Is bonus included when calculating SMP at 90%?

[fludnelb]

Hi, I'm trying to budget ahead for maternity leave (only get basic 6 weeks at 90% and since I am the sole breadwinner I'll be lucky if I can afford to take even 3 months off).

Just looked it up online and it says SMP is paid 'for the first six weeks at 90 per cent of your average gross weekly earnings. I get quite a big chunk of my salary paid as an annual bonus (which is discretionary but I have had it regularly since I started working here).

In calculating what 90% is, would my employer be obliged to base it on my full salary in the last tax year including bonus, rather than what I get paid each month?

Does anyone know??? (Fingers crossed - as it would make quite a big difference!)

Thanks!!

I've never seen it included but nor sure if thats right

SMP is calculated based on your average earnings between weeks 17 and 25 of your pregnancy. So if you will receive your bonus then, it will be included, if not, it won't.

Sorry but no it will not take into account your annual bonus as that is a discretionary payment and not what your contracted salary is. The variables cover when you work different shifts etc to ensure you get 90% on what your average salary is.

Your average weekly salary is at X and one week of the year it's Y because of a bonus.

It is based on what you earn between weeks 17 and 25. I was lucky and was paid a bonus between those weeks. Can't remember if it is bonus actually paid then, or if it accrues then - more likely to be what you are actually paid I think.

Whether it's contractual or discretionary makes no difference when calculating SMP. It's purely about what the OP is paid in the time period used for calculation.

Yep as others have said, it's all about what you get paid in those months.

I work in magazines and do some freelance for within our company every month. I hadn't realised that your maternity pay was based on your payslips in those months until one payday had already passed - as soon as I realised I contacted all the editors I worked for to make sure my payments went through within that time, so they would count.

If you can get the bonus paid in that time-frame, it will count.

Fab - I will get my bonus at Christmas when I am about 21 weeks! If I work on what I got last year, at a rough guess it looks like my SMP payment would be almost £1000 higher than I would otherwise have got!!! That is such a relief - thanks for all your help!

It is included. I got lucky with my mat pay, it ended up being more than my monthly salary normally was because I got a huge bonus in one of the months that count.

depends when your end of year is?? If say you got on mat leave in march and your end of year is april then you will get it and your entitled to it generally....some will try to get out of it but they have to pay it if you worked most of the year...i know cos they paid it to me...

Nichola it sounds as though you are talking about whether women on maternity leave at the time of bonuses being paid should get them, which is a different thing. The OP is asking whether a bonus received while still at work should be included in the calculation used to work out SMP, and the answer is yes if it is received in the relevant period.

Certainly it used to be. Don't know if legislation has changed since I worked in HR but I used to work in Investment Banking. Remember one MD calling me to say she thought payroll had made a mistake when her SMP was paid. Lucky lady! She had had just received a very large bonus.

It was included in mine, as others gave said my mar pay was based on average pay over two months (nov and dec I think, with my due date being in April).