warning for anyone 3-4 months pregnant and getting childcare vouchers

[AnnaV]

I'm 6 months pregnant and just discovered that the calculation for my maternity pay is made on the months of Oct - Dec 2010. As I was getting childcare vouchers during those months, the sum HMRC uses to calculate the first part (6 weeks at 90% of your gross pay) is MINUS the childcare vouchers!

I will lose about £350 because of this.

If you employer offers more weeks at 90% then you could lose a lot more...

I didn't know that, that's a nightmare.

You do know that you will get the childcare vouchers on top of maternity pay for any months you don't earn anything though, so if you can afford to take time off after your maternity pay stops you will still get your vouchers. I know it's not great, but it can help it to balance out a bit. This means that because I'm taking twelve months I effectively get 3 months of childcare vouchers free at the end.

This is the only reason I can afford to tkae the twelve months. I know a lot of people can't afford to take the twelve months though and this is really harsh for them.