Maternity Leave question

[Doodlekitty]

Hi all
I'm 19 weeks pregnant with DC1 and have just started a new job 3 weeks ago, having been unemployed since July last year. I have a copy of the company maternity policy and am starting to think about maternity leave as I need to book in holidays etc. However, as this is my first child I have no idea what to expect so I'm after some advice.

Firstly, As far as I can tell I'm entitled to no maternity pay. Obviously I was not expecting company to pay me but I thought there would be something along the lines of jobseekers I would be entitled to for a short time, but as far as I can tell I dont qualify for MA or anything. Am I right on this (hubby works full time, so we'll cope but it will be very very hard)?

Secondly, when do people usually start maternity leave? I'm due on the 26th October and was thinking I'd work until the week before (office based, sat down all day job), but potentially take a weeks worth of holiday the week before that, so working until about the 12th. Obviously if i'm going to get no money when off I'm hoping to work as long as possible as I'm not sure how we are going to manage the time I'm off.

Finally, how long do people usually take off? I' really scared about the money thing but also want to spend time with my baby. Friends have all taken a year, but that sees so long without a wage, especially from a job I'm new at. I'm thinking 6 months might be doable if I can then change my shifts a bit (currently work til 8pm, would hope to finish earlier, 4 is a possibility if I start earlier)

Any advice gratefully received.

Sorry I don't know about the right to pay. I just wanted to let you know that I worked until my due date in a office job. I am now a week overdue and could have worked this week as well if they'd let me. After 16 weeks into the pregnancy when I stopped being sick, I've been ok so it was entirely doable. I'm taking 3 months off. Hope you get things sorted.

I think you would be entitled to Maternity Allowance. They define a 'test period' as the 66 weeks leading up to the baby's birth. As long as you've been working for 13 weeks within that test period (and earning more than £30 per week) then I am pretty sure you qualify.

I have got MA myself; when I was researching it I noticed that the advice on the directgov website was slightly different to that on the actual form. If I were you I'd request a copy of the form from directgov, fill it out and send it off - you might be pleasantly surprised!

I started Mat leave with DS1 quite early for various boring life reasons (moving down south, v.long commute that was getting hard to manage) so am not sure what others do.

I know people who have gone back to work at 6 months and were forced to put baby in nursery. One said that she feels it was actually better that way as her DS already knew the nursery staff at separation-anxiety age and so wasn't fussed!

Hope some of that is useful :)

I'm due on October 29 and my maternity leave starts on that day.
However, I'm taking two weeks' holiday immediately beforehand, so will effectively be finishing work when I'm 38 weeks' pregnant. I have a very unpredictable job which involves a lot of travel, which is why I've opted to finish before my due date.

Due to finances, and the fact that SMP won't cover my mortgage, let alone bills and other living costs, I'm taking just three months off on maternity leave (which is nowhere near as long as I'd like, but c'est la vie).

As for how long people "usually" take off, it varies from my experience. Friends who work in the private sector and have to cope on SMP have usually taken three or four months. However, those with far more generous maternity policies - among my friends, it's those in public sector jobs - have managed to take between nine and 12 months. I'm envious!

Thanks guys

Thinking I need to go to the CAB or something to get some advice, hard with my current working hours but they change in 3 weeks so I'll go then. Feel better to see others who have gone back to work quickly, I'm now thinking 3 months. Was feeling like I was a horrible person to be considering this, but you do what you have to to support family, nothing horrible in that.

Call the HMRC re your entitlement to Maternity Allowance. I claimed it as had changed jobs and found them good on the phone. Plus they're open late in the evening so you can call after work, saving you a trip to the CAB.
You can claim it for 39 weeks if you qualify.

I left at 30 weeks for various personal reasons and went back at 6 months. It was fine, as a previous poster said, my DD settled into nursery really well and when she did get to separation anxiety age, it was fine.

TBH, after having PND, going back to work was a good thing for me.

I'm now pregnant again and plan to return to work at 6 months again.

I'm very lucky in that I have free childcare arranged with grandparents, making it feel a bit easier to return to work. I guess it's just because it's my first, I feel nervous because I don't know how hard it is going to be to leave.

Also, I really want to progress in this job, so the quicker I get back the sooner I can aim at promotion

Deciding when to start mat leave is really personal - my DSis went as 29 weeks (the earliest allowed) as she had a really difficult pregnancy. I had it much easier but went at 35 weeks (sedentary office job, but the drive to and from was actually more uncomfortable). DD arrived at 36+3 so I only had 10 days to myself in the end. If you planned to go at (for example) 39 weeks and DC arrived at 38, you'd have to start mat leave then (you can't use annual leave) and the minimum mat leave you can take is 2 weeks, but I've never heard of anyone doing that.
What ever you choose will be right for you. Congratulations on the job, and the pregnancy!

Also look into your eligibility for tax credits once baby is here, and most people still qualify for child benefit, both of these can massively affect how long you can cope on maternity pay for

I only get SMP at my place too but we have been saving like crazy and cutting down on everything so that I can have a year out with DS1. We already have a DD who goes to school in September (DS is due at the end of August) so want to make her first year as manageable as possible for her and us.

I cant believe how crap maternity pay is, just when you need it the most. I am lucky as in I will get full pay for the first 16 weeks then SMP for up to 1 year, but £123 a week SMP is not a lot to live on (DP works full time so it will be do-able but a struggle)

I have worked for current employer for 9 years and already had my children when i started so never needed to claim it before.

hi everyone!
am i the only one who finds this maternity leave very confusing?

All this talk about ordinary, smp, additional etc ?????
Im early stages in my pregnancy so not planning on telling my employer yet, but from looking at the entitlements, my employer is public service and offers 14 weeks full pay and them i suppose I'll have to go back to work as have a heafty mortgage and am main breadwinner, may looking in to my husband taking the additional maternity on my behalf though...again this is just a thought tho' havent even seen if this is possible!