Maternity leave in a new job

[ovumahead]

Hi all,

Advice much needed, please. Apologies if this has already been gone over in detail elsewhere, but I couldn't find anything...

I currently work for the NHS but my contract is due to expire in the middle of next year. I do want to get another job in the NHS, but with all the current job cuts I'm not sure how likely this will be.

I am also desperate for another baby, and could theoretically pop one out and still qualify for maternity pay from my current job if I conceived within the next two months (they will give me maternity pay if my due date is 11 weeks after the end of the contract).

However, I have A LOT of work to do before I finish. A lot. Seriously. The thought of being pregnant and trying to get everything done fills me with dread, which is why ideally I would quite like to wait a tad longer.

However, I am concerned about how long I would have to wait to start trying again if I were to be employed outside of the NHS. How long do you usually have to work in a private company for before you can legitimately claim full maternity leave from them? I know this will probably vary between companies, but I would love to know a rough estimate, particularly if there is any standard employment law regarding this issue.

Thanks in advance!

6 months is usual for enhanced mat pay.

You get full maternity leave anywhere from day one. It's the pay that will differ. Basically as long as you wait until a couple of weeks into a new job before conceiving you should qualify for basic SMP.

Impossible to generalise about enhanced maternity pay in the private sector, it varies so hugely. Many only offer statutory, others offer a bit more, some big companies offer very generous provision.

If you do find an employer with a more generous maternity pay scheme you may have to wait a while. When I was working in-house I think all my employers offered something over and above, but at each you needed two years' service to qualify for the extra - less than that and it would be statutory only.

If you're moving to the private sector work on the assumption that you'll only get statutory and budget accordingly, then if you work somewhere that offers more without long service requirements, great, but at least you're not relying on it.

Is SMP a pittance, like £200 per month or something ridiculous?

Thanks so much for your answers! Really very helpful.

£125 a week. Better than nothing

Around £120 a week for SMP