Can I work whilst on maternity?

[Ct17218]

I work for the nhs, but Can I pick up a part time in a pub or something during maternity as I really do think we will cope on maternity pay 😫

No. You would forfeit your maternity pay immediately

Can't you just stay at work longer if you are fit enough to work ?

Ignore me I thought you meant before the birth

Not whilst receiving maternity pay. How long are you having off? From6 months you can do up to 10 paid kit days. After statuary pay stops at 9 months you can work if you decide to take the full year off. I know it doesn’t help but nhs maternity pay really is very good compared to most!

When I worked for the NHS I took the option of having my maternity pay split equally over the whole of my MAT leave as opposed to starting out on enhanced MAT pay and then dropping down to statutory MAT pay. Although it was a drop straight away it helped us to budget better. Is this something you could do?

Can you go back sooner? How long were you planning to take off? A year is a luxury, 6 weeks is a necessity (in general) and anything in between is flexible depending on personal situation.

I also work for the nhs and I wanted to pick up a part time job over Christmas for some extra money.
I get smp and omp but since been on maternity leave my wage has started going down each month I thought you get full pay for the first 6 months and 3months half pay but it isn’t working out that way I’ll have to go back early if it goes down anymore bills to pay 😕

I’d like to take 9 months minimum but am happy to go back early if needs must. I would go back full time on long days and my partner would reduce his hours as I’m paid better.

We own our home so not able to apply for help with anything! Not on maternity leave for a few months but was keeping my options open! Thanks for the replies! Xx

You can pick up self-employed work whilst on maternity leave but not anything PAYE.