Maternity Pay/Leave

[ferradi]

Can anyone tell me what the new maternity benefits are how long do you get and do you still get the same as before 6 weeks @ 90% and £100 or so a week thereafter? Also once i return to work after maternity leave will i be entitled to any holidays for the rest of the year?

Depends on company but think legally it's 100% for 6 wks and statutory minimum for subsequent 20 weeks. You accrue paid holiday while you are away including bank holidays and are entitled to pro-rata holidays for the rest of the year

But I think the statutory has now gone up (as of April) to 9 months instead of 6, no? Not sure of the details though.

I'm fairly sure it's 90% for the 1st 6 weeks and then statutory (about £100 or so) for the remaining time. Assuming you due date was after 1st April this year you are entitled to 39 weeks paid maternity leave. To qualify for any maternity leave you have to have been with your company for a certain amount of time... all this depends on who you work for as your employer may improve on the standard.

You should be able to find out everything you need from this site..

here

Dizzie is right & you acrue holiday when you're on maternity leave too. You should be able to take your annual leave before you start your ML.

Yep - mums with babies born after 1 April are entitled to 39 weeks paid mat leave. It's paid at 90% for 6 weeks and then SMP for the remaining 23 weeks. You accrue holiday for the period of 'ordinary' mat leave only, so 26 weeks. So if you're off for longer than that you don't accrue holiday. Good luck!

Oops - mean remaining 33 weeks!

quick question - when you talk about accruing paid holiday leave when on maternity leave, does this mean you are paid at the maternity leave rate (£100 ish pounds or whatever it is per week) or at the rate you would have been paid were you on your salary? x

You accrue paid holiday at normal salary levels, not at SMP levels. So if you tack it onto the end of your mat lv you are on full pay. This make sense?

you DO accrue holiday during additional maternity leave - but at the statutory rate 20 days per annum, rather than any contractual rate you may have.