Who pays the statutory maternity pay?

[weeblueberry]

I was always under the impression that the government paid the statutory maternity pay in it's entirety but having spoken to my colleague yesterday (not my boss who deals with the finances) she indicated that the company paid some of it last time I was off on maternity?

I told her I assumed it was completely government paid (since if I wasn't coming back to the job I would still receive it and they surely couldn't be expected to pay it then...).

Does your employer contribute to the stat mat pay?

Large employers contribute a little bit I think. They have to pay holiday themselves too.

Certainly small employers can claim back the 90% bit of SMP and not just the lower rate. I did for my nanny. I actually got more than 100%. I got enough to cover my employer NICs too.

Depends on the size of your employer

Thanks - my employer is very small. I just wanted to make sure she could definitely claim it all back.

When I announced my pregnancy this time she said she couldn't afford maternity replacement for me as well as my statutory pay. I didn't realise what she meant at the time but having spoken to my colleague she's obviously paid...something. I just need to do more research on it so that if she says she can't afford to replace me again I could suggest she uses what would otherwise be my salary to cover the replacement?