Maternity leave- pregnant again (NHS worker)

[Limio92]

Hi all.

I am hoping someone can help me to understand, I am on mat leave (a year) until 16th October which is when I am supposed to be back in work, work in NHS Band 3. I have found I am pregnant again with a due date of 23 November. I dont know how my mat leave will be calculated, as seeing the last 12 weeks will be unpaid, and I will give birth a month from being back in work. My letter states I will need to give 2 months notice if I plan to go back in before the 12 months are up. Do I need to work a minimum of 3 months in order to qualify for mat pay again, so go back 3 months earlier than my current mat leave end date? I will be notifying my managers after I have had my 20 week scan, in July. I am a bit anxious of everyones reaction and sorting out mat leave again. Any help to understand, as I have a severe case of baby brain at the moment and to even understand the basics is a bit of an ask🤣.

Thankyou.

I think you will have to go back early..I would just ask. And Congratulations!

Don't forget you will have accrued annual leave and bank holidays while you have been off so could use these when you go back.

I think you'll need to be back for your qualifying period on full pay, but if you've got AL etc you can use that to help out.

Are you looking at going back after baby 2?

Yes, I am. I will have annual leave accrued so that will be helpful too.

I have no idea how it works but someone in my department went on maternity leave before her 1 year previous maternity was finished and she didn’t come back to work in between. She didn’t come back after that maternity either which we knew she wouldn’t. We only get SMO though so could be the difference maybe.

*SMP

Will probably depend on whether you're after SMP or occupational maternity pay. Best people to ask are HR.

For SMP "SMP is calculated by averaging your earnings over a period of at least 8 weeks up to and including the last pay day before the end of the qualifying week", the qualifying week being week 25. So whatever you're earning between beginning week 18 and end of week 25. If thats less than £123 a week average because you're on unpaid leave you won't qualify for SMP, but may get maternity allowance (https://maternityaction.org.uk/advice/pregnant-during-maternity-leave/)

For occupational maternity leave you'll need to ask HR their policy sooner than later so you can plan.

Your mat pay will be calculated on your average earnings in the 8 weeks before your qualifying week. Which essentially means week 17-25. You’ll need to be at work for that period to gain a decent enhancement. Not sure how it works with back to back maternity leave but that is the standard. Ask for copies of maternity policies etc and get advice from hr