Maternity Pay

[expectinglittlebear]

Hi all,

I am due in January and have been thinking about what I would like to do for maternity leave.

The company I work for, is relatively new, quite small and I am their first ever expectant employee, and therefore all the maternity leave sections of the staff handbook and contract are your basic Gov SMP (90% for 6wks and then ~£150 a week after that).

Question I am asking really... has anyone ever been in the same situation (new company, first mother etc) and has actually approached their bosses to ask if they would be offering any sort of enhanced maternity pay? And if so, did it work?

Also just to add for reference. If they stick with SMP, can't really afford to have mat leave longer than 8 weeks (6wks @ 90% and 2wks annual leave) ... I would LOVE more time off with my new baby.

There is no harm in asking. If you do though it might be worth doing some research around cost benefit for them.

If you do only take 8 weeks you'll need to think now about childcare. No nursery will take them that young. It might be that you'll have to find other options.

You can claim some benefits while on leave as well.

You’ll get child benefit of about £80 a month too.

I’d be in touch with friends/contacts in similar roles and asking if they can share their company’s maternity package info with you, so you can point to comparable organisations/competitors etc.

Sympathy from me though. My company (very small but in a well paid industry) pays statutory only, so we had to save and save to afford for me to take the time. What they do offer is a ‘return from maternity’ bonus which equates to 2 months’ pay when you come back, but obviously that doesn’t help if you need the cash while you’re on leave and don’t have savings to draw on.

I work for a big company and only get basic. We just made it work last time and we’re fortunate that hubby earns a fair salary. If money is that tight it might be that you’re entitled to some universal credit so I’d definitely have a look at some websites so you can input your basic mat pay and your partners to see if you’ll get anything extra.

I work for a huge company, 36,000 U.K. employees and they only offer SMP. I tried and failed to negotiate a higher pay before I conceived so we just save save saved. Luckily we can manage all bills on my wife's wage but it was still a kick in the teeth getting paid so little.

You will regret going back at 8 weeks as you'll never get that time back, perhaps you could look at other options such as a loan to support you whilst you were off?

I work for a medium sized company that has been around for ages, many women have taken maternity leave before me. We only get statutory. So you’re unlikely to get more to be honest because so many other places also offer so little. I’ll mostly be using my annual leave to bump up maternity pay.

DH’s work only offers statutory paternity too (locally quite a large employer and private sector). He won’t be taking any paternity leave but annual leave instead (usually leave has to be booked many weeks in advance but they’re allowing him some flexibility).

Why can you only afford 8 weeks?
Do you have a partner or will you be a single parent?
If your partner is a low earner, or you'll be a single parent, it's likely that you'll be entitled to Universal Credit after baby is born.
Things like whether you rent or have a mortgage are relevant too.

No harm in asking your employer but I think they're likely to say no, unfortunately.

I agree, there is no harm in asking but it’s unlikely to change anything. It was likely a strategic decision to just offer SMP. I know you said it’s a small company but you might be surprised with how many ‘big’ companies also offer the bare minimum.

Surely you'll be looking at at least £50 a day nursery fees for an 6/8 week old baby? Can't you ask your partner to help you with money?

Definitely look at your partners shared parental leave package also. Mine has an amazing package of 4 months full pay (way better than my entitlement) so we plan to halve the leave. I mean I wanted to do that anyway because it's something I think is really beneficial, but the money side of things I wasn't expecting to be so good

I’m in a similar position, first person to be pregnant in the company.

I will be asking for an enhanced maternity pay but doubt they will offer any more than the basic

Every company I've ever worked for only offers SMP.
It utterly sucks. (i've just started mat leave today and am FREAKING OUT about our paycheck cut this month, even tho we've saved a 'topup amount). Ie, I've just have had a meltdown rushing round town comparing the cost of cotton wool to try and save a couple of quid a month in money madness)

It's tough, but try n stash as much in savings as you can beforehand - we got used to living on my DH's income and save mine, dipping into it when we had to to try and get used to the income we will be on now.

I found this website really helpful in figuring out my shortfall, and how adding holiday to the end of it can help with it. maternity.money/

Childcare costs TONS (mine is gonna be at least £900 a month for full time) so going back you're still on a lot less money unless you've got family / friends who you are happy to leave your baby with.

Things I'm using to help:

IF you've got any form of side job- you can keep doing that through mat leave if it's within your contract - tho i think you might need to have been working there for the 26 weeks before qual week etc. For example I coach sports, so will be going back to that from when baby is 3 months old (ish) to earn some small additional dollar.

Otherwise you can earn up to £1k without having to declare it to HMRC, which can help with some bits n pieces.

Started stashing 'an amount' each month already for baby - now we've got a cushion, and our regular outgoings include 'baby' amount each month as clubs and things seem to add up too.

See what your partner's work does (if applicable). Unfortunately my DH doesn't get paternity leave, but he is being allowed to take 2weeks off when baby arrives, so we'll actually in many ways be better off.

Good luck - I'm right with you. xx

@expectinglittlebear yes, this was basically my situation too. My company wasn't brand new (about 5 years) but still small and I was the first maternity leave request.
The contract only stipulated statutory, like you.
Fortunately for me the office manager negotiated an increase to 3 months full pay. I was very lucky indeed. I'm in a male dominated firm and it was more a personal favour really as it's somewhat unlikely they'll have another case in the next couple of years.