Maternity pay from 2 jobs, plus dividends?

[peasizedbladder]

I would love the advice of those in the know on this one please!

I'm currently 24 weeks pregnant.

I am employed by a large company on a part time basis, I earn more than the minimum to be eligible for SMP. I am also employed by my husband's limited company and draw a salary of £466 a month. I have worked for both since before being pregnant.

It think that I can claim SMP from both companies to the full amount (90% of salary for the first 6 weeks, then £128 ish a week, plus any benefits from both of them for the full 12 months). Am I right in thinking that it is possible to claim SMP from both companies to the full amount? Do I earn enough from my husband's limited company to be eligible for SMP from it (I think I do, just)?

My husband is also thinking of gifting me shares, so that I can draw dividends from the company. Will these effect my SMP from either company whilst I am on maternity leave?

Sorry for the essay but this is complex, our accountant hasn't got back to us yet and we need to know before paying ourselves for February!

If it isn't all as good as I think it may be, should I stop drawing a salary from my husband's company before I am 25 weeks pregnant (we haven't paid ourselves for Feb yet so could still do this), so as to not effect the SMP from my main employer?

Can we claim back the cost of SMP payments from the government via the limited company?

Thank you in advance!

Hi, haven't a clue about receiving two lots of pay sorry.

When I was pregnant, I worked via my own limited company - I increased my salary, through changing the way I was paid and the use of Dividends somehow, and then I was eligible for more SMP as its 90% of what you earn during that specific timeframe.

Oh, and limited companies can claim back SMP from the government, plus a little bit more to cover admin expenses etc.

Not exactly sure of the in's and out's im afraid, as my accountant did it. Good Luck.

You used to be able to claim 2 sets of mat pay, was a few years ago when I last heard of it, but haven't read anything to suggest its been changed. Dividends I think are taken as an additional source of income so do not affect smp, although I may be wrong on this point.

You can claim 2 lots of SMP - you just need to check you meet the threshold earnings with your husbands job - its gone up slightly but will be detailed on Direct.gov website, its about £117 gross pay I think? Not sure about dividends though - check with HMRC maybe?

thank you ladies for your responses. I have just checked the HMRC website and it looks like as my pay from DH's company doesn't attract NI contributions I cannot claim SMP from it. Which is more than a tad annoying as I asked our accountants this several months ago when there would have been time to adjust my pay....

Does anyone happen to know if I would be able to claim maternity allowance as a result of this employment instead?? I don't know if you can claim SMP from one employment and MA from another.

Thanks in advance.

I think you can afford to ask your accountant.

Hi ya, I've had experience of having 2 jobs before and was told that if I was claiming SMP from one then I couldnt get Maternity Allowance - although you can get 2 lots of SMP. When is your due date? Have you got time to increase your pay?!
Def check with your accountant/HMRC though as I'd hate to have told you somethign outdated/incorrect

Sneeze - I agree and have asked them but they haven't responded and am running out of time to make sure it is all in order by the time I am 25 weeks, I am chasing it

Pink - thanks, I thought that that would probably be the case. I will chase the accountants again and see if I can bump up my Feb pay so that I am eligible. I am due mid june so have until the end of feb to increase my pay!

Good luck :)