Maternity pay - help! any accountants?

[paisleypark]

Hi there

I wonder if anyone can help me. I am fortunate that following the 6 weeks at 90%, my employer offers 12 weeks at 75%, however we are having a dispute about how this is calculated.

My usual salary is £35k which means my gross monthly pay is £2916.67. i.e. it is usually simply divided by 12.

However, for my maternity pay my employer has decided to divide my salary by 52 weeks in the year and then multiply by 4 to get the monthly payment which comes to £2692. 31. Thus a shortfall of over £200.

So, when they work out the 75% on this lower amount, I am getting paid less than I think I should.

who is right??! i think i am being diddled out of money i am rightfully owed!

any thoughts appreciated.

thanks in advance...

So basically they are working out what you get paid every 4 weeks? Are they planning to pay you every 4 weeks then?

they will still pay me each month as normal which i why i don't understand why the method of calculation has changed. i know they are having some money issues and wonder if it is a sneaky way of holding back some cash, or maybe i jut have a horribly suspicious mind...

There aren't four weeks in a month. There are four and a bit weeks. 4 weeks times 12 months is 48 weeks so it's not the equivalent. I'd go back with that and see what they say.

Good point Lunatic. What should happen is that in total you'll get 12 weeks at the reduced rate but the monthly salary for one month will vary slightly. As long as the total is correct, it should be fine.

Can you ask them to convert it into daily rate? My employer did this and I got back per calender month on a daily rate, so some months I got a bit more and some a bit less depending on the exact days I worked. This meant that working out how much I was paid in terms of weeks was easier for them, they did the same for the SMP and I got paid it all per calender month but for the days in that month that I was owed that proportion of my salary.

Not sure if that made sense at all.

It is not correct that you should be paid calender monthly for 4 weeks worth of wages at a time, however, does this mean, if they are doing this, that they will pay this for 3 clear months?

To calculate it they need to divide your yearly salary by 52 weeks if they want to work out the weekly rate. I can see the problem though, they want to pay you monthly but have a weekly rate. They'll need to work it out for each month depending on the number of days.

You are all overcomplicating it.

This month they pay you 4 weeks at 75%
Next month they pay you 4 weeks at 75%
The month after they pay you 4 weeks at 75%

They have then paid you 12 weeks at 75%, albeit that it will actually be over a 13 week period (actually 31+31+28 = 90 days = 1 day short of 13 weeks).

ok so basically they are right with their calculation then - damn!

btw after all your assistance - very much appreciated - i found a page on the department of work and pensions web site which does indeed say that my work is correct in their calculations - www.dwp.gov.uk/publications/specialist-guides/technical-guidance/ni17a-a-guide-to-maternity/statutory-maternity-pay-smp/eligibility/

thanks again to everyone