to ask you all where I stand with this.

[TotallyAndUtterlyPaninied]

This isn't really the right part I guess but I'm in a state and I want a quick response which I won't get on other parts of the site.

I go on maternity leave January 2010. My qualifying week for work is 14th November. They work out my mat pay from the 'pay received in the 8 weeks prior to your qualifying week'.

I didn't work August (I'm an hourly paid lecturer and obviously college isn't open in the summer) so I didn't get a wage in September. In October I got paid for the work I had done in September. Tomorrow I get paid for the work I did in October.

They have used September's pay slip (£0) and October's pay slip, divided it by two, for the two months, and then used that as my monthly wage for the year. So it's not a lot at all.

I can't survive on that, I'll lose my house.

Shouldn't they have used my actual hours worked for the 8 weeks up until my QW? Can I contest it? Is now a good time to get in the union?

I feel for you.

I had a very similiar situation and the govt rules are the rules but my employer chose to make the pay up to what it 'should' have been. Lucky, I know but I was furious when I realised what could happen and felt victimised.

Can you talk to a HR manager to see if there is anything they can do for you? HR staff who were just processing the rules were rubbish with me and I felt they didn't understand the rules properly themselves.

You should get extra from tax credits? I chose to write to them to ask them to adjust our payment from month to month based on our current circumstances and they did BUT because of their reputation I photocopied everything I sent, only dealt with them in writing and worked out what I thought the award should be myself and double checked all their calculations. You'll get extra child benefit too. Move the mortgage to interest only for a few months? Ask for a mortgage payment holiday? Extend the term of your mortgage?

x posts about mortgage. Can't think of anything else

ps your Dad sounds very harsh.

If you dont qualify for SMP you can still apply for Maternity Allowance (which is roughly the same amount of money per week just paid through DWP(?) rather than employer.

if the date is 14 December then - October and November are the 8 weeks before that date?

Setember 30
October 31
November 30

are the three paydaytes before December the 14th

thats how I make it anyhow

so would be the last two

I qualify for SMP but £400 a month won't pay my bills or mortgage or council tax or feed my kids. My mortgage is about £650 a month, alone. I need the CMP. I can't manage without it.

sorry I read it worng late Novemebr and December

The qualifying week is 14th November. So I get paid Augusts wage (£0) in September- that's one wage, then September's wage in October.

That's awful. I know a few years back one of my friends upped her hours massively at the right time to get her mat pay calculated at the maximum amount. It works both ways - but you weren't in a position to have a choice.

Stewie- DH already works 40 hours a week but he's on minimum wage so it's naff.

I reckon the golden hello is going to count, as elsewhere on direct.gov.uk they refer to it as a 'one off bonus'. The mat pay criteria said they had to include bonuses. That would give me over £300 a week for 6 weeks so then I'd be sorted. They'd also have to pay me a 50% wage and SMP for another 12 weeks.

dxon't know if this helps, it's the HRMC's SMP calculator, so you can check their calculations yourself.

Betsy- that's spot on, thanks. If they include the golden hello, I'm sorted! Can't see how they can't. It's a bonus.

Hi, have you spoken to HMRC? Is the situation any clearer?

Re: seeing a solicitor, you should go to the CAB or a law centre and they will offer free advice. It should be quite easy to find one near you - what area are you in? I used to volunteer at a law centre but I'm a pensions lawyer rather than employment so not massively helpful here.
I personally wouldn't take advice from HR people (dons tin hat and hides under table in readiness for onslaught) because they don't generally have much idea of what the law is, they just know what 'company policy' is - regardless of whether it's compliant. Sorry. I wouldn't take advice on what sandwich to order from an HR 'professional', never mind legal advice.

((scuttling away now))

Golden hello will only count if paid in Sept or Oct.

this does not sound right, they need to average it out, go to the govt website and also Cit Ad Bur

But the rules clearly state that it is monies paid, not monies earned that counts. That is why some people do lots of hours overtime in the 4 weeks before the period, because it boosts the pay in that period.

Golden Hello was paid October 31st... so it will count? Is there any bumf on this for me to read through? I've looked it up over and over again but can't find anything definate.

Totallyandutterly - I'm so sorry you're going through all this rubbish - definitely not what you need.

May be worth posting in the employment section of the website and asking in the title for Flowerybeanbag or other employment lawyers to help.

Thanks Dinky I've put it in Employment and Legal Matters.

Yes that's right. August pay is last working day in Sept, Sept pay is last working day in Oct etc. The Golden Hello came in the October payslip.