Should I send it off or do I need to wait for employer?

[eggsinarow]

Currently 27w pregnant.

Worked for my current employer since November last year so as far as I'm aware I should be entitled to standard maternity pay/allowance when I go on mat leave?

At my risk assessment they told me to pass on MATB1 as soon as I got it and they would tell me what to do next as they need to assess whether I'm entitled to maternity allowance or SMP.
I handed them my MAT B1 over 2 weeks ago and have been waiting for any sort of response since.

Apparently I'm waiting for some sort of pack from them to fill out and give them the dates of when I'm planing on going etc.

Should I keep asking about it? A friend of mine has been told they only got SMP (so is left a bit out of pocket she said?) and they gave her all the info so late she only got her first payment 1.5 months after she finished work!

I don't want to end up in that position, what should I do?

Could you not just write to them to say you are pregnant and the date you want to start your leave? I thought you were supposed to do that by the 25th week of pregnancy

Have you checked your company handbook/intranet/policy documents. When I did it there was just a really simple form that was an appendix to the policy document. I filed in with my EDD and my current planned maternity leave start date and signed to say I agreed to the mat policy and to give 4 weeks notice of any changes to my mat start date.

https://www.gov.uk/maternity-pay-leave/how-to-claim you should have already told them when you want your leave to start. If you have been employed for 26 weeks by the 25th week of pregnancy then you are entitled to SMP

If they don't get their finger out then you will end up with a delay in your payments too. Put your request in writing and hound them

SMP is more than maternity allowance so unless your company has a private policy that's the maximum you'll get. Keep hounding them!

I've asked my manager last week as I said I thought I needed to give them my leaving dates etc he said he will double check.

Asked him again today and he said they are waiting for HR to get back with relevant info?
I haven't given them my mat leave dates.

You should have given them by week 25. I'd just write a letter with the date you want to start and see if that spurs them into action

Is there any way for you to contact HR directly?

I work in HR, I would say read your company policies first and then contact HR direct yourself. Firstly to double check they've received your MATb1 form, especially if they're not based on site.
Usually companies state they will respond within 28 days. Like a PP mentioned quite often there is another form to complete with regards to what dates you would like to leave, how long you intend to take of etc which is often discussed with your line manager.
It really shouldn't delay any payments as HR generally would inform payroll what to pay after dates have been agreed etc, but I would chase them up direct.

I have no idea where HR are to be quite honest. It's a huge company and just on my site we employ hundreds of people so you're a bit like a drop in the ocean.

I'm considering just going to my manager and giving him the dates and just mention something along the lines of "I know it can take up to 28 days for HR to respond and I wouldn't want my mat leave affected so I thought I would make you aware of the dates now as as far as I'm aware they should have been given in at 25 weeks" ?

Cant hurt to bring it up with him. They don't seem to be going by the rules

TBH I'm not 100% on everything either.

But there's been a bit of issues so far my previous manager (whom I advised of my pregnancy at 14 weeks) left and it turned out no one else on site (apart from my co workers) knew that I was already 5 months pregnant and never had any risk assessments done (we need several throughout).

I think things just get lost in the blender here, I will have to ask him again when I see him.

TBH I'm not 100% on everything either.

But there's been a bit of issues so far my previous manager (whom I advised of my pregnancy at 14 weeks) left and it turned out no one else on site (apart from my co workers) knew that I was already 5 months pregnant and never had any risk assessments done (we need several throughout).

I think things just get lost in the blender here, I will have to ask him again when I see him.

Yeah definitely bring it up with your line manager and back anything up in writing, email usually best. Check to see if there is a generic email address for HR too, quite often there is and you can usually check in the outlook address book, and "cc" them in too.
My experience working in larger organisations is that it can sometimes take longer, plus it's a nightmare sometimes getting to speak to HR. Hence why I love my standalone role in a smaller company!
Keep at them until you get the appropriate response then they can't turn around and say they weren't informed!