Nhs maternity pay

[Catarinah]

New job in the nhs, and ttc. I had to leave my current post as i was being made redundant. I will need to work 2 months notice where i am now, not nhs. If i get pregnant early on will I be entitled to statutory maternity pay or will i get nothing?

As long as you aren’t pregnant when you start and you earn enough per week you’ll be eligible for SMP but not enhanced pay.

I would wait if you can- the enhanced pay in the nhs is very good and makes a huge difference financially compared to SMP (unless of course you don’t need the money or can’t wait to TTC).

Occupational pay kicks in with a year’s service.

With my first I found out I was pregnant a couple of weeks after starting in the NHS, I was entitled to SMP but that was it.

This time around I'm entitled to 8 weeks full pay, 18 weeks half pay + SMP, and then 13 weeks just SMP. I can then take an additional 13 weeks (I think) unpaid. Let's just say it will be a lot easier this time! You can arrange for them to total that and then pay you an equal amount every month, rather than it changing throughout the year. I'm considering doing that.

Tbh we could manage on just smp, just dont want to be getting nothing. Smp us £150 a week right? Ideally we could wait, but i dont want a big gap between our son and the 2nd, and weve also had a miscarriage, so dont want to wait too long as it may take longer than it did with the first...

9% of pay for 6 weeks then £150 a week

Even if you start your new job pregnant, you'll be entitled to maternity allowance, which is similar to SMP but without the six weeks at 90% at the beginning. You won't get nothing.

Ahh ok. This is peace of mind. I was worrying about needing to work a whole year before being entitled to anything and ttc, and didn't want to have to put life plans on hold, so this is reassuring, thank you.