Long-term sickness and maternity pay

[Ca23]

I had a push bike accident and am currently off work with a severe ankle injury for at least 4 weeks. It's likely that I'll be off for longer and could need surgery. We were TTC and discussed putting everything on hold until I'd recovered but sods law I was already pregnant. Delighted but now worried about maternity pay. I'm entitled to full pay for 6 months sickness. Does anyone know whether long-term sickness effects maternity pay? I work 12 hour shifts constantly on my feet so I can't go back until I'm 100%.

There are qualifying weeks during your pregnancy where your average earnings are taken into account.

To calculate your average weekly earnings your employer will average your gross earnings over a period of at least eight weeks up to and including the last payday before the end of your qualifying week. The qualifying week is the 15th week before the week your baby is due.

If you are earning your usual salary as sick pay in those qualifying weeks, it won't affect your maternity pay.

If you'd like to share your due date, and sick pay dates I can work it out for you?

This has some useful info: www.citizensadvice.org.uk/work/rights-at-work/sick-pay/getting-sick-pay-when-youre-pregnant/

@Pittcuecothecookbook I’m not the OP but could you possibly help me work mine out?

Generally speaking, for SMP, weeks 17-25 are the relevant weeks for calculating maternity pay, although there can be exceptions where pay periods are unusual. It's unlikely that you'll be off work for 13 weeks with a broken ankle, but in any case, if you have full pay for 6 months, that will carry you way past the test weeks, which mean that your maternity pay will be unaffected. It doesn't matter that it's sick pay rather than normal pay - it's still taxable earnings, and that's what counts.

Don't forget also, that you accrue annual leave as usual, and you must be allowed to take your annual leave either at the beginning or the end of your maternity leave, even if you would normally lose leave because you haven't taken it by the end of a financial year. Most NHS Trust will allow you to carry the leave over, then return on Annual Leave before you start work, or leave on Annual Leave before you finish for Maternity Leave.

@lougle thanks for the reassurance! The full pay is a bit misleading because I get full 'basic pay' while off sick. I lose my antisocial hours bonus which is fair because I'm not working them but its a significant (about £300 a month) loss. That's where my concerns were stemming from. I'm only having 8 weeks off in total now so lots of worrying about nothing. Now I get to worry about going back 12 weeks pregnant and dropping that bombshell as I pass over my sicknotes on my first day back. Wimped out twice over the phone now!

@lougle also thanks for reminding me about my annual leave! Now maybe I can worry less about trying to run around a children's ward and manage a 2 hour commute by train until I'm ready to pop!

Also remember that although they took away our right to average pay for periods of sick pay in 2013, so dropped to base rate, as you say, annual leave is still average pay (including supplements), based on the 3 months preceding it. So if you can get back to work, cane some overtime between weeks 17-25, or at least take some shifts with unsociable hours, then all annual leave you take, and maternity leave, will be at a higher rate.