CM club - can anyone point me in the direct for finding out about maternity pay?

[eleanorsmum]

Being self emplyed i think i can get maternity allowance but i aslo work part time at tesco at weekend so can i get matertnity pay from them? all very confusing!

www.dsdni.gov.uk/index/ssa/benefit_information/a-z_of_benefits/maternity_allowance.htm

As long as you have paid your NI you can get MA

have had quick read and will read more but my other question is can i get maternity pay from my work as well as maternity allowance and if i go to working as cm can i keep getting maternity pay from tesco until i decide to go back to them? don't want to suddenly go back to working 7 days a week again at three months after baby? currenlty planning to stop cming in oct half term and then start again after xmas but would like to keep off tesco until say easter? confused!

It depends on how many hours and for how many qualifying weeks you have worked for tesco. If you get the claim form you get a calander to work it out. You will definately be entitled to mat allowance if you have been self employed for a while. As you only work a few hours at tesco, if self employment is where most of your income comes from then MA is the better option. You can't get MA and SMP IYSWIM.

As Tori said - I would think most likely you will just be eligible for maternity allowance and not SMP - or it will work out better that way!

it might do in the long run to just have tesco smp whcih i can get for longer and get bcak to cming asap, but can i be self employed and claim smp from tesco! think i'm being cheeky really! have worked for tesco for 6 months and work 8hrs over two days. know i would get more ma for the time i'm nit cming but................

Directgov about maternity allowance. If you work while receiving it you'll lose it for the days you work, have a look at the link.

I'm fairly sure you can work on a self-employed basis while receiving SMP from an employer and not lose it.

I will try and find something saying that.

This will do, workingfamilies website, scroll down to paragraph entitled working during maternity leave . Your best bet is probably claiming SMP from Tescos if you're entitled to it, and doing your CM on the side.

Flowerybeanbag, I CM and it really isn't possible to do it on the side. All children have to be registered in your books and the tax man will catch up with you if the accounts don't match= very large fine and tax bill. You can claim MA for 9mths now anyway. I doubt that tesco wage SMP will be anywhere near the £112 per week if you CM 3 children full time.

I see, so you could work up to 10 days no problem at tesco but after that you would lose SMP at a rate suitable to hours.

just had quick read of working families page, beanbag, and found this sentence in the 'working for another employer' section.

You can do self employed or voluntary work without any loss of SMP.

so by reading this i can claim my smp from tesco, and work as a self employed cm! yay! i'll take a few weeks off then get back to it. don't think i can claim ma for those weeks though? gosh this is confusing, when i get time i'm hoping to visit the citizens advice centre

yes exactly eleanorsmum, you can work self-employed without loss of SMP but not for another employer. Bit of an anomaly!

tori no suggestion about diddling the taxman!!