Do i qualify for statutory maternity pay ?

[Lucafritz]

Direct.Gov website keeps crashing on me and doesn't make head nor tail of sense
Started my job on the 21st June 2019 and will be going on maternity leave 31st January 2020 .gov website said i need to have worked 26 weeks to qualify for my SMP ( i earn £295 per week before tax) so my calculation is I'll have worked 33 weeks in total ( Work 6 days a week) by the time i leave for maternity which should mean i qualify ?

It's 26 weeks employment at the 15th week before your baby is due, so basically you have to have been working for the employer when you got pregnant to qualify for SMP

Yes its 26 weeks employment by the time you are 25 weeks pregnant so you wouldn't get it if you were pregnant before becoming employed

If you don't qualify then claim Maternity Allowance instead

Yes, the issue is that you have to have worked for your employer 26 weeks by the 25th week of pregnancy.

When is your baby's due date?

You can get Maternity Allowance anyway if you don't qualify for SMP, because you'll only need to have worked for 26 weeks out of the 66 weeks before your baby's due date.

Is maternity allowance the same as smp ? And baby is due beginning of Feb 2020 im currently 9 weeks. It doesn't make sense that they do it that way when i will have worked 33 weeks before claiming it does it ultimately come down to your employer and if they still want to pay it or not ? My job is quite family orientated and i can't see them agreeing with the 26 weeks employment at 15th week

No, that's the law for Statutory Maternity Pay.
They could give you an enhanced package (but could only reclaim based on the statutory element).
Maternity Allowance is the same as SMP (as long as you earn over the NI threshold) but you don't get the first 6 weeks at 90% pay.

Use a maternity dates calculator such as www.sdworx.co.uk/resources/smp-dates-calculator

Being 9 weeks now, you were pregnant when you started the job on 21st June, so you do not qualify for SMP.

You don't qualify for SMP as you don't meet the requirement that you have worked for 26 weeks by the time you are 25 weeks pregnant. You could claim maternity allowance though. It doesn't have the 90% of salary bit and is a set amount instead

Employees must:

• be on your payroll in the ‘qualifying week’ - the 15th week before the expected week of childbirth

• give you thecorrect notice

• give you proof they’re pregnant

• have beencontinuously employed by youfor at least 26 weeks up to any day in the qualifying week

earn at least £118 a week (gross) in an 8-week ‘relevant period’

It doesn't matter whether or not your employer agrees with the policy or not. However, there's nothing to do them offering you s bigger package of they want to.

Maternity Allowance:

The amount you can get depends onyour eligibility.

You could get either:

• £148.68 a week or 90% of your average weekly earnings (whichever is less) for 39 weeks

• £27 a week for 39 weeks

• £27 a week for 14 weeks

Maternity Allowance is paid every 2 or 4 weeks.

You can claim Maternity Allowance once you’ve been pregnant for 26 weeks. Payments can start 11 weeks before your baby is due.

In the 66 weeks before your baby’s due, you must also have been:

• employed or self-employed for at least 26 weeks

• earning (or classed as earning) £30 a week or more in at least 13 weeks - the weeks do not have to be together