Do I have to repay SMP?

[estobi1]

I am in my first trimester and I have told my employer that I am pregnant.

My dh suggested to me that if I did not return to work after 9 months maternity levae that I would be liable to repay the benefit received? Is this correct? There is nothing in my contract about this. I know that NHS staff have to return to work but I am sure that this is a contractual provision. Does anybody know the correct position please.

You shouldn't have to repay SMP. What your dh may be getting confused with, is some companies offer more than the basic SMP and in this case you quite often have to repay back the extra if you don't go back

SMP is a statutory entitlement but any additional payments (for example if they extend the period on 90% pay by topping up SMP) can be reclaimed by the company as long as they state up front that it is conditional upon your return to work, perhaps for a minimum period.

you would not have to pay any SMP back, if you get extra maternity pay and you do leave the job this will have to be paid back.

I work in the NHS and i am on my 8th month of mat leave, i got 6 months of SMP and MP the next 6 months is without pay, if i do not return to work i will have to pay my MP back but not the SMP.

Have you had a risk assesment done? if not tell your boss this must be done its health and safey.

Good Luck x

I've been wanting to clarify this,
so you get 90% for 6 weeks and then £400 or so a month SMP (plus maybe half pay as extra) for 6 months (within NHS)
So if you did not return to work , you have to pay back say the 1/2 pay but not the SMP ie £400.
Am i correct, and if it needs to be clarified up front, where would they write this, does it need to be in writing or said.And if no-one says anything or writes it down, then you don't need to pay it back if you don't return to work?

actually you'll get SMP for 33 weeks (so you get a total of 9 months payed) as from the 1st of April

Ohh that is so exciting, now all i need is to get pregnant (still have to do a little more persuasion on DH)
This is excellent ammunition

well it's a total of 9 months that you get money for - the first 6 weeks is the 90% - if that makes sense??

makes sense to me

it used to be 25 weeks

In NHS you will definitely get it in writing! You get a form from HR, which lays out benefits and requirement to have returned for 12 weeks (3 months) before baby is 15 months.

You get full pay for 8 weeks (so they top up by 10% for 1st 6 weeks, then top up to full pay for 2 weeks from SMP)

Then you get 1/2 pay + SMP for 25 weeks.

Total pay cannot exceed normal wage, so you will only get a maximum of your full wage if you don't earn very much.

As a band 5 nurse, for example, I only lost about £150 per month on mat leave during the 18 weeks I got 1/2 pay + SMP.