Pregnant on Maternity Leave Teacher

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Please could someone help me!

I am due to go on maternity leave in June 2023 and plan on returning from maternity at the end of March 2024. We plan on having a second child quickly after the first so I would be pregnant on my return after maternity leave. Does anyone know how long I need to be working back at school to qualify for the full maternity pay for baby number 2?

I cannot find this information anywhere! I'd love to hear from people who had 2 children close together and how long you needed to work to be able to have your full maternity pay for the second time around? I am a teacher if that makes any difference!

Thanks in advance!

I know in Scotland if that was me I wouldn’t need to be back at all or for any set time to qualify for my full pay again. I know England can be different though. Exit the classroom and thrive Facebook group would know

Wow, that's amazing. I definitely will have to be back for a certain amount of time to get my full SMP and OMP again but can't work out how long!

This is what I can find so far... 'When can I take my next maternity leave?
Firstly, work out the date you are due back at work from your current period of maternity leave. You need to think about whether you want to take your full 52 week entitlement, if not, you must give at least eight weeks’ notice if you wish to return early.
Secondly, decide when you would like to start your next period of maternity leave. The earliest you can start your next period of maternity leave is the beginning of the 11th week before the week your baby is due. It is up to you to decide when you wish to start your next maternity leave and you should give your employer notice of the date you wish to start your leave by the 15th week before your baby is due.
If your current maternity leave ends before the 11th week before your next baby is due or before the date you wish to start your next maternity leave you will have to return to work for the time in between unless you take another type of leave, see next question. It is up to you to decide what you wish to do but be sure to follow the correct notice requirements for both periods of maternity leave.'

I'm fairly sure that's just saying 'if there's a gap between finishing first maternity leave and starting the second maternity leave then you need to come back to work during that time'

As legally you're still employed during maternity leave, you don't have to build up length of service all over again before the second one.

The only thing to consider is the period over which they work out your average earnings to work out what they'll pay you for your mat leave. Usually there's an 8 week period which should be detailed in the policy. So if you're on mat leave and just getting SMP during that period, that's what will be taken into account rather than your full earnings. If you're back to work during that period, or you have a good package that means they're paying you during that period then that's what they'll use to work it out. Hope that makes sense!

I returned to school for 6 weeks and am back off again, I fully qualified for mat pay but only took smp the second time as I'm not sure I'll be going back again (dislike the new head)

Just to add I went back on mat leave at 29 weeks as I didn't want to be there! They were happy for me to have the full OMP, we are an academy who follow the burgundy book

I think that makes sense.

I can see online that week 25 is the ‘qualifying week’ for maternity pay entitlement and it says that the 8 weeks prior to that are what is looked at for maternity pay amounts.

Do you think that means I would need to be earning my full pay again between weeks 17-25 of pregnancy possibly?

That’s what I have understood from it!

I thought that too but apparently not- I did ask them several times but they said nope it's correct!

Mine went
Jan 22 mat leave 1 (full entitlement)
Dec 22 return to work end of term
Feb 23 mat leave 2 (full entitlement)

I am hoping this finds you! I am hoping you could share some information with me? I am a current ECT 1 I know that the new ECT programme means that if time is off due to maternity then there is possible extension of study - which isn't too bad and is not a concern to me. My main concern is having to consider everything... I already have a daughter who is 2.5 year old and I feel as though time is nearing to have another child before age gap is too much. Trying to "plan" where possible conceiving to ensure that financially we are stable. I have found a great contact on Twitter but have to pay for their services and advise in organising maternity leave and shared parental leave. It's so frustrating that there are so many factors to consider that should never be a hinderance!

Did you find out the answer to this? I’m in exactly the same position as you! Desperate to know! Is it that we need to be back at work in full pay at 25 weeks pregnant or is it the 17 weeks?

I follow a page on Instagram called Nugget which give advice on maternity leave - I’d recommend following them as they have some good advice.

https://www.instagram.com/reel/C1FaXqjoq7s/?igsh=cTNnYXNxbm54YWp4

I’m pretty sure you need to be getting your full pay from weeks 18-26 of your second pregnancy. So I am due to go back to work at the start of June and we are going to try and conceive next month so that weeks 18-26 fall around June/ajuly/August so that I am on full pay - hope that makes sense!

Just to add if this helps.

I just had two children back to back. My timings worked out well so my maternity ended I used up all my holidays to stay off further and then started my new maternity year. whilst on maternity you are counted as employed therefore therefore you do not need to do anything or go back to work in between (sure that would be impossible). Further to this when they calculate your pay they went back to my qualifying weeks and seen I was on Mat pay so they default to the year before and take it from that. They then adjust if any pay rises since then.

Summary

• you can do maternity back to back without going back to work
• your second mat pay should be exactly the same as your first.

I would speak to your payroll department because I work in health and social care and they don't use your mat pay they default to the year before and take that so your second mat pay should be the same. They obviously don't like to advertise it. I'm just coming to the end of my two years off unfortunately

Oooh ok that’s interesting. Thanks for that