I am about to go on maternity leave and will be paid SMP + emplyers contributions (8 weeks full pay, 18 weeks half pay + SMP, then just SMP).
Employer has put out a call for voluntary redundancy and retirement (bit young for that unfortunately 
) which would have to start by the end of the year I think. My maternity pay would go on until early next summer.
I have been told that if I apply for voluntary redundancy I would not receive my maternity pay from the date that I left the employer. However I am wondering if I would still be eligible for the SMP contribution - even perhaps through maternity allowance (or whatever its called).
Any ideas?
I am trying to work out the pros and cons of both - I will lose this post within a couple of years anyway and may have forced redundancy before that. There are however quite a few similar jobs around that I could hopefully do. The redundancy pay would be more than I would receive on maternity pay (after tax etc - redundancy pay is tax free) and I could stay at home longer 