Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. Flexible and made to last.

Meet the Other Phone.
Flexible and made to last.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
Work

Chat with other users about all things related to working life on our Work forum.

Original poster

I have been fired, still get SMP til April. What benefits can I get

15 replies

bubbles86 · 07/01/2014 16:21

Im trying to contact HMRC regarding Tax Credits and job centre about benefits.

I want to know what benefits I can get when my SMP finishes in April.

The phone centres keep telling to to go online and look at calculators but the calculators keep asking if I am working at the moment

You know how government tend to get benefit pay wrong and want it back in future.

I wanted to go part time but finding a job which doesn't clash with partners hours is very hard. Cannot afford to clash hours and lose my wages to a childminder

Going from 18k a year to SMP is already very hard so to go to nothing will be worse :(

Would just like piece of mind that I will be ok to provide for my baby come end of SMP

Oh and I got fired due to "mistakes only arising in my absence during maternity" yeah right!!!

OP posts:
Onesleeptillwembley · 07/01/2014 16:23

Depends what your partner earns.

NorthernLurker · 07/01/2014 16:25

They've dismissed you whilst you're on maternity leave for misconduct? Hmmmmmm - you need a chat with a solicitor before you do anything else. Did you actually make the mistakes they claim?

AnotherStitchInTime · 07/01/2014 16:30

Not sure that is entirely legal, have they followed due process for your dismissal? call ACAS on 08457 47 47 47. They could well be guilty of discrimination against you.

stargirl1701 · 07/01/2014 16:33

Is that even legal? OP, you need legal advice.

Mabelface · 07/01/2014 16:36

Phone ACAS asap for employment advice, they may just find themselves in a whole load of shit.

flowery · 07/01/2014 17:02

Dismissing someone while they are on maternity leave isn't necessarily unfair, as long as the maternity leave is nothing to do with it and a fair process was followed.

OP if you think your employer may have acted unlawfully, feel free to post details about the nature of your concerns and people on here should be able to advise you whether or not it's something you could pursue

PumpkinPositive · 07/01/2014 17:12

Is that even legal?

Is that even possible? How can you make mistakes when you're not there?

Rockchick1984 · 07/01/2014 17:17

What is your partner's salary and does he work full time? Do you just have one child?

HombreLobo · 07/01/2014 17:20

How can you make mistakes when you're not there?

I think it means that mistakes made a while ago only came to light whilst OP was on maternity leave.

Irrespective of that, I'd expect a proper meeting and a chance to refute/explain these 'mistakes'

flowery · 07/01/2014 17:25

Sounds like the mistakes came to light during her maternity leave, and at the moment we have no reason to think a completely fair process wasn't followed.

NorthernLurker · 07/01/2014 17:53

Flowery - I appreciate what you say but a large number of women do still receive unfavourable treatment due to pregnancy and maternity leave and the OP should evaluate whether she feels that was the case here. The 'yeah right' at the end of her post suggest to me that she may not feel the process was fair atm.

flowery · 07/01/2014 19:45

Well exactly, she needs to evaluate whether there was anything unfair in her view.

Original poster
bubbles86 · 09/01/2014 12:30

The manager gave me a list of 28 mistakes. I didnt make the disciplinary hearing as I was on the edge of depression and decided the stress would make me worse as I am a massive worrier. The hearing was 3 months after my baby was born.
Instead I sent a statement in my absence replying to each of the 28 mistakes. Majority of the mistakes were not soley my responsibility. Some of them like entering an invoice twice onto system were and very trivial mistakes.

I saw some emails of his after I told him I was pregnant seeking advice from a solicitor. He has has advixe all along the way. As long as nothing has anything to do with my pregnancy then he can dismiss me for whatever reason he wants no matter how clear his true reason is. Making a list of every single little mistake to form a list to look like a bigger problem is how he did it.

My partner earns 26k a year. So dont get much help I dont think.

Ita so hard to lose one full wage out of the household. How do people manage it? We have paid all debts and gone from 2 cars to 1 economical car. Still a struggle

Also in my last yr of employment ive had two appraisals. A 20% payrise due to performance. A very successful account audit and a very successful visit from tax inspector. So I do not believe I have poor performance like they have said.

Im ranting ... gets me so mad...

But any way the solicitors wont entertain my case. Probs because its not an easy no win no fee case.

So what can I claim in benefits seeing as tho I have worked all my life

OP posts:
Rockchick1984 · 09/01/2014 13:07

The only assistance you may get is contributions based JSA, however that may be complicated by your maternity leave. Your partner's income is too high to get help via tax credits, housing benefit etc. I'd suggest you start job hunting now rather than waiting until your maternity pay finishes. Once you are in employment you may get some assistance with childcare costs depending on how many hours you work and what your combined household income is.

Geoff0409 · 09/01/2014 13:14

Sorry to hear this has happened to you. Doesn't sound legal at all (is it something you have done prior to leaving that has then caused a problem?). I don't know any company (big or small) that doesn't push the legal side of things to the limit and beyond. I would go straight round to your local citizens advice bureau. Ours was brilliant when we had issues where my Wife was made redundant while pregnant. They can do all the sums etc. Let us know what happens and lots of luck in the meantime.

New posts on this thread. Refresh page