for an employer who did not employ you in the qualifying week. It is your responsibility to tell the employer paying you SMP about your new job. You must do this as soon as possible, and make sure you return any SMP payment you get that covers the week you started work and any part of the period after you resumed work.
If you do any work in a self-employed capacity during your MPP, then such work will not affect your SMP.
You can find this guidance online, see section 3.12: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/maternity-benefits-technical-guidance/maternity-benefits-technical-guidance

Have you asked your current employer if they want you to work any KIT days? You can work up to 10 paid KIT days whilst on maternity. There may also be an option to stop maternity leave to take paid annual leave or work for your current employer temporarily and take the rest of your time off as shared parental leave. SPL allows for more SPLIT days as well.
These options depends on your employer being fairly flexible though as there are statutory notice periods.

Try takeaway delivery driver jobs. They're usually cash in hand.

Agree with all the pp about KIT days. I'm doing 5 in November to top up our income for Christmas.

KIT days are great!

Also, something cash in hand might work.

Yes definitely recommend KIT days with your current employer to top up your SMP pay. You can't start work with a new employer during mat leave.

I'm doing my ten kit days in November do get paid them the end of this month. HUGE help for Christmas!

I agree that people shouldn’t rely on AIBU for employment advice, but you’ve demonstrated why by giving incorrect advice!

If you work for another, new, employer during Mat leave you’ll lose entitlement to SMP. You can work on a self employed basis. The link up thread to maternity action is a good one.