Working during maternity leave

[Tugstonia]

Wonder if anyone can help with this - can't get a straight answer out of the benefits people or my HR dept...

I'm employed part-time (3 days a week) at a University and will get maternity pay from them starting January 2013. The other 2 days I am self-employed. I'm hoping to (relying on...) go back to my self-employed job for a few hours a week a few months after my baby is born whilst still on ML from the other job, but I have been told that I'm "not allowed" to work whilst receiving SMP, even in my self-employed job. Anyone know if that's true? Surely it has sod all to do with the other job/SMP?

TIA :)

Check your employment contract. Many people have even a 5 days a week job and still work a day at the weekends. However some employment contracts say you can do no other work. Yours is unlikely to stop you doing work as you are already 2 days a week self employed.

What they are saying sounds like a load of rubbish to me. For a start you already work self employed 2 days a week. As they are not proposing to make up that income for you why is it reasonable to stop you doing what you already do? I am self employed - I worked until i went into labour with the twins and took a business call the day after they were born and certainly did work by days 2 and 3 and was pretty much fully back to work full time when they were a week old.

Thanks Xenia, that's exactly what I thought. I'll check my contract but can't see how they could stop me doing my other job unless they paid me for that as well. Cheers! :)

You are not allowed to work for a new employer while receiving SMP but you can do as much genuinely self employed work as you like without it affecting your SMP. It's not about your employer stopping you working elsewhere, that's a separate issue, it's about your eligibility for SMP, which stops if you start working for someone else.

Self employed is fine though and has no impact on SMP.

Fab, thank you flowery. I am registered self-employed and do all my own tax etc for it. Good to know it shouldn't affect SMP. Phew!

It might affect maternity allowance though - eg the sefle mployed get no SMP as they are not employed but they can claim a very low MA but not if they work as it is presumably meanstested. I would have thought SMP was different as we have all suggested above.

I think there is something on the business.gov website about this and the 10 kit (keeping in touch) days you are allowed. Not certain of facts though so won't claim to know how relevant it is you!