Should I take early maternity leave or risk it? Illegal?

[lovelystar]

Sorry if this is a bit long winded or confusing but I'll try and ask for advice as best as I can!

So I'm 35 weeks pregnant and been working at the same place for nearly 2 years and all throughout my pregnancy. Everything has been fine however over the last month they have cut my hours significantly (from about 35 to 15). They say it's due to lack of hours because of time of year, which was true over christmas, however there are people who have worked there alot shorter time than me who are now getting double my hours.

I know that maternity pay is calculated based on an average of your weekly earnings so am I thinking that this is unfair that they have reduced my hours (therefore effecting the amount of maternity I get) when I have previously worked more hours?

I was going to wait until 38 weeks to take maternity pay but now I think I'll be better off if I take it early incase they continue to reduce my hours? There are also rumours that the business is closing/being taken over so I don't know if I should just take the maternity and run. I'm on a 0 hours contract.

Any advice would be very helpful!

Maternity pay is based on what you earn in weeks 17 to 25, so cutting your hours now won't affect it.

I thought SMP was a flat rate? I know MA is based on hours but I would have thought that with statutory it's either you qualify or don't. Have you checked your companies maternity policy? Either way, Do what is best for you at this moment in time.

It is not calculated on your latest pay. Try this - www.gov.uk/pay-leave-for-parents/y

It will tell you the relevant weeks and if you qualify.

Ditto

@ready it's maternity allowance not maternity pay, sorry I should have been more clear

@ohhgreat that makes me feel a bit better thank you, just worrying they are trying to get away with paying me less despite usually working hard hours!

Sorry didn't see other responses. Mat pay is based on qualifying weeks earlier in your pregnancy so don't worry too much. If you're not earning enough on the hours they're giving then by all means go on mat leave.

Ok, I claimed maternity allowance and it depends on your earnings over a qualifying period, not just on your current circumstances. It takes a bit of time to process but you can start 11 weeks from before babies due date. The sooner you start sorting the forms the better.

www.gov.uk/maternity-allowance/what-youll-get

Also please remember that if you are claiming tax credits/child tax credits whilst on mat leave that you can disregard maternity allowance from your earnings estimate.

Why is it maternity allowance not SMP if you've worked at the same place for 2 years? Ï know you said you've got a zero hours contract but aren't you still considered a worker if you've been continuously employed and therefore eligible for SMP?

I don't know if the calculation is the same for MA as SMP but if it is the following might help you calculate.

Say your due date is 23rd Feb, your Expected Week of Childbirth would be 18th - 24th Feb and your Qualifying Week would be 5th to 12th Nov.

If you are paid weekly then the pay for the qualifying week and the 7 weeks before that week would be added together and divided by 8 to get your average weekly pay.

This figure is what is taken for the 90% for the first 6 weeks. They can't use the weekly rate you are getting after that date to calculate your SMP as that would be illegal and maternity discrimination.

Let's say you get £10 per hour for sake of ease and over the 8 week period mentioned above you averaged 35 hours a week. You would be entitled to 90% of that for the first 6 weeks.

If you are currently earning £150 per week due to fewer hours then they cannot legally pay your mat pay based on the reduced figure.

@table sorry I'm confusing myself alot haha it's the pay you get from the work place not the money you'd get from the government if you weren't entitled to it from work, if that makes sense? But thanks for that you've explained it well and made it alot clearer for me! Just having a bit of a freak out about everything today! Everyone I see keeps mentioning how close it all is and making me panic slightly!

Ah ok then it's SMP you're getting not Maternity Allowance. You should therefore be entitled to 90% of your average weekly earnings from the 8 weeks prior to the qualifying week. The qualifying week being 15 weeks before your expected week of childbirth. If you were doing 35 hours per week back in the autumn then it will be calculated on that.

I have a sort of similar dilemma in that I am working two roles for the same company, one is full time and the other is part time just a few hours a month. Before finding out I was pregnant, I was offered a renewal of my full time contract from end of March onwards but decided not to accept it as I am unhappy with my manager. At that point I said I would continue the part time role, whose contract ends in August. I now know that my due date is 5th August, meaning that the qualifying week for SMP is week ending 28th April. I get paid monthly on 25th, and both roles appear on the same payslip. So in April's one I will only have the part time role, but in March and Feb there will be the full time salary too. My question is: will this be used to calculate SMP, even though my contract finishes at the end of March? Or will only the payments for the part time role (which is what will make me qualify for SMP) count for the calculation? I plan on asking HR but it's still early days so don't want to break the news just yet.

It's maternity allowance that's based on your pay, maternity pay is a flat rate.

Suppose it depends how many hours you work on average. If you earn less per week than maternity pay you are entitled to maternity allowance. Or if you have been working at the job less than so many weeks (I can't remember)

That's not true - SMP is paid at 90% of your average weekly earnings for the first 6 weeks calculated during the qualifying period as per my explanation below.

@ellisss I'm afraid I don't know what would happen in your situation.

@Tableauz, no worries, I'll ask HR :)