Am I entitled to anything if I leave my job to relocate?

[Mikocat]

Hello all

I live in Yorkshire and I'm expecting my first baby in May next year, I am in a rubbish job, which I hate, but the maternity benefits are pretty good (6 months full, 3 months 1/2 pay) so I have been hanging on in there.

However DH has now been offered a job in London, the money is slightly better (but only really enough to cover the difference in cost of living), but he earns more than twice what I do anyway. The main reason for taking the job is that I am DYING to get back down South and be near my family as I am from London originally.

So it's now looking like we will be moving down South in March or thereabouts, which will mean quitting my job (no chance of a transfer or working from home - if anyone was wondering).

In those circumstances am I entitled to any kind of benefit? Would I get some sort of statuatory maternity pay?

You might be entitled to smp, as you can take maternity leave at 29 weeks, which might co-incide with when you move and leave your job.

If you can't get smp for whatever reason, you will definitely be able to claim 39 weeks of maternity allowance, which you apply for at the Jobcentre. It's about the same as smp but without the six weeks at 90%.

Check your contract. Mine would have made me pay back everything apart from SMP if I left within six months of returning to work.

There is no point in me taking maternity leave from here as I'd have to return for a month afterwards, which means that I'd have to move back to Yorkshire or stay in a hotel for a month while working out my leave. I doubt DH would be too keen on me leaving him alone in London with a small baby for a month!

I'm guessing that I'd have to quit from here and make myself known to the job centre as soon as I got down to London, at which point they would sort of become my 'employer', although I'm wondering up until what point they would be expecting me to be available for interviews etc and at what point they'd expect me to start looking again after the birth.

I've never been unemployed for more than a couple of weeks in my life, so it's a bit of a mystery to me!

You wouldn't have to return for a month. You can keep the SMP element of the maternity pay even if you never return to work. Just give them your notice at the same time as your notice for maternity leave, and tell them you only want to receive SMP and not additional maternity pay. Obviously 120 pounds or so a week of smp is nothing like the generous offer you would have got if you stayed, but since you can't stay, it's better than nothing.

The job centre won't be your "employer". You may be able to claim contributions based JSA up till the birth, but you can claim Maternity Allowance from 29 weeks if you can't get smp, and MA is twice as much as JSA. You can claim contributions JSA for six months regardless of your husband's income, but you do actually have to be jobseeking.

My advice is still to try to take your maternity leave as early as possible to coincide with your move, pocket the SMP from your current employer, and perhaps then claim Jobseekers after your 39 weeks are up, which will give you a small income while you look for a new job.

Not ideal but a month afterwards doesn't seem too bad to me. Could you do any of that month as annual leave if you took it at the end of mat leave rather than at the beginning?

Depending on your circs, KitandKat's info is better, my offering is only a suggestion :)

Actually broccoli might have an excellent point. If you "return" after the birth, but use up all the notice period of one month with annual leave, perhaps you could claim and keep all that lovely extra maternity pay. That would be a massive bonus if you could get away with it, but I would check your contract carefully and check with HR as it does sound too good to be true.

if you start a job once you are already pregnant you won't get smp but may get maternity allowance (not as good by far). If you claim occupational maternity pay you will need to 'pay it back' either by working a set number of months after your mat leave finishes or by actually paying them the money back in cash. In our organisation you need to have worked there for 12 months before getting pg to qualify for occupational pay.
I feel for you, I am stuck in a job I hate because I cant afford to not get maternity pay. counting down the weeks till mat leave!

oh and your notice period can consist of holidays and sick leave (in my work anyway)

As long as you were working between roughly weeks 17-25 of pregancy and earning on average £130 (or whatever it is these days) ypu will qualify for SMP (and should get any additional benefit your company provide - check your contract). If you can save your leave (and remember you accumulate holidays and public/bank holidays whilst on maternity leave so with a little careful planning you should be abe to 'go back to work' without ever actually stepping foot back in the office to work your notce.

This only works of course if you leave on maternity leave in which case the earliest you can start it is 11 weeks before the EDD.