Stat Mat Pay Sh*t

[Br3style]

So I stupidly assumed by the time I take maternity leave from my new job I will qualify for Statutory Pay.
Decided to be 100% sure and did the Maternity Calculator for employers on Gov website.
Turns out I'm 2 weeks out. Have to have worked since 13th March, I started 22nd

Buggered - not sure what to do if anything?!
Work don't know I'm pregnant yet either.

You might be eligible for maternity allowance. Worth checking!

Check your eligibility for Maternity Allowance. From memory it’s the same as Stat maternity pay.

Basically you have to be definitely not pregnant the day you start the new job - and to be sure if this,
it needs to be that your period starts after your first day in the new job so that the LMP date used to calculate due dates falls during your employment.

Have you had any medical appointments yet, been booked in with the midwife etc? Could you lie and say that your LMP date was a week later than it actually was? I would expect that at some point during your pregnancy the scans will indicate that the due date should actually be a week sooner but this might not happen - it's not an exact science and these things can and do vary anyway - and in the event of a confusing mix up where a due date is being changed due to scan measurements, I reckon the university would give you the benefit of the doubt and keep you in the mat pay category.

It's only worth doing this if you will qualify for an enhanced mat pay package with the uni - universities usually do have a decent offer. If you would only get SMP then its not worth trying to jig the numbers aw Maternity Allowance isn't massively different from SMP. Its mainly just about whether the admin is done by your employer's payroll dept or the benefits system.

@KihoBebiluPute

Basically you have to be definitely not pregnant the day you start the new job - and to be sure if this, it needs to be that your period starts after your first day in the new job so that the LMP date used to calculate due dates falls during your employment.

Have you had any medical appointments yet, been booked in with the midwife etc? Could you lie and say that your LMP date was a week later than it actually was? I would expect that at some point during your pregnancy the scans will indicate that the due date should actually be a week sooner but this might not happen - it's not an exact science and these things can and do vary anyway - and in the event of a confusing mix up where a due date is being changed due to scan measurements, I reckon the university would give you the benefit of the doubt and keep you in the mat pay category.

It's only worth doing this if you will qualify for an enhanced mat pay package with the uni - universities usually do have a decent offer. If you would only get SMP then its not worth trying to jig the numbers aw Maternity Allowance isn't massively different from SMP. Its mainly just about whether the admin is done by your employer's payroll dept or the benefits system.

Sorry but I don't think that's right. Your due date will be based on your dating scan at 12 weeks. The sonographer didn't even ask my LMP and based the date solely on babies measurements. They do ask your LMP at booking appointment, but it is only used to schedule the 12 week scan. Your employer won't start calculating you entitlement/pay until they have your matB form, which will be later then the dating scan, so lieing about LMP won't help you.

If you were working before you started this job (or even if there was a small gap) you should qualify for maternity allowance, which is the same weekly rate anyway.

Maternity allowance is pretty much the same - you get £150/wk for the nine months? Mat pay is the same except you get more for the first six weeks, then down to the same £150/wk rate thereafter. The first six weeks of mat pay is 90% of your usual wage, so the total amount you'll 'lose' is ((90%ofusualweeklypay - £150)6). Unless you are on mega bucks it won't be a massive amount different. if you are* on mega bucks, start saving some of the mega bucks now!

I found myself in the same boat. Maternity allowance was a fraction of full maternity pay. And I got sacked for being pregnant.

The good old days, eh?

@Br3style As others have said, have a look at maternity allowance and check your eligibility for that. I think it’s only the first 6 weeks that are any different to SMP.
Not worth lying about it as @KihoBebiluPute has suggested. Your employer will go off of the date that your midwife puts on your MATB1 form which isn’t issued until about 20/22weeks. They work backwards from that date to work out if you’re eligible for pay etc.

When you get your MatB form, the doctor might check your notes for your due date, and they might just ask you what your due date is and write it on the form

If it’s the latter (and it was both times for me) just tell them the date it needs to be to qualify for Mat pay

Ah thank you all for your responses, I didn't expect any!

Well yes to be fair my due date isn't completely accurate as I need a dating scan first but I still think I'll be out.
When I started the job I didn't actually know I was pregnant either.

So I will check Maternity Allowance.
Yes I was working August 2020 - March 2021 and then took this new job.
Nope, not on big bucks so looks a lot more positive then originally.
Sorry if I'm confused but I'm not a uni student.
Thanks everyone :)

@DeeplyMovingExperience

I found myself in the same boat. Maternity allowance was a fraction of full maternity pay. And I got sacked for being pregnant.

The good old days, eh?

I am in the exact same situation luckily managed to do some saving before and entitled to maternity allowance still

You need to not be pregnant when you start a job. By the time you are 25 weeks pregnant you need to have been employed for 26 weeks.

You will qualify for Maternity Allowance if you don't get SMP. You just lose the 90% of wages for 6 weeks and get the set £150ish instead.