nanny maternity pay/redundancy?

[5alive4life]

Hello, I work as a nanny for a lovely family.
My partner and I have been talking about starting a family of our own.
The children I mind are 3 and 4 years old. The oldest child will start reception this coming September with the youngest following in September 2013.
Ideally i would like to fall pregnant this autumn (hopefully it happens quickly for us!) With the baby being born in summer 2013.
I have a feeling that once both dc are in primary school they will switch from having a nanny to using a child minder.
My contract states that I am entitled to standard maternity pay,redundancy is also covered in the contract.
Should I fall pregnant at what point will I be able to go on maternity leave (at the earliest?) My worry is I will be made redundant by them switching to using a childminder once I inform my employers of pregnancy. Sorry its so long but I want to make sure I make an informed choice about starting my own family before I make the plunge!

The earliest you can go on maternity leave is 11 weeks before your due date. However, you need to be employed up to the 15th week before your due date to qualify for SMP. If they make you redundant before 25 weeks pregnant you will still qualifiy for Maternity Allowance.

Legally they can't make you redundant because you are pregnant. However you'd be safest not to tell them you are pregnant until 25 weeks.

Thank you for the info.
I have been working for them for years and they are very fair honest people and I don't believe they would make me redundant earlier than Sept 2013 when youngest goes into reception but its always good to know where I stand legally.

Make sure you know what redundancy pay you are entitled to as well.

You would be entitled to take any holiday you are owed tagged on to the start of your maternity leave, so in theory you could go "on holiday" then start your maternity leave without returning in between.

You would only be entitled to statutory maternity pay if you had been employed for more than 26 weeks by the time you get to 15 weeks before you due date.

The advice above that you can go on maternity leave 11 weeks before your due date is correct (ie at approx 29 weeks pregnant) BUT you must give 28 days (4 weeks) notice of the date you want your maternity leave to start AND you must tell your employer no later than the end of the qualifying week, which is 15 weeks before your due date. So technically that would be around the beginning of your 25th week of pregnancy.

You will only be entitled to redundancy pay if you have worked continuously for your employer for more than two years.

If you inform them of your pregnancy and are made redundant because of that (and for example employed a new non-pregnant nanny) that would be discriminatory. If they knew you were pregnant but decided they no longer needed a nanny and were going to move to a childminder (as you already suspect) due to the youngest starting school, - ie the position of nanny in their household was redundant - then that would not be a redundancy situation. However, if you had already informed them of your pregnancy and were still employed at the qualifying week (15 weeks before due date) you would STILL be entitled to statutory maternity pay even if they made you redundant.

I have represented a number of women who have been unfairly treated by their employers with regards to maternity leave/return to work/flexible working requests etc etc (including myself!!) so do PM me if you get into a situation where you need advice. I don't charge

Also make sure the family know that they can claim the maternity pay back. I think for a lot of families, the immediate thought is "How can I afford this?" I told my employers at the start that I wouldn't be returning so they could advertise for a permanent nanny but that might be a bit risky for some people. Good luck with the TTC.

Thank you all for the advice,I wouldnt be returning to work without my child and tbh I have recently moved a bit further away and now take the train to work,in an ideal world I would not return to work at all.

That should say don't fancy taking the train twice a day during rush hour with a toddler!