redundancy and paternity leave

[Lulubon]

My partner was made redundant in September due to Covid and will not be receiving his planned paternity pay as he didn’t submit the evidence in time (our fault but he was furloughed and we didn’t realise this was a requirement by a particular week) I’m due our first baby in 5 weeks time for context.
He has a possible job offer and has spoken to them regarding time off to spend with us once the baby is here. They have said he will have to take it unpaid which is fair enough but we can’t financially afford for him to take unpaid leave as my maternity pay is £450 a month!
Is there anyway he can claim money/ universal credit to somehow be able to take some time off or will he just have to miss the first few weeks of being at home with the baby?

Did he get any redundancy pay? Why is your mayernity pay so low, is it not £140 pw minimum with 6 weeks at 90%.

He will need to have been employed for 26 weeks to qualify for paternity pay so any time off would be holidays or unpaid if the employer authorises it.

Can he possibly take a weeks holiday and one week unpaid? Also maternity is 151.20 a month. You still do get taxed on it but I’m still coming out with around £550-580 a month. Ovs depends on your tax code etc. £450 seems very low.

No to UC as he would need an underlying entitlement to claim UC ie looking for work.

@LIZS no he didn’t qualify for redundancy as he’s been working for the company for 1 year and 8months.
I was only working part time and I’m almost certain they said I will get £120 a week so- slightly over £450 😬

@Parker231 yeah this is what we thought but if he does secure this new job they said he can’t take holiday pay as he won’t have worked long enough to earn any

@Holliej I’m almost certain they said around £120 a month. I think I will get slightly more for the first 6 weeks but after that it’s £151.20 OR 90% of earnings (whichever is lower) and I get the latter.
I know that some months I will get under £500 for sure!

@ArnoldBee ah okay we are currently receiving a small amount of UC so I was wondering if they would give us slightly more if our earnings were lower that month. I thought it was a long shot though

@ArnoldBee

No to UC as he would need an underlying entitlement to claim UC ie looking for work.

But he will already have a job surely ? They won't make him look for work if he has a job but could sanction him if he voluntarily takes unpaid leave I guess. Op I would just tighten your belts and take unpaid leave if it that important to you that he has time off. My dh could not take time off work and I was left alone with an eighteen month old and a 6 week prem baby in ITU the other side of the world with no family around. To be honest you do what you have to if you can't afford the alternative.

[quote Lulubon]@ArnoldBee ah okay we are currently receiving a small amount of UC so I was wondering if they would give us slightly more if our earnings were lower that month. I thought it was a long shot though[/quote]
Ok so this changes things. Yes if your DH has less earnings reported then your Uc will go up a bit. I guess it depends if they find out her has voluntarily taken unpaid leave, he could be sanctioned but unlikely.

@Babyroobs I am by no means complaining but simply asking the question to see if there was something we had overlooked. Its just very unfortunate timing to loose a job when our baby is due within a matter of weeks.
With the UC I’m guessing if we called and explained directly then we would get a more concrete answer.

Is there anyone else who can take off a bit of time to support you? I think based on what you have said your DP can’t afford to take pat leave right now.

@GrumpyHoonMain due to covid restrictions and where we live in the country we shouldn’t really be having people come to our house from another household 😬
It a bit of a disaster and I am worried about how we will cope but we will just have to get on with it 🤷🏼‍♀️

[quote Lulubon]@Babyroobs I am by no means complaining but simply asking the question to see if there was something we had overlooked. Its just very unfortunate timing to loose a job when our baby is due within a matter of weeks.
With the UC I’m guessing if we called and explained directly then we would get a more concrete answer.[/quote]
Maybe leave a message on your journal or just keep quiet about taking the time off.

I'm not sure how you already get Uc with you both working and it being your first baby ? Do you have a very high rent or have you just started claiming it since your dh was made redundant?

Also just to add - once your baby is born, your Uc will go up significantly as you will get a child element on there and also a work allowance which means the first £292 ( if your rent), or £512 ( if you have a mortgage ) will be disregarded from earnings before deductions occur for earnings. This may help to put your mind at rest, that you will get significantly more Uc once you have a baby, so may offset the loss of a couple of weeks wages?

Maybe leave a message on your journal or just keep quiet about taking the time off.

You mean, lie to the DWP. Let's make sure we call it what it is, so the OP isn't under the illusion that following your advice is ok. Whether the OP is already in receipt of UC or not is irrelevant. Choosing not to work is not what benefits are for, and the DWP do check with employers. Maybe they won't get caught. Maybe they will. And if it's the latter, it is benefit fraud.

It's a shame that the OP OH can't qualify for paternity leave, but it isn't a disaster. How did women manage when there wasn't any paternity pay? Oh yes, they had to.

If the OP can't afford to be without income, then the only correct answer is that her husband goes to work.

@Moondust001

Maybe leave a message on your journal or just keep quiet about taking the time off.

You mean, lie to the DWP. Let's make sure we call it what it is, so the OP isn't under the illusion that following your advice is ok. Whether the OP is already in receipt of UC or not is irrelevant. Choosing not to work is not what benefits are for, and the DWP do check with employers. Maybe they won't get caught. Maybe they will. And if it's the latter, it is benefit fraud.

It's a shame that the OP OH can't qualify for paternity leave, but it isn't a disaster. How did women manage when there wasn't any paternity pay? Oh yes, they had to.

If the OP can't afford to be without income, then the only correct answer is that her husband goes to work.

Oh for goodness sake !! He will be working most of the month won't he, it's just that earnings will be lower during the assessment period. They may choose to query that or they may not, especially at the moment when people claiming Uc are taking time off for all kind of reasons like self isolating or whatever. They may not even query it. No one is suggesting lying if they specifically ask why earnings were lower but it's hardly benefit fraud. Yes the best option is to tell them, but he risks being sanctioned unless they are fine with people taking paternity leave. It may be a good enough reason for them aqnd there won't be a problem.

@Moondust001 there is no way we would choose to lie to UC and as I previously said I was thinking of calling and asking advice. If we can’t qualify for money... he will have to just work. When I said ‘disaster’ I was referring to my partner loosing his job weeks before our baby is due- I think most people would feel the same.

@Babyroobs we have been receiving £50 which I think is due to the high rent we pay- we live in an expensive area and can’t move due to being declined based on our current financial situation (yes we have tried) we have both been furloughed and living off savings to pay for bills and necessities. Our rent is £1000 and we collectively earn slightly over this, to put things into prospective..

[quote Lulubon]@Moondust001 there is no way we would choose to lie to UC and as I previously said I was thinking of calling and asking advice. If we can’t qualify for money... he will have to just work. When I said ‘disaster’ I was referring to my partner loosing his job weeks before our baby is due- I think most people would feel the same.

@Babyroobs we have been receiving £50 which I think is due to the high rent we pay- we live in an expensive area and can’t move due to being declined based on our current financial situation (yes we have tried) we have both been furloughed and living off savings to pay for bills and necessities. Our rent is £1000 and we collectively earn slightly over this, to put things into prospective..[/quote]
Ok so once your baby is born you will get an extra £235.83 for your child and you will get a work allowance meaning the first £292 of your partners wages will be disregarded before earnings reduce Uc, so you will see your Uc go up significantly even taking away the paternity leave issue. make sure you report on your journal that your baby has been born. If you have a 2 bedroom property your rent element may also go up as you will be entitled to the local housing authority rate for a two bedroom property. Also £80 of child benefit. You should be significantly better off once the baby is born which hopefully will offest some of the wages loss. Good luck.

@Babyroobs thank you that’s really helpful. We have been in contact with citizens advice and UC and it’s been really unclear what we are and aren’t able to claim etc.

[quote Lulubon]@Babyroobs thank you that’s really helpful. We have been in contact with citizens advice and UC and it’s been really unclear what we are and aren’t able to claim etc.[/quote]
Once your baby is born you should have a standard couple element, rent element and a child element on your claim. When your mat leave finishes and you go back to work then you would also be eligible for a childcare element on UC to help with nursery or childminder costs. It's just important to update everything on your journal as changes occur so when your baby is born go to Home page on your journal and report a change. Extra element should apply from the next monthly assessment period after you report the change..