does anyone work for he council? what is the maternity pay and leave like?

[mustsleep]

i clean for the council and have just found out i am pregnant

i do not currently have a copy of my contract despite the fact that i have asked and asked and asked for one for the past 18 months!! which means i'm not sure what they pay as regards to maternity pay and how long you get off

i know that normally you have 6 weeks at 90% of your normal wage and then stat maternity pay, but was wondering if this was different for the council (as they provide quite a good pension etc?) prob no different from the norm but just thought i would see if anyone knew

also will i be entitled to may pay as i only work 10 hours a week?

Mustsleep I have no idea about council maternity pay, although my guess would be it's probably fairly generous.

With regard to your other question, whether you get statutory maternity pay is based on your average weekly earnings, regardless of how many hours you work, see here for information including how much you need to earn to qualify.

Congrat btw!

It varies from council to council. It used to be more generous than the national minimum but less so now.

Do you have access to a staff handbook or a union? I'm sure once you have informed your supervisor you'll be given the details.

Congratulations!

hi thanks

idonot think i will be entitled to smp as i earn under £87 a week - crap

so i will have to claim maternity allowance which sounds like a lot of faffing around and a bit complicated

although maybe the council will just pay me mat leave - probably not

so now when i am 26 weeks pregnant i will have to go to the job centre and claim it

Do check what the council policy is, they may pay something even if you wouldn't be entitled to SMP.

You can download the form or phone for one.

thanks (loads easier to down load than struggle with the steps and buggy at the job centre)

trying not tell anyone at work until i'm over twelve weeks but i'm sure the lady in the office will be v helpful - but thinking about it they were on about me doing more hours although my boss wants them adding to my contract (that i haven;t got ) and i think that they just want me to do them as over time

not sure whether to mention that i am pregnant before they have sorted this out as if they give me the extra hours on contract i would be entitled to smp

mustsleep with regard to your possible increase in hours. Whether to pay you SMP, and how much, is worked out based on your average weekly earnings during the 8 weeks up to and including the 15th week before you are due.

Obviously you will know how close you are to the limit now and how many hours extra you'd need to do, but bear in mind it has to be consistently for a few weeks to make any difference. And whether it's in your contract or not is irrelevant, it's what actually happens that counts.

oh thankyou

thats brilliant then cos i do work at least 4 hours over nearly every week which will just take me over the amount needed!!!

thanks for your help, i'm only 4 weeks but like to know what i'm doing iykwim