Statutory maternity pay

[Elliejmulligan]

I've always earnt good money and so does my husband, but I'm a bit scared on how I will cope with statutory maternity pay? Is it that much of a struggle?

Will you get any occupational maternity pay also?

Its going to be different for every family. It'll depend on what's coming in, going out and your expectations really.

I'd start by looking at your work maternity policy - do you qualify for any enhanced benefits? or tax credits?
How long do you intend to be off for (remember you only get paid for 33 weeks). Can you use holiday accrued for extra paid time at the end of your leave?
Will you qualify for child benefit

If you're concerned, look at your outgoings now to see if there's anything you could cut out or reduce before the baby arrives. Draw the line between necessities and desirables and start saving where you can.

With my first I was surprised I saved statutory money as I didn't go out spending it as busy with baby and too tired for socialising at night, my days consisted of going to baby groups or coffee, friends houses etc I'd sometimes only spend £10/week!! I was lucky tho as my husband did cover all the household bills and we were given loads of clothes, toys etc. Also I didn't buy any clothes for myself that year as I wanted to get back to my normal size! If you like spending I'd save a bit in advance but if your husband can cover all the bills you've got nothing to worry about! ;)

I am also worrying about this and hadn't thought about the bank holidays - thank you Chunderella.

Do you happen to know when you get paid for these; as they happen or at the end of your annual leave year? I guess it might vary by company.

I haven't told work yet and so am trying to get my sums right!

When I found out I was pregnant me and husband sat down for hours with a calculator working out how much Maternity Pay I will get. Thankfully my Maternity Package is quite good and until baby is about 20 weeks I will pretty much be on regular pay before it drops to SMP only. We are currently putting £300 a month away and into a Maternity Fund so that by the time I hit SMP only we will have £3'000 to one side in order to top up our income. I'm also lucky that due to the EDD of baby I am able to use up 6 weeks of Annual Leave and put it towards the end of my Maternity Leave so will get Full Pay for that period too. It is my understanding we get paid for Bank Holidays too.

However, I think we still get Taxed and have Pension Payments deducted from our Maternity Pay so that's also worth considering...

How long are you hoping to stay off for??

It's all so confusing isn't it...

Are Payroll or Human Resources obliged to provide us with some kind of documentation as to what our pay will be??

Do you work in this field then Chunderella?? how handy

I will be taking one week of Maternity Pay prior to my planned C-section which is the 21st March 2014.

I get:

8 weeks full pay (£1'400ish p.m)

18 weeks half pay and SMP (£1'200ish p.m)

13 weeks SMP only (£500ish p.m)

Followed by 13 weeks unpaid.

I intend to take the full 52 weeks off but will only need to take 8 weeks unpaid leave at the end of my Maternity as I will have 5 weeks of accrued Annual Leave I can take before my return to work date.

I will be returning to work the last week of March 2015.

ps) Is income tax our NI payment? I can't believe I'm having to ask this??

Chunderella sorry to bombard you with questions and exploit your wisdom on a Sunday morning!
you mentioned transferring some maternity leave to DP. Does this work for Additional maternity leave as well? I.e. I'm planning to have 41 weeks off (knowing that I won't be paid by work after OML have finished at 6 months). When I go back could DP take 11 weeks PL?

Writer I think I read somewhere that with the nhs if you want them to they will take your entitlement for the whole 9 months or whatever it is and just divide it into 9 equal payments (taking tax etc into account) so you know where you are the whole time.

At my work we get an appt with HR to discuss maternity options and how much you come away with etc and what the return to work, annual leave situ is. I would get in contact with your line manager if I were you to see what provision there is. There will be support but you dont want to fall through the cracks with not being there

Thanks Chunderella - that was really helpful and interesting to read. I should have put in my initial post that I only work 30 hours a week, don't know if that changes anything. I really appreciate you working all that out for me, huge thank you!!!