Spreading NHS Maternity pay over 9 months

[mummy2freddybear]

Morning, has anybody spread their NHS maternity pay over 9 months and if so how the heck do you work out what you will come out with each month?

I had no idea you could do this until my manager suggested it to me yesterday, if I did this I could have longer off

Any help would be much appreciated 😊

I have just returned to work after doing this. Payroll sent me an excel sheet showing how much I would get each month for each scenario which was really helpful.
The first 2 months were less than the rest due to not getting smp added on then the rest fluctuated slightly depending on if it was a 4 or 5 week month.
If you can factor any overtime in around the deciding weeks (not sure which weeks count) then this will be the average they use if that makes sense.

Thank you so much.
Once I get to 25 weeks I'm going to request a predicted pay forecast.
I just want to have as long as possible off with the baby, it's my last baby and I want to make the most of my time with him/her

try the maternity money calculator (just type into google) there's an option to do NHS maternity pay and spread/not spread! I did for mine and it was quite helpful to see the differences... I don't think i'm opting to spread it but its difficult to know what the right answer is tbh!

Ooh I didn’t know this was an option, thanks for the tip!

If you're only taking 9 months it isn't worth averaging out, as only the OMP element can be averaged not the SMP element and nill pay will commence at the same time as your return. It's only worth doing for 12 months

@suz2285 I e put in all my info, but I can't see an option to spread the payments, how do I find that?

@mummy2freddybear it might have to be a custom plan where you put in full pay for x weeks half pay for x weeks... I can't remember exactly! Sorry

Thank you'll give it a go 😊

Tbh I didn’t do this because I couldn’t be sure they wouldn’t completely mess it up. You don’t get any extra so I’m not sure how it would mean you could take off longer. As mat leave is front loaded you could work out how much you should get each month and put the excess away until the later months.

Surely it's just as easy to hang onto your pay and spread ir yourself?

Hey! Let me get my baby to bed and I can help you with this

@AndrewGarfieldsLaptop thank you 😊

@LadyOfACertainAge this was my other option, saving myself and using it at the other end

Why can’t you just put the money in the bank and stick to a budget?

Hey! Sorry about the delay. Right. How far along are you? NHS maternity payments is calculated between week 17-22 (I think) so hammer in that overtime and bank shifts. It all counts.

I'm top band 5, I'm having my payments spread over 48weeks and I bring home around £1600 each month. I've frozen my pension for my maternity leave. Your first month and last two payments are the worst due to SMP.

@AndrewGarfieldsLaptop thank you for getting back to me.

I'm 18 weeks, cant manage any bank as I'm struggling with my own shifts 🙈 but I'm going nearly every Saturday and Sunday 😊

I'm also band 2, not sure where I am as I've been there 2.5 years roughly bring home between £1400-£1700 a month depending on what days I've done

Also think about using annual leave and parental leave to extend. I did something like 10mths maternity, but then for the next 2 months, I did 2wks annual leave and then 2 wks parental leave (unpaid) - has to be in the same month though to then in effect get half pay for 2 months. Just softened the financial impact and meant I could stretch it out a couple more months.

Agree with this. Interest rates are so high, put the extra in a high interest instant access savings account and earn something on it. It won’t be hundreds but it’s better than nothing. Why should they earn interest on your money?!

Does anyone know how much tax you pay on the SMP? That is when it goes down to approx £690 a month, how much is then taken off for tax? I take it you would have NI deducted as well?

I'm trying to plan how much I need to save to cover myself and no calcs online tell me how much I'll be taxed

Don't forget annual leave as well at the end of the leave. My baby was born March, so when I go back I have my 33 days to use as well.

I always recommend my staff to split payments. It's very easy to tell people to save money, but it's much easier to have the same payment each month. Especially when you have a new baby, one less thing to worry about.

@AndrewGarfieldsLaptop yeah I'm taking 3 weeks annual leave at the start (if I'd known I was going to fall pregnant I would have saved more 🤣😂) and maybe 6 at the end, I need to save at least a week for the big 40 celebrations 🙄🙈🤣 otherwise I'd take it all ha ha

Just to add, for any others that find this thread - when planning extra banks shifts remember that your mat pay is calculated from the last 2 payslips prior to your qualifying week (week 25) NOT necessarily the shifts worked in those 8 weeks before then. Bank shifts are usually paid in the pay slip the month after you do them, eg September shifts are in October pay. Therefore, if your qualifying pay slips are October and November, you need to be doing the extra shifts in September and October. So it's actually even earlier than you might think (not great with the 1st trimester nausea/tiredness!)

@Lily124 in our trust bank shifts are paid separately and weekly so I don't think they would count towards it

It shouldn't matter it's a different payslip (ours are too). In your case it should be the 8 bank payslips prior to week 25 which are added on then

Your payroll department will be able to do an estimate. If your shifts vary it won’t be straightforward to work out yourself.

It can’t be spread out completely because the SMP has to be paid at a certain time (government regulations), it’s only the OMP that can be spread.

I would never take the option of spreading personally because I’d rather have the money gaining (a tiny bit of) interest in my account rather than work holding it back for me.

Don’t forget you can take accrued annual leave at the end as well, so you can go back onto full pay for a month or so before you go back to work.