UK momma with USA contract on maternity

[MommaSmith]

Hi all, can anyone help with my question...

I am based in UK but have been offered contract work in the states (work remote) but I wanted to try for a baby in the next 3m or so.

Obviously they have less maternity rights then us. Also if im a contractor I dont constitute as an "employee" anyway.

So I guess my questions are
1 is the anything I should be wary off should I do get pregnant during this contract?
2 What would be my rights and what benefits can I get?
If I only get Statutory pay, the difference is around 150 month between my paid maternity for UK job vs statutory only.

Also the US contract means a £4k salary increase vs my UK role (without tax) for that year prior to maternity leave.

1. How does maternity work if your a contractor (and self tax I guess)

Thanks grin

The maternity rights someone working in the US has are not relevant to you.

A ‘contractor’ isn’t a ‘thing’. Working in the UK (doesn’t matter that you will be working for a US company), you have three possible employment statuses. Self-employed, worker or employee. Which one of those you are determines what rights you have.

Which status applies to you depends on the nature of the relationship between you and the employer, and the nature of the work. Your employer don’t get to opt out of their UK employment obligations by calling you a ‘contractor’.

Have you seen a copy of the contract the US company are proposing? Can you say anything about the nature of the work?

I worked as a self employed contractor for a US firm. As I was self employed they had no responsibility for sick pay, holiday pay or maternity. So when setting my rates I have to factor that in (so I would want to earn more per week/month than I would if in full time employment to cover these things.)

@Mumdiva99

I worked as a self employed contractor for a US firm. As I was self employed they had no responsibility for sick pay, holiday pay or maternity. So when setting my rates I have to factor that in (so I would want to earn more per week/month than I would if in full time employment to cover these things.)

This might not be the best advice to OP, depending on the nature of your engagement it is possible you were not really self employed at all, this is not something that is a choice it is determined by the relationship. If you were not truly self employed then the other party were responsible for sick pay, holiday pay etc and their geographical location is of no relevance, only your geographical location is relevant.