hi,
hope someone on here can give me some advice, as you all seem pretty clued up on here lol!
anyway im 31 weeks and 4 days pregnant, ive been with my employer for 5 and a half years. with my last child i was working more hours and qualified for smp.
this time im on lower earnings and had a meeting with my hr dept re maternity pay etc, this was about 8 weeks ago. i told he the dates i would be leaving and we discussed my pay, she said if i wasnt earning enough for smp i would receive ma instead, i queried if this would cause any problems, i was assured i wouldnt notice any change as i would still receive a 4 weekly pay as normal only the dss would be paying me instead of my employers- with me so far.
there was a mixup over my holiday pay, that i noticed in my letter from hr, i called her and mentioned i was worried that my wage would be wrong-they are useless when anything changes on your wage- she assured me that it wouldnt affect my wage and she would sort it out for me, she said that i would get a normal monthly wage.
she was supposed to call me back and didnt, the next day i found i only had 2 weeks wages in my bank instea of 4! i called her back and she told me that it was because i would get my maternity from dss not them, she said she had sent smp1 and matb1 through post, i waited a week for these, kept being told was probably due to xmas post! in meantime i rang dss and they said would send me ma pack but couldnt send till had all forms, anyway another week and still no form from dss, called yest and received this today, also now received my forms from work.
now this wont be dealt till after xmas by the time they get it, i cant hand the form in it has to now be sent to a central office in stoke on trent, im normally due to be paid 04/01/07 but obvously wont get this till god knows when, so im going to 6 weeks behind with my money by then.
ive been in touch with my union and waiting for a reply, but im just really peeved off, i feel im stuck in limbo, and no one cares. im mad at the woman in hr for twice telling me id get my money in my bank account as normal, they should have known all this prior to me leaving? also when i called her upset and said ive no money and i dont know how long its going to take when i get my forms she said 'oh' like surprised i was in a mess 2 weeks wages down, then said ' well when you hand your ma form in at the job center they will pay you there and then'!!!!! does she think im a complete idiot??!! i told her how can they pay me right there and then, they are forms that have to be sent off and a decision awaited, they cant just give me a wad of cash in the job center!lol- i have to laugh or ill cry!!
been really upset by all this, ive bills to pay a family of 2 children already, we're just trying to finish paying off the rest of our debts to be debt free, and now this! im so stressed
should she have sent these forms earler?, i know she had misinformed me, this is her job aswell to deal with maternity pay!
any advice would be great xxx