Help !!! Maternity Pay Query

[Benji1998]

My manager has said she thinks I will be able to claim SMP as well as being entitled to company benefits.

Company Maternity Policy:
8 weeks full pay
18 weeks half pay
10 weeks SMP

It doesn’t seem right to me that I’d be able to claim SMP alongside receiving the above? Does anyone know?

Thanks

Normally companies with contractual maternity pay will pay you SMP and then the difference between SMP and your full pay.

Anyway, you can’t “claim” SMP, you get paid it by your employer and they claim the costs back.

So I think your manager is incorrect.

As poster above. You don't 'claim jt' it's paid by your company and they claim it back. It would seem right in what you have out though

Hi, so I’ve just started my maternity leave today, how it works is basically that that’s the TOTAL amount you get. It’s not that + SMP.

So for example the 8 weeks full pay, say for example your full pay is £1500 a month, for those 8 weeks if you looked at your monthly payslip it would show:

£736 (£184 weekly SMP X 4)
£764 Employer Maternity pay

So you get paid your full wage £1500 but it is made up of part SMP, then your employer tops the SMP up to your full wage.

The same for the half pay, on your payslip you’ll see it’s the SMP figure then your employer tops it up to half of your usual wage.

So basically yes you do receive SMP, but it’s not ON TOP of your wage it’s built into your wage x

My maternity pay is half pay plus SMP. The company pays it and they claim the SMP element back.

Is SMP £736 a month?

My company doesn't have any enhanced maternity leave or pay ... It's as below.....

• 6 weeks @ 90% of salary
• 33 weeks @ of statutory maternity pay*
• 52 weeks maternity leave (26 ordinary and 26 additional)
• Accrual of contractual holiday and bank holidays for the duration of
maternity leave

Does that mean after 6 weeks on 90% which will be about £1660 I will go down to only having £736 a month?????? That's like more than half of what I'm used to I don't think I'll cope!

Yes, Statutory Maternity Pay is £184 a week so in a typical 4 week month is £736, and that is before your tax is deducted x

@Benji1998 your SMP will be topped up to your normal wage rather than having SMP plus your full wage.

@TripleESept24 SMP is £172.48 per week (or 90% of your salary if that is a lower amount)

I literally won't be able to live on that for long....... 😪😒 So I'll be going back to work pretty quick!!!

Ah has it increased to £184.03 per week this month?

Is it £172 or £184?

Yep, that’s how it works. Technically those 6 weeks are enhanced maternity pay. 52 weeks is the total you can have as maternity leave.

@TripleESept24 it's increasing to £184.03 from this month

You really need to save massively before going on maternity leave to be able to take time off, or have a partner willing and able to support you, because it really is an absolute joke the amount it is set at honestly I don’t know how anyone can be expected to live off it!

I’ve literally just started maternity leave today and luckily my employer is full pay for 6 months, then I’ll have 13 weeks of SMP and a final 13 weeks totally unpaid & to enable me to take the full year off we’ve been saving for around a year. Honestly save as much as you can before falling pregnant and while pregnant x

Well.... The pregnancy was unexpected!! And I have commitments/a loan and some other things to pay!! So saving when I have 5 months and we have everything to buy is not going to happen!!

I can't believe how rubbish it is! I will have to manage for a couple of months but I would be better off going back to work 2/3 days a week (from home) and I'd get more than that £184!!

It depends on the company, mine does something like 90% pay for 5 months, starting 6 weeks after maternity leave. So I got 90% salary for 6 weeks with SMP, then now I'm getting 90% AMP plus SMP. It'll drop to SMP after that 5 months is up

Yeah it is really difficult especially for unplanned pregnancies because I know exactly what you mean, it becomes harder to save when pregnant because you have all the baby things to buy- especially if it’s first baby which ours is!

Living on SMP just isn’t possible if you have bills to pay unless you save up plenty beforehand or have a partner covering bills. Luckily my husband & I saved before falling pregnant as we knew I wanted the full year off but can totally imagine the stress if pregnancy was a surprise! X

Could always ask your employer if they do equal pay maternity
I’m having that done instead of the pathway government suggests

Mine did:
8 weeks full pay (that includes the smp)
16 weeks half pay +smp (so smp on top)
15 weeks smp
13 weeks unpaid

I suppose it depends how it’s worded? Could you enquire with your hr or manager?

@TripleESept24 you'll also get child benefit which is around £100 a month - I know it's not loads, but every little helps!

You could do some (10 I think) KIT days where you should be paid your usual daily rate on top of SMP which can help boost earnings when in the SMP only part of pay (if your employer will let you and you have childcare for those days).
£736 a month isn't that bad really, compared to NMW less childcare costs. Unless you have free childcare on hand for return to work, I found the nursery years harder than the SMP months though was able to save up beforehand.

@Sa11yCinnamon do you know how you go about claiming child benefit whilst you’re on maternity? Do they look at what I’m earning on maternity leave or what my actual salary is?

What is this??

@Schoolchoicesucks I thought if you did a KIT day you lose the day of SMP? For this reason my manager has recommended using all my kit days in the final period of mat leave where I get nothing? Just wondering if I've/they've gotten it wrong!

I believe this is where you essentially average the amount over the entire period you have off.

So instead of receiving 90% for 6 weeks and then £184 a week for the following 33 weeks, they add the amount all up together and divide it evenly across your whole time off.

It doesn’t give you any extra money but it can be more helpful for people to consistently have the same amount every month rather than starting off at 90% and then dropping to £700ish

So your employer adds up all your work wages added to all the maternity pay into one lump sum and then spread out over how many months you want off