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Original poster

Can employer maternity policy be challenged?

41 replies

connie26 · 21/05/2024 20:36

They are offering SMP only to my colleague despite the employee working for many years. She's planning on coming back to work after three months because she won't be able to afford to pay her mortgage. It will be her only chance to be a mum and I feel so sorry for her that she won't have the precious time she would like with her baby. She's planning to ask for some paid mat leave in addition to the SMP but having mentioned it to them in passing, they don't seem as though they will change their policy. Does anyone have any advice for her?

OP posts:
dementedpixie · 21/05/2024 20:39

She can ask but they don't have to change anything. Lots of companies only offer Statutory Maternity pay.

Overthebow · 21/05/2024 20:40

They can be asked but there’s no obligation for them to pay more. Statutory maternity pay is what they have to pay if she meets criteria, anything more is optional.

LuckysDadsHat · 21/05/2024 20:42

SMP is the minimum they have to offer legally so nothing can be challenged. It sucks but a lot of people have had to do it. Most people will try and save as much as possible to put towards SMP as it is a low amount.

WhereIsMyLight · 21/05/2024 20:42

You can’t really challenge it. She can ask for it to be reviewed but in reality this is something she will need to work on for a long time and for colleagues after her to benefit from. It’s unlikely to change in the time she needs it too.

VogueDarling · 21/05/2024 20:44

In my experience (years in management) its extremely unlikely the company will change their policy especially only for one person,SMP is unfortunate very common

One of the places I have worked enhanced their policy after years of just SMP, if employed over 2 years you got 2 months full pay then smp amd a sliding upwards scale for level of service after that, was quite a jump though, after 2 years you needed to have 4 years service to qualify for 3 months etc and covered both maternity and paternity and adoption

I dealt with a case where a senior male colleague believed they were eligible for the 2 year bracket, and missed the qualifying week for eligibility by 2 weeks and even then the company dug their heels in and stuck to the policy.

They can certainly ask, who knows they may get traction with it but I'd bet unlikely

Original poster
connie26 · 22/05/2024 05:34

Hi. Thank you very much for your replies. It doesn't sound like there's much hope for her with this sadly..

OP posts:
PickledPurplePickle · 22/05/2024 05:49

She can ask but as long as they are paying statutory that's all they have to do

Many companies only pay what the government pay them back as they can't afford to pay more, and cover the role with someone else - especially small companies

She knew the maternity policy when she started, so she did have a choice

BranchGold · 22/05/2024 05:57

I think the issue she will have is even if she’s a very valued member of staff who they would be open to giving her additional, they can’t be seen to favour one pregnancy/maternity over anyone else’s. So anything they’d offer her would need to be the policy that’s available going forward.

Any U.K. business that only offers smp in this day is clearly concerned with their bottom line far more than employee welfare.

But, as long as it meets the legal requirement then they’ve done what’s needed, and it’s the responsibility of the employee to change jobs/plan ahead when the time comes.

Sunnyandsilly · 22/05/2024 06:18

If they give it to her, they need to give it to everyone. The policy will be there for financial reasons. It is highly unlikely they will change it and she’s not entitled to more. It would be lovely if they did give her more money to stay home, but it’s very commonly not the case.

notanotherrokabag · 22/05/2024 06:20

That was something for her to have researched before she was pregnant......

jackstini · 22/05/2024 06:34

Only thing she can do is take annual leave to extend her time at full pay
Plus her DH could take his 2 weeks paternity separately to extend time before baby goes to childcare

Companies giving only SMP is still very common unfortunately.
I sympathise with her though. We could only afford 8 weeks off with dd, 12 with ds Sad

Itsonlymashadow · 22/05/2024 06:41

Enhanced maternity pay isn’t an automatic right. You get it if your employer offers it, which they don’t have to. Working there years and years doesn’t mean they have to offer it.

They won’t change it for one. Because they could be challenged to offer it to all. Which they would already do if they wanted to.

Most people save during the pregnancy to afford more time off if their employer only pays SMP. There’s also a possibility that she would qualify for some benefits while on SMP. Depending on whether she has a partner and, if she does, how much they earn. Has she looked at that option?

Boymummyofone · 22/05/2024 06:48

Unfortunately there's nothing she can do. My company only offered SMP but I had a some savings to allow me to take a full year plus my husband covered the mortgage and bills. Annoyingly they changed their policy to 4 months full pay just as I was coming back 😬

Timeforabiscuit · 22/05/2024 06:57

Does the company rely on long term skilled labour? She could ask for the policy to be revisited as part of its HR strategy if it's a reasonable size company.

If not, if the company is reasonable, I'd be tempted on my return to work to say to the manager just how damaging the lack of enhanced maternity pay has been, particularly if the pay hasn't increased and request a pay review ( because why the fuck not).

If it's a small company relying on short term staff - write to their MP stating how shit the level of SMP is.

This is one of the reasons I only work for companies with enhanced maternity leave, accessibility policy, sick leave and annual leave - as part of the whole employment package.

Even if I don't need maternity leave, I want to work somewhere that values those who do!

TemuSpecialBuy · 22/05/2024 07:01

Theres nothing to challenge... the are meeting legal minimum.
EdIt: its shit but its the law unfortunately

If shes pregnant shes got 6m + to plan and save.

There are baby centres for low income / vulnerable women. Her midwife or SW would need to refer her i think.

I bought everything 2nd hand /free for my baby via fb market place, local buying and selling whats app groups and vinted and took 13m.

I know people who only took 6m off who cited finances and then went and spent 1.5k on an egg stroller travel system. Which imo is nuts...

People literally cannot give away newborn baby clothes. All the expensive stuff. Jumperoos, next to me, prams etc. Can be picked up very cheaply 2nd hand. My first had all the unusual baby toys/ junk and my budget was £300 for the first year. Most of that was the travel system which was £130 I resold a lot afterwards too as under 1 things barely get any use.

Original poster
connie26 · 22/05/2024 07:59

Thank you. Some good advice there I can pass on to her.
It's not ab well paid job but she has skills and experience which would be difficult for them to replace if she left.

OP posts:
rwa818 · 22/05/2024 08:22

There's no obligation unfortunately. She will accrue all her holiday entitlement though while she's on maternity, couldn't she save some up and take a few weeks at the end of her maternity?

Timeforachocolate · 22/05/2024 10:14

Best thing is to save annual leave before baby is born to take after, work until literally cannot and take annual leave after baby is born also before return. I had to save up for years to cover the time off I wanted with each child.

can the dad take shared parental leave if he has better policy?

SquashPenguin · 22/05/2024 10:24

Doubt she can do anything. My employer has the exact same policy. I saved like crazy whilst pregnant and at best I will be taking 6 months as our mortgage went up £400 the month before my mat leave started. It’s tough but I knew this was the policy before I got pregnant.

OpusGiemuJavlo · 22/05/2024 10:37

Someone would need to make a business case for why it makes sense to offer better than SMP. It shouldn't be done just for this one colleague and will probably take longer than her pregnancy to resolve.

Companies with a better offer than SMP don't generally do it just out of kindness. They will havd considered:

  • how difficult is it to recruit well qualified people when we need to
  • are we competing for competent well-qualified staff with other businesses offering better than SMP
  • when our employees have maternity leave, are they less likely to return to us after their leave compared to what is typical at businesses offering better than SMP. If so, what are our additional recruitment and training costs that could be saved if we offered a better package.

Enhanced maternity pay packages generally come with a lock-in clause obliging the employee to return to work after their leave or forfeit the extra money. On average, the extra money they get will be less than the cost of recruiting and training their replacement if they were to leave. In industries whete recruitment training costs are low, businesses will generally only offer SMP.

sashh · 22/05/2024 11:03

Do you get paid sick leave? If so there is not a lot they can do if her GP signs her off.

notanotherrokabag · 22/05/2024 21:51

sashh · 22/05/2024 11:03

Do you get paid sick leave? If so there is not a lot they can do if her GP signs her off.

We don't sign people off sick on demand, and mat leave kicks in if you are off with a pregnancy related issue from, I think, 34 weeks.

sashh · 23/05/2024 04:28

notanotherrokabag · 22/05/2024 21:51

We don't sign people off sick on demand, and mat leave kicks in if you are off with a pregnancy related issue from, I think, 34 weeks.

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I realise it is not that simple, but a few weeks after giving birth I would think there is a lot that you could be signed off for.

notanotherrokabag · 23/05/2024 05:44

sashh · 23/05/2024 04:28

I realise it is not that simple, but a few weeks after giving birth I would think there is a lot that you could be signed off for.

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If you're ill, over and above being postnatal, then fine. But not otherwise. And she's planning to go back 12 weeks after birth, not 'a few weeks'.

PinkFrogss · 23/05/2024 06:29

Are people entitled to universal credit (or more if they’re already entitled) while only being paid SMP?

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