Working out Maternity Pay

[glitternanny]

Is there a pattern to it?

As a nanny I've asked my employers to let me know what nannytax/the accountant says about my pay for nov,dec, jan & feb and they haven't been able to let me know.

The only figure I've had is my main employer for november, which is £50 less than what I worked it out to.

Is there a pattern? I've worked it out day-by-day - i.e. for 3 days in november I'll get 90% and for all of december is x many days by 90% and then x days at SMP.

If that makes sense.

You get 6 weeks at 90% and a further 33 weeks at SMP, then a further 13 weeks unpaid.

SMP is worked out weekly so if you are paid on a monthly basis it becomes quite difficult to work out (particularly if you don't start ML on a Monday). The systems that most companies use don't work in advance, the only way to give you an accurate figure for December's pay is to wait until November's has been run.

There is an SMP calculator here, but I have not used it personally.

Hi, My sister does all my tax ni etc as she works in pay roll. She has just calculated my maternity pay for me, using 1 of the systems..(will ask which 1 it was) she said it is complicated to work out. However, she has successfully sorted it and my boss has a cheque for the next 4 months payment!!!(which arrived within 10 days!!) will find info out for you. Hope pregnancy going well!

Mr A - maybe you will know if this is still the case (or if it was right in the 1st place)? My last maternity leave was in 1994 so things may well have changed. As my employer employed less than 4 people she was able to claim all my smp as a lump sum, which she then gave to me as a lump sum. We knew that I wouldn't be returning to work as we were both pregnant (babies born within a day of each other ) and she was planning on taking a few years off.

Yes the employer can still ask for payment in advance, although there are problems with paying it as a lump sum.

Hmmm, I've just read that guidance - it's not very clear is it :(

Basically there are two problems:

(i) Both you and the employee will probably end up paying more NI than yoiu need to
(i) If the employee becomes ineligible for SMP (e.g. by starting work for another employer), you have to pay back any overclaim to HMRC

Bump6 - Are you self employed? If so it's Maternity Allowance not SMP so maybe that makes a difference.

Glitter - why are you needing to know the figures in advance? I'm sure it helps you plan things but getting accurate figure may be tricky until each payroll run is done.

nannynick Hi, I am employed so its smp, as I said not sure how my sister worked it out in advance but it was complicated and cheque in bosses hand!

Glitter nanny: The way you have worked it out sounds the same as how I had tried to get some idea..though I have ended up better off by £50 a month. Do you work for 1 or 2 families? as you mention main employer.
If so depending on hours worked for the 2 families(or 2 jobs) you may be intitled to full smp for both..unbelievable I know, but true. My friend works in a nursery and nannies and will receive £128.50 x2 each wk!! My sister checked it out and its real!! My friends employer uses nannytax. Might be worth you giving them a call yourself.

HMRC's SMP calculator is at smpcalculator.hmrc.gov.uk - that may give some indication of likely figures. MrA didn't link to it I noticed, so maybe he doesn't recommend HMRC's own calculator. Maybe best to take the figures with a pinch of salt but it may be good enough to give you a feel for what you would be earning.

bump6 - isn't your sister doing accounts for your employer possibly a conflict of interest? Suppose sometimes it's unavoidable but if you are a nanny (sorry, don't know what you do job wise) then there are various payroll providers they could use instead, thus avoiding there being any potential conflict of interest issues. Or maybe accountants are so trustworthy that it isn't an issue that arises.

Nsnnynick: My sister has done all my tax/ni for my employers for the last 15 years!! never had a problem yet..yes I am a nanny and all my employers have found it blissful to have her on hand to organise and remind them to pay and also answer any queries, rather than dealing with bigger companies like nannytax. Payroll is her profession so she definitely knows what she is talking about and is doing.
She uses the HMRC tax disc to do her calculations.

just spoken to my sister, she said everyone should be led by the hmrc rules and she has always used the disc but you obviously need to understand payroll to use it. She was a payroll manager in a huge company for years, so know that she knows what she is talking about.
Hope you can find out glitternanny.

The point is not so much understanding the rules, it is having the pay history so that you can calculate the average pay during the relevant period (and take a look here if you want to see just how exactly this is defined), and also to know how much tax has been paid to date.

Nick I wasn't aware of HMRC's calculator (I use commercial software to run payroll), it looks fine.

OP you refer to employers in your post. If you have two jobs you may be entitled for two lots of SMP. Worth investigating.

Hi - sorry I missed your replies.

Yes I have 2 jobs, one 3 days a week and the other 2 days a week.

I know I get 2 lots of SMP - a nice surprise.

NannyNick - I'm trying to find out so I can plan - as I'm sure with most people going from full pay to SMP is a big leap downwards esp when my partner will also go from full pay to paternity for the 2 weeks he'll be off work.

I'm a bit of a planner I'm afraid - and I really don't see what's should be so complicated to work out or HOW I'm getting my maths wrong!!

I'll check out the HMRC site and maybe try calling nannytax myself.

Thanks guys...

Hi, Glitternanny: Definitley is more helpful to know in advance, its a huge drop in salary! brilliant that you will get 2 lots of smp. Let us know if you are successful in finding out!! It may be that it is time consuming and nanny tax only get paid to work out salary on monthly basis. Good luck with it and your baby..exciting times.