So angry! How unfair is this !!!

[SilverFox90]

So I went on maternity in March and only receive statutory maternity pay, so £600pm.
Now the government have decided that anyone who went on maternity on or after 25th April can be furloughed and receive 80% of their normal wage !

How is that fair. I’m here struggling and others will be receiving 80% of their normal pay ! 😡

Anyone else in the same position or think that this is wrong ?
Okay, good for those who are lucky enough to be receiving it but why give one without the other.

I also interpreted this as a benefitting employers not women on maternity leave.

The woman won't get anything extra over and above the maternity pay they were already due to receive. The maternity leave furlough only means the employer can now claim back 80% of what they are paying in occupational maternity pay in addition to SMP. This will be based on exising OMP - employers can't now increase what they have been paying to benefit the women.

It’s annoying not unfair.

@flowery - I was hoping you'd post!

Purely out of interest, are employers allowed to offer different maternity packages to different employees?

Eg, could managers / directors get enhanced packages whilst lower levels get statutory?

I was just pondering @Bringringbring12 's comment that enhanced maternity usually goes hand jn hand with higher salaries.

Not in my experience.

And to the poster who said they took the maternity package into account when job hunting - not sure if that must be public sector?

I've worked for 30 years in the technology sector - I've never known what the maternity package has been until I've requested it. I can't imagine anyone asking for it at interview !

So... And.. Your point is OP?! I'm getting paid 100% from my work to continue what I do but full time from home instead. A lot of my colleagues positions meant that they can't do their job from home. So, therefore they are being paid 100% to sit at home and not work. Am I jealous...? No. Cause guess what. Its just yer Donald duck! BTW my work hasn't furloughed anyone. They still get 100% regardless. Educational establishment.

In addition to my last comment... You are £600 a month better off than those have does of COVID-19. You are whinging that folk are furloughed on 80% but they have to return to work... You don't until mat leave is finished. Stop trying to make money out of a horrible horrible situation, so opportunistic. And finally... The main point.. Stop whining and focus on the beautiful new life you have created. JEEZE!!

I can understand your feelings OP. I think some people are being unduly harsh. It’s just human nature to feel the way you do in the given situation. Yes your situation hasn’t technically changed, but you’re bound to feel aggrieved that if you had had your baby that little bit later you would be so much better off financially. Yes there has to be a cut off, but it is still not nice when you find your self on the wrong side of it. And yes there are people worse off than you, but there nearly always is in any given circumstance, that doesn’t mean you can never be upset about things.

I dont think the OP would be better off though ?
The workplace gets the ML pay furloughed- so the goverment pay it for them.
Those on ML get what they would have anyway, thats how I read it anyway.

The op wouldn't be better off if she had her baby later.

And if she had her baby later, she would have spent the last few weeks of her pregnancy being in a high risk category. Potentially just paid ssp, if she couldn't work.

Op is no worse off. But doesn't tbink she should profit out of tbi.

'Thanks for that, but just to make you aware I’m not a single parent. I have a partner who because of all of this has lost a considerable amount of money !'

Yep, see it's not fair to someone else close to you too! I'm sure there are plenty of people who have children with disabilities who feel it's not fair that they didn't get a healthy baby. Count your blessings, you really don't know the crosses others have to bear.

@Bringringbring12

@DrinkingInTheNightGarden

Well paid positions and a decent SMP package very very often go hand in hand.

Of course they do. Firstly - someone in a well paid position is going to expect it as part of their package.

And your “fabulous” paying employer is a minority and has a daft approach. Fabulous pay but then once on maternity leave, slashed pay, which is likely to cause resentment and mean women start looking elsewhere when they approach the time they are thinking about starting a family.

It might be 'daft' in your opinion but it's very much the case for a massive number of employers. I've worked with hundreds of clients in a HR capacity and a majority still only pay SMP. Of course it's something I've always advised to change, I'm in house HR now and having benchmarked salaries, we pay well but benefits are low. In other worlds an employer can be an average payer but good benefits.

Flexible working is the thing that is more likely to mean a woman looks elsewhere, rather than mat pay itself.

Also 'well paid positions' don't just mean senior positions. Well paid is well paid for the level and role you have.

Someone who is 'well paid' can be paid anything if they are paid at and above the benchmarked range. That could be someone paid £21k for a job that other employers usually pay £17k for....

@whostoletheeyeoutyourteddybear

Hahahaha I reckon we work for the same company. I’m working 12 hour days at the moment with a toddler in tow (just because it’s in Education and the type of role I do) whereas I have colleagues telling me they’re chilling watching Netflix all day. Both getting 100% pay, both not furlough. I don’t moan though, it is what it is? What’s the point getting the ump? Enjoy your baby stop worrying about everyone else’s life or fortune.

I don’t see that as unfair. I see self employed people earning over £50k getting no help when PAYE people earning over £50k get the £2500 per month as unfair. And those of us who own limited companies are getting no help but we pay more tax than those on PAYE.

We’ve furloughed staff, made a claim for the 80% the government said they’d pay to stop employees being laid off and so far no payment received. If the government take too long to make these payments employees on furlough will be laid off as we can’t continue paying wages when we have no cash flow and everyone is at home.

My baby’s father turned out to be a non- provider. I didn’t factor that in when I fell in love.

Sometimes it’s just how the cards fall

No sympathy from me, you just sound greedy Op. You’re no worse off than you thought you would be. Many people are significantly worse off.

Could be worse, could be the 30% of staff in my company who face. Wing made redundant through no choice of their own.

@BunnytheHoneyBee I'm sorry

You are being unreasonable ...noone wants this pandemic and there are billions being paid out to people who wont get anything otherwise ...you chose to have the baby and go on maternity leave.....

Thank you @Foo2

If you are furloughed instead of staying on smp and the furlough ends before you anticipated going back, that’s the end of your maternity leave and you can end up having to go back earlier than planned.

You may be on furlough leave or maternity leave (at your employer’s option) but once your mat leave ends, it ends. There is no going back to mat leave once it is ended. This has consequences. Eg if your employer decides to make redundancies and you are still on mat leave, you have an a right to a suitable available vacancy (if there is one). Your right to that post trumps that of anyone who is not on mat, adoption or shared parental leave. But if you agree to end your mat leave and be furloughed instead, and your employer makes redundancies, you are in the same boat as everyone else. You lose your right to a suitable available vacancy and must compete for any jobs that remain. Eg a BA pilot in this situation for example, would be regretting agreeing to be furloughed - and they are just the start of redundancies, so be careful what you wish for.

there is a lot about the current situation that is unfair. this is nothing in the grand scheme of things. (and i say that as someone currently on SMP)

as for that petition doing the rounds to extend mat leave by 3 months...... give me strength! i don't know why people who have chosen to have children are so entitled but the reputation is deserved!