Maternity pay when you have two jobs?!? Confused!

[Ajenn]

Hi All,

I'm hoping someone can help with two maternity leave pay questions!

Qu 1) I work 4 days a week for one employer and 1 day a week for a different employer both in within the same sector - education. With both jobs I earn enough and have been there for long enough to qualify for SMP. What I am trying to figure out is whether when I start getting SMP will it be pro rata?

i.e. for job number 1 that I do 4 days a week it will be 80% so £151 x 0.8 = £120.80 a week

Then this would be topped up by job number two where I do 1 day a week so it would be 20% so £151 x 0.2 = £30.20 a week.

Or, and I am guessing this is wishful thinking (!!!) do you get full £151 a week from both?

What I do not want it a letter a few months down the line from HMRC saying you owe us money!!!

Question no 2. - If your on a fixed term contract and that contract ends part way through mat leave and you already know it won't be extended, I assume the maternity leave payments would stop then as well, I read somewhere that they have to pay you for the full 39 weeks even if your contract ends part way through which didn't seem right to me?

Any insight from people in a similar position would be much appreciated!

Thanks!

@Ajenn yes you will either get both lots of SMP or 90% of your salary I think...whichever is less. I got two lots of SMP.

Hi,

I'm glad you posted about this as I had the same question. I have two jobs, one for 3 days a week and one for 2 days. I qualify for SMP for both. I've been told by HR this week that I can claim SMP for both jobs - I couldn't believe this was true. Text a friend who is senior in HR and she confirmed that's what the gov.uk website says so it must be right. Seems mad, that because I have two jobs I can have double the pay that I'd get if I worked full time in one job... but it does seem true! Good to hear from you @hunnybunbun1that you successfully claimed both!

Once you qualify for SMP, you're entitled to the full amount, even if your contract ends. Same as if you were made redundant post-qualifying date but before baby was born.

So you'll get 2 x SMP for the full 39 weeks.