Maternity Allowance. Would I be entitled to it?

[Nbg]

Just been reading the other thread on the go atm which got me thinking.

I am employed but on a sessional/ad hoc basis so I won't get any Stat mat pay.

Does this mean I would be entitled to Maternity allowance and if so how do I go about applying for it?

TIA

To get MA you must have:

• been employed and/or self-employed for at least 26 week in the 66 weeks up to and including the week before your baby is due. This 66 week period is known as the test period. Part weeks are counted as full weeks; and

• earned on average at least £30 or more a week, in any 13 weeks in the test period.

Well when the baby is born I will have been employed with them for 2 and a half years earning about £100 a week so thats ok then isn't it?

Although saying that I will have to stop work when I start showing a proper bump so I'm not sure if that will effect it.

Confused now.

what job do you do???????

Yeah I'm intrigued as to why you'd have to stop work when you got a proper bump?!?!??! Are you playing the role of a Virgin in a play?

My proper job title is Escort (, not the dirty kind!)

I mostly take kids who are in secure units to court or wherever they need to go. Yesterday I took a girl who had just come out of secure, from her grandmothers to her mothers. So it's all sorts but there is a risk as 99% of them can be violent (hence them being locked up) so if one of them decides to lash out, it could be very dangerous for me.

lol SA

Forgot to add....

I can be called anytime of the day to go out and work so it's not that I have set hours or a contract.

ahh i see... i guess it depends when you stop work really... you ought to be ok.

say you stop work at 16 weeks, that then leaves 24 weeks doesn't it?
24 from 66 is 42... so in the 42 weeks before you leave work you would need to have worked 13 weeks and earned more than £30 in each of those weeks

does that make sense?

i would say, go and talk to someone at the job centre and see what they say

Ermm yeah, kind of makes sense.

So it is the JC I need to call then?

Might give them a call now.

yeah, give them a ring and see what they say!

No answer. I might have to wait after the new year.

I have a funy feeling I won't be able to have it.

you ought to be entitled to something surely? what kind of contract do you have with your employers? is it a permanent contract but with zero hours? or what?

if you are employed, then you're entitled to some kind of maternity pay surely?

I do have a contract but it is very basic and says that I am employed as a sessional worker on an "ad hoc" basis.
It is a permanent contract though.

NBG - you will be entitled to SMP, but it could be a bit strange how they calculate your entitlement! The 1st 6 weeks is at 90% of your average pay in the 8 wks before you finish for Mat Leave....... so it's worthwhile to grab all the work going for that 2 month period.

I got maternity allowance even though I had left my job when I fell pregnant- as long as you are earning at the qualifying period you can claim. I claimed in october and hadn't worked since the April

Eitherway - You are entitled to either SMP or MA.... both are the same amount anyway.

I'll have to ring them up at our office and have a word me thinks.

I normally end up working one day a week and generally by the time I've finished I've earnt £100 so it's normally £400 there abouts a month.