Help me understand qualifying for maternity pay

[Jenn500]

I am thinking of changing jobs but also want to get pregnant in near future. I don’t understand, do I have to work for months with new employee to qualify or not?
i read online you have to employed for 26 weeks when you have 15 weeks left of pregnancy but. I don’t understand this.

So when your 25 weeks you'd have had to of been employed for 26 weeks to get smp. If the company offers enhanced there may be different rules around if you qualify for more

That’s for statutory maternity pay. That’s saying that you need to be in continuous employment for the entirety of your pregnancy, or at least up to that point, you can take mat leave before the baby is born.

But for enhanced maternity pay different companies will have different rules

SMP - basically have a period after starting your new job.
OMP - you'd need to read the company rules. Ours was 2 years service before 15 weeks before thr birth.

i read online you have to employed for 26 weeks when you have 15 weeks left of pregnancy but. I don’t understand this.

Essentially you need to not be pregnant when you start the job. But remember pregnancy is counted from the first day of your last period, so as long as you have one period after you start work, you'll be fine.

Although if you start your period in the first few days of starting a new job you may want to wait one more cycle just in case your dates get brought forward a day or two at your scan.

For Statutory Maternity Leave - you need to tell your employer at least 15 weeks before the due date that you are pregnant and want to take Maternity Leave. The day 15 weeks before the due date is called the "Qualifying Date".

You will only be entitled to Statutory Maternity Pay if you have been working for your employer for at least 26 weeks before the Qualifying date.

I got caught out by the Statutory rules. Unbeknown to me I was 11 days pregnant when I started my new job so my last period was mid January and I started my new job 1st Feb so didn't qualify for SMP so I'll get Maternity Allowance instead the biggest difference between the 2 is that I won't get the first 6 weeks at 90% pay, I'll just get the £155(ish) a week.
My employers offer enhanced under the same rules as SMP which includes a lengthy period of full pay. I've never been so annoyed about 11 days!!