Pregnancy contract advice

[Bonce081294]

Hiya,
I currently have a DS aged 15 months and am expecting my second which, all going well, would be due November this year. I'm doing an apprenticeship at the moment at a school where I work 30 hours a week whilst also doing a qualification through an independent provider. When the school took their apprentices on, they initially thought the qualification took one academic year, so they gave us contracts until the 31st of Aug 2017. However, a month in, the provider came to see us at school and basically the course isn't supposed to end until Nov 2017 ! So perfect timing.
BUT, the school has never given us new contracts. Our line manager tried to arrange for new ones to come through but she never received confirmation of dates from the course provider so it just got swept under!
So now basically I'm worried that after I tell them I'm pregnant, theyll end my employment at the end of August as currently contracted and bring in new apprentices ( which they do every year because its cheaper). I was just wondering if they would be within their right to do that? And if so, what help could I get for the 2 months before baby that I'd have no income? I just dont know how to handle the situation at the moment. I haven't told them I'm expecting yet and the whole thing is quite stressful! All advice welcome.
TIA

Well, you don't need new contracts, what you need is confirmation that your existing contract is being extended by three months.

Other than missing paperwork, do you know the school intend to extend them to match the course dates, or are you not sure? Your line manager isn't wrong to say they need confirmation of dates first, but if you know they fully intend to extend but just haven't managed to sort out paperwork yet because of awaiting confirmation then you're in a better position.

if your contract is due to end at the end of August (and isn't specifically tied to the course dates) then yes they could end it, but they couldn't do that because of your pregnancy. So if there are more than one of you, if they did that with everyone and it was nothing to do with your pregnancy, that would be fine, but if they extended everyone else's but not yours, that would not be fine.

In terms of financials, do you realise that if you meet the qualifying criteria for statutory maternity pay you get it even if your employment terminates? As long as you earn an average of £112 a week and have worked continuously for the same employer for 26 weeks up to the 15th week before your due date you'd be entitled, so check your dates carefully.

Even if you don't meet the criteria for SMP you'd probably meet the criteria for Maternity Allowance, which comes from the government and is similar to SMP but without the first 6 weeks at 90% salary.