Any other teachers have experience of maternity rights?

[indigo27]

Hi all,
I have been teaching for 5 years consistently but have started teaching at a different school this September
I've found out I'm pregnant and terrified to tell them as I haven't been there a year?
I read that as long as you've been employed there 26 weeks it's ok which I have
Any one have any experience with this I'm really worrying?

Hi, you'll need to find out your school/council's maternity policy. Most LA schools follow the burgundy book which you could Google and read more about. This provides enhanced maternity pay. I don't have any experience of academy schools but there will have to be a policy in place

The 26 weeks service by your 15th week of pregnancy related to your eligibility to claim statutory maternity pay. I'm sorry but you might not necessarily be eligible for the enhanced pay.

Definitely get the policy as soon as you can so you can find out properly.

Hope that helps and congratulations on your pregnancy!

If you’ve worked for local authority schools then it counts as continuous service and it’ll be fine. If you’ve moved to/from academies then you’ll need to read your current school’s policy. Don’t worry about telling them though, it won’t be the first time it’s happened.

Echo above.

I started at my school in Sept 2020. They were happy and supportive when I told them.

I’m currently 11 weeks and do not qualify for enhanced pay, only SMP. I knew this would be the case as I haven’t moved from an LA school, and for personal reasons we wanted to TTC earlier rather than wait. So do check your pay policy to see what you are entitled too. I think I worked it out that I could safely TTC from March if I wanted enhanced pay. But enhanced or not, you’ll get your SMP and entitlement to take up to 12 months leave

Do let the school know ASAP, especially as we will be back in the classroom soon, so they can do a risk assessment. Women get pregnant in their first year in a new school all the time so please don’t let that stop you!

I worked for local authority schools the last 5 years and now work for a trust which I think is an academy.
Really worrying about money etc and what I'll be entitled to.

A trust school is not an academy, they are usually still under a local authority. If it is the same local authority as your previous schools then you should be fine

And yes, should be fine if you have been there for 26 weeks even if it is a different authority or not a LA school. No need to worry

If its a trust school it is probably a form of foundation school which are still linked to the LA. You could be fine for enhanced mat pay

I worked in a LA school then moved to an academy in the September. Basically if you've worked there for 2 weeks before your cycle that you got pregnant in, you'll get smp.
My academy school bought into the burgundy book which meant I also got enhanced pay. I didn't expect to but they counted my other school as continuous employment.

Go and see the finance officer at your school and then can find out.

Check your contract. Mine has honoured my continuous service as this was something I was worried about. It doesn’t say for maternity though so I need to check that when I tell them.

Like you I’m worried how they will react and what pay I’ll get but you will deffo get SMP.

Yeah it's so stressful as I just want to know if they'll count my continuous service.
It says in my contract they follow the burgundy book scheme so I'm hoping that means they'll count them! Thanks everyone I will let you know the outcome x

Can anyone make sense of the statutory documents section?

Hi, used to be a HR director in an academy and now work in a local authority doing schools HR.

Essentially it means they are following standard terms and conditions (burgundy book)unless it is over ridden by a local policy.

This is a bit of a red herring and not necessarily relevant. You just need to pay attention to your maternity policy.

@Darklava09, if they have honoured your continuous service it will include maternity, they can’t pick and choose where to apply it.