Furlough and Maternity Pay

[fioney25]

Hello,

So my company may be putting me into furlough tomorrow due to Coronavirus and will pay me up to 80% of my wage.

I'm 18 weeks pregnant so in the 'qualifying weeks' for maternity pay. Does anyone know of this will affect my qualification for SMP? 😢

xxx

Will 80% of your earnings be less than about £160 a week?

I'm really worried about the same thing. I can't find any information anywhere and am very worried about it all. My employer doesn't know what will happen either. I really hope that they allow discretion when calculating our entitlement

@Cherrytangfastic I know this is why I'm panicking. My employer said it's almost a certainty that they have to do it but nothing to say if it affects SMP qualification xx

@BuffaloCauliflower Yes I will but is it classed as continuous employment and does it affect SMP qualification 😕 xx

I’m afraid I fear this might be one the things they haven’t thought out yet, I’d hope there will be protection for this but I haven’t seen anything clarifying it yet. If it does you should still be able to get maternity allowance which is basically the same amount

Hi just checking over the government website and to get SMP you need to be in “continuous” employment and normal breaks such as annual leave and sickness count as normal leave... so does temporary lay offs which this technically is. Sounds like it should be fine but always work confirming with your HR :) x

Sorry here’s the link

www.gov.uk/continuous-employment-what-it-is

My understanding is as long as you are still on the payroll, which you will be (your employer has to claim back the 80% it's not that you are now in receipt of a state benefit or anything) then your smp will be uneffected! That's what I hope anyway I'm due to be put on it too and altho I'm only 16 weeks I don't know how long I'll be off for!

@Shimmy22 @Bearbunch Thank you both so much you've reassured me a lot and the link has helped too. Xx

I'm in the same position and really worrying about this 😕 can someone explain to me what the situation is? Will my maternity pay be based off my 80% salary or my full salary?

I asked my HR this directly and they agreed that they would work out my wages based on my pay BEFORE all this and not on any furlough ph or SSP. It was agreed with our HR Director... best advice is to check this personally with your own team to clarify. Get it all in writing too!

And call ACAS or Maternity Action for advice.

I'm in the same situation - about to enter my qualifying period too. From what I can gather, we should be OK although will be phoning Maternity Action for clarification. I feel in my situation that this is the better outcome as I was looking at having to be off long term on statutory sick pay only, which definitely would have affected my SMP eligibility. So at least this way my earnings will definitely be over the threshold, as long as there are no other loopholes relating to furlough pay and SMP that I'm not aware of! At the moment I'm beyond relieved that I don't need to be in work from today as the situation there was becoming incredibly stressful.

Hope we all get answers and that everything is fine

I’m in the same situation myself my boss said with furlough she doesn’t know if it will affect SMP but I am 29 weeks pregnant and im taking all my holiday entitlement for the year, 27 days and then I’ve asked my SMP to start after my holiday entitlement which is 4 weeks before I give birth but very unsure where I stand at the moment when SMP starts x

I'm in a similar position although admittedly more fortunate- I'm in my qualifying weeks but have been sent home on full pay (NHS) but that means base pay, not any of the enhancements and overtime that I get every month. I'm really hoping the government will realise this (obviously at an appropriate time- it's not anyone's priority at the moment I appreciate!) Because it will make a real difference to our maternity pay 😞

Did anyone get any further clarification on this? Just been told I am being furloughed from tomorrow on 90% pay for 4 weeks and currently in qualifying period.

In this article on the .gov website it says that statutory may be affected.

www.gov.uk/guidance/check-if-you-could-be-covered-by-the-coronavirus-job-retention-scheme

I'm 24 weeks pregnant and being furloughed from Monday as I work for a theatre. I was concerned about whether my maternity pay would be affected, as I am due to get 90% of my pay for 3 months, so wondered whether it would now be 90%of 80%. My boss spoke to HR who confirmed that they look at the salary I was on at 15 weeks pregnant, so my original pay. It doesn't seem that my maternity will be affected at all. I'm trying to see the positives in that it gives me some time to rest and prepare, plus I'm saving money by doing naff all at home xx

@rhiandrath I'm in theatre too... But my producers are stalling currently, saying theyre not sure if im eligible for furlough, when quite clearly I am!
I hate that this industry have no HR, so have no idea what they're doing

@Dullblue oh I'm sorry to hear that! Ours have been very good and have even furloughed the zero hours staff on pay. I think it really varies across the industry. Hope you do get it xx

So glad I found this thread - So even though furloughed we are still considered to be continuously employed? I’m 25 weeks so have finished my qualifying period so hopefully smp shouldn’t be affected....although I’m worried about the contractual part of my mat pay...can they change that?

Unless the SMP regs are changed to then yes I think it will drop your earnings for SMP purposes, sadly

Sorry I agree your continuous employment will be unaffected but I think your average weekly earnings will drop and this is likely to impact the 6 weeks at 90% SMP entitlement

I asked my HR this directly and they agreed that they would work out my wages based on my pay BEFORE all this and not on any furlough ph or SSP. It was agreed with our HR Director... best advice is to check this personally with your own team to clarify. Get it all in writing too!

That would work for contractual mat pay but eligibility and entitlement is all governed by legislation so it’s not really open to your work to just change it, unless they know this and are happy to take on the chin that they might not be able to recover all the SMP from HMRC if they use different eligibility/qualifying criteria

Eligibility and entitlement to SMP that meant to say

If it's statutory pay, it's only going to affect the first month and a half of your maternity.
The rest is going to be no change, surely?