Applying for new job whilst pregnant

[CuriousC32]

I work as a deputy manager. I am 23 weeks pregnant and starting my maternity leave on 21st October. I am finishing on 30th September as I have Annual leave built up to use.

Annoyingly the same job in a different part of my organisation has just come up that is a lot smaller to manage than what I currently run and the pay is upto £2 more an hour that what I earn now.
I'm fuming about that as I've been doing my role for 5 years and have an ridiculous workload for such low pay. This new job would work so much better for me and my future family.

Firstly am I able to apply for it given I'm due to go on maternity leave?
Would moving roles within the same organisation affect my Maternity pay?

Any advice appreciated. I certainly wasn't looking for a new job but seeing this today has made me revaluate things.

Of course you're able to apply for it, we've had sex discrimination legislation since the 70s and specific pregnancy and maternity discrimination legislation since 2010.

Shouldn't affect your entitlement to SMP but check your contract of employment re any enhanced MP.

You are absolutely able to apply for it and they shouldn't consider your pregnancy and maternity leave as a relevant factor in their decision. What they could easily do is (if you are the best candidate) appoint you on a permanent basis and appoint another applicant on a maternity cover basis.

Your SMP will be affected yes. There is something called the Alabaster Ruling which means that where a woman gets a pay rise after her SMP has been calculated, it must be recalculated (and backdated if she is already receiving it) to take account of the new salary.

If you will be receiving enhanced maternity pay you will need to check the maternity policy to see what the terms are.

I promoted a member of my team from assistant manager to manager of a new store in my last job - you should absolutely not let it put you off.

Thank you all for the responses it's all very helpful.

I have emailed HR for an application pack.

The thought would of never crossed my mind to apply for a new job whilst pregnant but given the job location and duties would work so much better for me when I return to work next year it's worth a try!!

I need to look into the maternity pay thing. The policy says that I need to have 26 weeks service to get SMP... but would the service length apply if I was recruited to another job in the same organisation?

Yes it would

”The policy says that I need to have 26 weeks service to get SMP... but would the service length apply if I was recruited to another job in the same organisation?”

Continuous service is with one employer, not in one job, so changing jobs internally won’t make any difference to your service calculation for SMP, although as I mentioned, a pay rise will make a difference.