Hello,
I am a junior doctor in England. I had been working for a single NHS Trust between 2014 and 2018. I then went on Mat leave 2018-2019 and was told that I only qualified for statutory maternity pay as I was returning to an honorary clinical contract (research post) rather than a regular NHS contract. I was told that as I was not returning to the NHS for the minimum 3 month period, I don’t get occupational maternity pay.
I was on said honorary contract for 4 years, and have just returned to a regular clinical NHS post (been working in this post for 8 months now).
I’ve now realised that I should have been paid full NHS maternity pay, as NHS employer guidance states the following (from the BMA)
“A university contract, with or without an NHS honorary contract, does not count as continuous NHS service. However, where an employee has a university contract with an NHS honorary contract this period of employment will not constitute a break in service, (AL (GC) 6/83 maternity leave; honorary service). This means that on return to the NHS you would have the entitlements that you had when you left. “
Posting for some advice, does anyone have any experience of this?
It did feel so unfair at the time that I didn’t receive full NHS Mat pay given the length of service and the fact that I was still doing NHS work when I returned - just on a different type of contract! I had accepted it as a sacrifice I had to make to do research, but now I feel like I should fight for the pay I should have received. I don’t know if it’s even possible to retrospectively claim maternity pay. Thoughts?
thanks