How to ask about maternity pay?

[FootstepsMerlot]

I have name changed for this as some details may be outing.

I'm looking for advice on how to ask my boss whether or not I have any maternity benefits anymore.
The back story is that I had good benefits (pension, maternity, death in service etc) as part of my contract when I joined the company. Since then the company has gone through administration, bought itself out, and become an entirely new company. I have not been issued a new contract; my monthly income has remained the same but I know our pensions were not continued with the new company.

I love my job, but my OH and I are going to start trying for a family after we get married in August, and I need to know what situation I'd be in if that happened. How can I go about asking without basically telling him our plans? It's a small team, nobody here has had a baby before.

Also, I have been applying for other jobs for months, but with no success. So this advise is based on the presumption that I don't get another job and have to stay where I am.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Is there a HR department you can ask? Or is their maternity policy in your contract / online?

No, no HR department. Also no online employee section/ no documents to read. I really can't stress how small the company is- less than 10 of us.

If it's small, then you can assume you will only get statutory maternity rights and pay.

Why you do think you need a new contract? If your employment is continuous and the company was just bought out, your terms and conditions remain the same (pensions are slightly different).

You don't need a new contract, your original one will be fine. If you had enhanced maternity pay as part of your terms and conditions, that should still be honoured. Maternity pay isn't always contractual, but if it is, it stays in place after a TUPE transfer (where your employment transfers to another company).

flowery Under the conditions of my old contract, I should have received a pay rise in September, which didn't happen. I queried it at the time, and my boss said he could not honour it.

Within this one role, I have been employed by three companies. I was TUPE'd from the first to the second, which included a new pension. But I have not received any indication that there was a TUPE transfer from the second to this third (new) company, but then again I haven't been told to the contrary.

Why 'couldn't' he honour it? I'm sure he 'could' have done if he chose to, and it sounds like not only 'could' he have done, but he 'should' have done as well.

If there was no TUPE transfer notified to you, what happened when it changed from the second company to the third company?

flowery Nothing 'happened'. My pay slips just had a different name in the top corner.

Can I advise you join a union? You don't need to have a rep in your workplace, and can join a generic one if there is none for your industry. I'm with Prospect.

Assume for planning purposes that you will get statatory only, but use the union to fight for your enhanced package if no new contract was issued. It sounds like they will try to fob you off regardless of your actual entitlement.

Good luck ttc!

mehfruittea I don't belong to one but I shall certainly look into it, thanks. Of course I'm hoping that I'll have a new job by then with a proper established company.

Ok then no reason to think your employment is anything other than continuous then, and therefore your terms and conditions remain unchanged.

Just check out qualifying dates etc for statutory mat pay, as you risk being caught between two jobs. Also, most employers with enhanced mat pay have a longer qualifying period - 1 or 2 years service IME. Unless you think you may struggle to conceive, it might be worth staying where you are until after the baby and then looking for a new job while on Mat leave.

I decided to move jobs for career progression just at the point we decided we wanted to ttc. I had to wait 1 year to be eligible for enhanced. So used the time to get fit and lose weight. Then it took 5 years and 2 rounds of IVF!