Help! Nanny friend is a few weeks pregnant

[NannyAnna]

Nanny friend is 2-3 weeks pregnant, she's been in her job for 2 months now. What are her rights re maternity leave and pay etc. she is worried they will sack her when she tells them. I said I didn't think they could do that legally? Any info about where she stands great fully received! Thanks in advance

She has the same right as every employee ;) . I am not sure what it is though. But I am sure she doesn't have to tell them before some months (5?) and they can certainly not fire her for being pregnant.

From ACAS:

Statutory maternity pay (SMP) will be payable if the employee has been employed continuously for at least 26 weeks ending with the 15th week before the expected week of childbirth, and has an average weekly earnings at least equal to the lower earnings limit for National Insurance contributions. SMP is payable for 39 weeks; for the first six weeks it is paid at 90 percent of the average weekly earning. The following 33 weeks will be paid at the SMP rate or 90 per cent of the average weekly earnings which ever is the lower. The SMP rate from April 2014 is £138.18 per week, the standard rate for SMP is reviewed every April.

She should look at her contract in the first instance, although I doubt her employer offers a package which is more advantageous than statutory pay. Once she has her EDD she will be able to calculate whether she qualifoes for SMP but it seems she does.

At the moment probably best to make sure they are getting payslips.
Look at dates for SMP, if not eligible then would be Maternity Allowance.

They could dismiss for a reason not connected to pregnancy. ACAS helpline may be useful if that did happen.

Ok great thanks everyone, I have relayed to her. She currently looks after 4 children so she won't be able to return to her position with her baby, as she won't be able to look after 5, with school runs etc. does this change hat she will be paid when she leaves for maternity? Sorry if I'm asking a stupid question we just have no idea.

It doesn't change it however I'd advise not volunteering this information just yet. You have to remember the family is obliged to keep her position open but the job has to be the same as it is now (no baby coming with her). If she wants to bring a baby that's a different job and the family doesn't have to agree to it.

Ok great thanks lovely, so do the family pay the SMP after the first 6 weeks or does the government pay her ?

The government pay the employer, and the employer will pay the nanny.

The employer pays the nanny and then claims it back, I think. But it's their concern anyhow and must put arrangements in place.

Maternity Leave Factsheet (pdf) may be handy. It has a timeline which may be handy.

Gov.uk: SMP Calculator This needs quite a lot of info but if your friend can work out the info needed then it will show from the employers point of view the dates on which things occur and payment amounts (before tax/ni deductions).

Employer claims back SMP from Government. Gov.uk: Recover Statutory Payments
Whilst on maternity leave the employee still builds up holiday leave. Government does not pay that, so there is a cost to the employer beyond that which can be reclaimed.

In some ways it might be better to tell them sooner rather than later as then they officially know she is pregnant and the legal protection kicks in. If they guess but havent been told then they could find a reason to get rid of here and pretend they didn't know she was pregnant. Depends on whether your friend can hide it I guess.

Of course hopefully they are not the sort to do this, but sounds like your friend thinks they might be.

Another great post about 'nanny has been employed by family for 5 minutes to look after their children; how best to tell them she can't do the full job and expect them to be delighted".

What should she do? Abort? Nobody ask them to be happy, but to respect the law..

Quite. I wouldn't be delighted if my nanny announced a pregnancy but I accept that it's one of the risks of employing someone (or at least someone female of fertile age which covers most nannies).

She will need to be certain of her dates. There needs to be at least 26 weeks between her starting her job, and the 15th week before the expected week that the baby is due, for her to qualify for SMP.

If there is less than 26 weeks, she will only get maternity allowance.

She has been employed for a short time, so she can be dismissed for reasons not connected to the pregnancy without getting redundancy pay.

I am a nanny employer. If it were me as your friend's boss, I would prefer to know. two of our previous nannies (we've only ever had three in total) has been pregnant whilst working for us. I know that in my pregnancies, I was exhausted in the early days as well as feeling nauseous and vomiting. I cvertinaly didn't peform my job to the best of my abilities. I would prefer to know that any under-performance or diffiulties etc were due tpregnancy rather than a new nanny not really listening/caring/bothering etc. Employers also have to do a workplace assessment to make sure that the workplace is safe. For example, we fixed loose floorboards and a dodgy step.

That said, it is up to any employee whether to tell their employer in the early days.