maternity pay - frustrated and upset

[Bumpngrind85]

Apologies in advance for my pregnancy rage but I've been crying all morning and genuinely feel upset about what I have been offered. My situation is that i have been working for the same company for 5 years and for various reasons (that I wont go into) I know they value my very highly. I have fallen pregnant (currently 22 weeks) and asked for a copy of maternity policy - they didn't have one. My Director then said "Before we give you the policy, how long do you want off?" I was honestly thinking they would be fairly generous with the package and said 6 months max - because I didn't want to take the Michael. I have chased this up and been told they offer stat maternity pay. Whilst I understand this is what many women get I am a little dissapointed due to my own personal work circumstances and what the company expect me to do for them in the future. I'm thinking that they will presume I will want to go back to work asap now to claim my usually high wage - but now I know it's just stat pay and that my employer will get this back from Government i'm more inclined to take the full year. My husband and I will be fairly tight for a full year on stat pay but i'm thinking if work aren't paying for it I should take advantage of time with my baby. I'd be interested to hear how everyone else fairs in the maternity pay/leave situation....

IME, very few companies actually offer enhanced maternity packages, bar some large law/accountancy firms, big names, etc. I think it is a big myth that professionals routinely get offered these- I'm currently pg and several people have assumed that I must be getting a cushy package and I'll be taking a year off minimum, which is unfortunately not the case.
I've worked for several large global companies and they all only offer the stat mat pay.
It's not a reflection on how the company value you, but if they have no policy it could be worth trying to negotiate- after all they may need to consult you on ML about something, which I wouldn't be inclined to do myself unless I was getting enhanced mat pay.

I work in Local Government. First 6 weeks is 90% as per SMP, then either 12 weeks at 50% or 20 weeks at 30% (it's the same amount of money, you can choose how to spread it out). After that, it's as per SMP.

From talking to my teacher friends, their entitlement is very similar.

peppermint it must be sector then. I'm in software and large global companies definitely have enhanced pay as standard. My previous employer doesn't even ask the enhance part back if you don't return. I heard from a colleague who is on 6 months full pay!

My work offers more on top of SMp but i think I'm not going to take it as I think I want to stay at home for a while and find a new more flexible job after and I don't want to have to pay it back etc. does anyone know how this works? When they ask when I want to come back do I just say I don't know and decide later or do you have to tell them in advance? If they know you're not coming back do they still have to pay you smp? I work for a massive company so not worried about messing them about

But no small companies are only SMP. Some doesn't even do childcare vouchers! That's the one I draw the line.

They have to pay you even if you don't go back. You give notice as per your maternity policy. A large company will really do it by the books via HR.

And if it's via HR with a large company no harm asking about enhanced pay when you don't go back. I did with my old company. HR is Europe wide IT system so it's really detached. You can't even ring them.

The thing is it is a small company in terms of people but money wise its one of the largest in the UK probably. Its annoying because they donate so much to charity etc but when its come to something like maternity they aren't very forthcoming. Argggggh. I really don't want to sound ungrateful but there are so many different reasons why i'm feeling peeved that i just don't want to bore everyone with. I feel extremely loyal to them and they are so good the rest of the time i feel like i'm not in a position to complain. But then they know that's what i'm like so i guess i'm making a rod for my own back. When I was told it was stat pay he actually said "I don't know what that is, do you?" I said i'd google it and haven't mentioned it since. Maybe I am in a position to say is there any room to negotiate but part of me just wants to say "Well I said 6 months initially because I thought you'd be forking out for it & I didn't want to take the pi**, but now i know the government are paying I may as well take the full year". I think that would shock them. With regards to holiday and bank holidays etc how does that work exactly? Do i need to just add up the remaining days i have this year and take them before end of 2013 (i'm due 7th Jan) and then take all holiday next year? Do you get 'paid' for these days or do i just take them off additional to ML. Sorry its just all so confusing.

bump you accrue holidays as usual. Whether you can take it forward to next year or converting to cash depends on your companies normal HR policy wrt to annual leave. (But it sounds like yours don't have a clear policy).

For example if your company allows only 5 days forward to the next leave year and doesn't pay unused holiday as cash, then make sure you use them all up before your baby's birth date (maternity must start when baby is born). It is no good saying you would take real maternity from 42 weeks and use a month of annual leave so you start being at home at 38 weeks. If baby come at 38 weeks you will lose all your holidays. However if your company allow you to move all leave to next year or will pay out in cash it's not a problem. That's why I'm off from 33 weeks btw. That's 4 weeks annual leave before 37 weeks.

Same with next years annual leave. Make sure you take them before going back and don't end up with too much leave you can't take before end of year. It's far easier for them to use your maternity cover for then anyway then you trying to take 5 weeks say within 3 months!

Thanks for your help. No HR dept so will be dealing with this battle on my own.
Why couldn't i have just been born with a penis? Or rich!

squizita Why would I make the assumption that the man of the house earns more when I explained to you that I work 45 hours a week on minimum wage, and my partner works 4 hours a day (20 hrs a week)! I seem to have hit a nerve on the subject without even mentioning anybodies partner.

My comment that people who earn a lot more should be able to save for these situations mean - you have 7 or 8 months of cutting down and saving to make in preparation for your maternity time. If I am managing to do that on minimum wage AND being the bread winner of the house (whilst paying a debt management company on top of my bills) then I'm suggesting others will have to plan too. And all the other working women in the UK who are pregnant :)

Too much sense of entitlement, we've got it good compared to our mothers ;)

I really am going to struggle and I won't be taking anywhere near the time off that I want to for my baby and my own sanity, but that's just the way these things go!

trying2hard...your company sounds like mine...I get SMP for 39 weeks and extra contractual pay for 6 months.
The SMP is yours...you never have to pay back.
The contractual is dependant on you returning to work..if you choose to leave...it is repayable.
At my work, there is an option to claim backdated contractual pay on your return...as long as I tell my employer that this is my intention. That way you aren't under pressure to return but can still get your entitlement if you do decide to stay.
You could try asking your employer if they offer this.

Thanks @chunerella

My mum has just brought me 2 x country living magazines (did I mention we are also renovating an old farm building) bad timing eh!? I didn't have the heart to say I would have preferred the cash! Anyway, they have a little magazine in there 'Start a spare time business' so will sit down with a stiff drink (Horlicks) and read that this evening.

I was in a very similar situation when I was pregnant with my first. I was really shocked there was no enhanced package and was told I would be getting the statutory.

However I'm in a small team that's in sales. So ultimately my boss wants me to come back and earn money for the company as soon as possible. In fact when DP mentioned it to FIL (he works in travel and hospitality) they refer to it as 'starving them out' so they'll come back sooner.

I completely understand the OP's frustration and feeling less than valued. My husband and I run a small company < 10 employees and we only offer SMP. It would be very difficult for us to offer more than that, as we would have to have temporary staff cover during the maternity leave period - which is very expensive and often less than effective. Having said that - good employees are very hard to find and I would try to give as much as I could to help - as the cost of trying to replace a good employee would be equally as costly and difficult. But I would urge the OP to not take offence at the package - running a small business (I'm assuming it is an SME of course) is one of the hardest things you can do in life. You never stop working in the evenings and weekends. It becomes a huge dependency that consumes most of your waking day. Each employee becomes your responsibility as well as the key to your survival - which is a huge pressure. Yes, if successful, there are financial rewards, but it comes at a huge cost. We had to delay having a family for 12 years in order to afford for me to not work (I work at a full time contract job as well as helping Husband with business and will not get any maternity pay). Whilst every company/situation is different I would not assume that what is being offered is a direct assessment of an individual's value. There are just so many factors that might be coming into play. If I were in the same situation, I would try to talk with the director and explain what you would like, but make sure that you sympathise with perspective and perhaps you can alleviate some concerns. You never know - if you can be totally open about wanting to return you they might be wanting to give you a better deal!

I worked for a big UK bank when I had my two and got nothing over stat pay. My present company is also a large private company and also only offers stat.

The only people I know that got more than that work in the public sector.

I'd be very surprised if smaller companies would pay more than stat as having women go off on mat leave probably has a bigger impact due to their smaller size.

It sounds like you probably have some room to negotiate though. Point out to your boss just how crap may pay is, he will probably be shocked.

By the way there is shared paternity now too. bump is that something you can use? Is your DH in a company with a better package? Or he earn less? I was told by hR when I went to my matermity leave meeting they just had their first shared paternity application for 6 months. So people are actually using it and it might be worth looking at if you are going to go back at 6mo instead of the full year.

That might be an option Onelittle as he works for a large company that offer a really good package to their pregnant employees.

Onelittletoddleterror- sounds like I'm in a similar sector to you! But never come across enhanced mat pay.

I came on to ask if you'd thought of sharing leave but see its just been covered. DH and I did it (not for financial reasons although info earn twice as much as him) and it worked brilliantly for us.

I'd recently started a new job and moved from an enhanced package to SMP and like you was disappointed but as others have suggested use your holidays and also there are KIT days when you'll get paid a full day's wage and you and your DH can both take these (upto 20 days I think between u so that's another month's pay).

Good luck! And congratulations on your surprise pregnancy.

Sorry, to clarify, DH can only take KIT days if he takes additional paternity leave.

I think its not really a case of the company not losing out simply because the gov covers the maternity pay - if you're valued as much as you say they are, they'll have a big hole in their team for 6 months - whether they're losing out financially or not. Even if they employ someone temporarily while you're off, there is the time it takes to train that person, potential loss of business relationships / contacts / know-how while you're off. It is a pain for small companies.

As for the more generous packages - I worked for a large law firm and with 5 years service, I got 90% for 6 weeks, then full pay for 20 weeks and then SMP for the remainder. But the difference between that (enhanced mat pay) and SMP was treated as a loan and if you left within 2 years of your return to work you had to pay it all back in a lump sum.

My current law firm pays slightly enhanced mat pay but you only get it once you return to work - you don't get it if you decide not to go back and again, its repayable if you leave. Also lots of these companies who have what seem to be great mat packages dictate when you can have maternity leave (i.e. if you go on maternity leave for a 2nd (or subsequent time) within 2 years of return to work, you are only entitled to SMP again).

Yes that is the same where I work - have to pay occupational bit back if I don't go back for 3 months but I can opt to have it in a lump sum when going back. In all likelihood though I won't be going back - so if I tell them does that affect the smp or do they have to do that whatever? Sorry, not the same as the op.

It's got nothing to do with your value and five years isn't really that long with an employer.

Whilst they can claim SMP back from the government they can't claim back any of top so would have to swallow that cost along with a replacement. There's no say you will return, many mothers don't.

SMP here is very generous, don't the US only get six weeks off?