Maternity Leave/ Pay

[pinkkittyjem]

Hi all,

I'm looking through my company Maternity Policy and it is the MOST complicated thing I've ever read. It talks about Normal Maternity Pay/ Leave, Statutory Maternity Pay/ Leave and Occupational Pay/ Leave. Can anybody explain the difference between these in a nutshell please?! I am confused.com!

Pink

It is probably something specific at your workplace. Cant you ask there?

Taken from gov.uk:

Statutory Maternity Leave is 52 weeks. It’s made up of:
Ordinary Maternity Leave - first 26 weeks
Additional Maternity Leave - last 26 weeks
You don’t have to take 52 weeks but you must take 2 weeks’ leave after your baby is born (or 4 weeks if you work in a factory).

Occupational Pay/Leave is anything above and beyond that your employer offers, it is not a legal requirement that your employer offer this.

No idea what 'normal' refers to.

This might be helpful: www.gov.uk/maternity-pay-leave/overview

Statutory Mat Leave is made up of Ordinary Mat leave (first 26 wks) and Additional Mat leave (last 26 wks). If your company has it's own scheme (eg. it pays you more than the statutory amount - like 9 months full pay or something), then that's called Occupational Mat scheme.
There's also Shared Parental Leave where your partner can take some of the leave but that's a whole other complicated kettle of fish.
The government website sets out your entitlements reasonably clearly. Your staff handbook or your HR department should be able to explain the occupational scheme to you.