Pregnant on a fixed term contract, what now?

[user124578]

Posting for a friend.
She's just found out she's unexpectedly pregnant. She's 2 months into a 12 month fixed term contract. Until she goes for a scan, she doesn't know if she got pregnant before or after she started there.

Either way she's on a 12 month fixed contract to cover someone else's maternity leave.

What are her rights for either case? Will she lose her job? Entitled to any maternity pay past the point of those 12 months?

I have a feeling she won't be entitled to anything and will most likely not have a job to return to as there is no way an employer will extend the contract for this. But I don't want to panic her. I've read conflicting things online.

I would think both. Statutory maternity pay and no job to return to - surely the 12 month contract would have ended (and the original person back) by the time she wants to return?

@Eek3under3 yeh that would make sense. I kinda think she would be better off finding a new job now with a permanent contract so she has a better chance of having a job to return to after.

There is no point trying to change employer unless they are offering an enhanced maternity payment because for statutory entitlement you need to have worked for your employer continuously for at least 26 weeks continuing into the ‘qualifying week’ - the 15th week before the expected week of childbirth.

I was on a fixed term contract and the baby due a couple of months after it ended. I received SMP as normal from the employer even after my contract ended.

How far along is she? She will be entitled to SMP if she was employed by them when she became pregnant (but the start of the cycle so the way they date the pregnancy is relevant here) and remains employed by them in something like week 25 of the pregnancy (sorry I can’t remember exactly).

If she changes job, she will only be entitled to maternity allowance unless the new employer is generous enough to top it up.

I also got some occupational pay from my employer paid as a lump, but that was because I had been employed by them for over two years and so was treated as a permanent employee.

@Dinosaurus86 @QueenoftheFarts
At the moment she isn't sure how far gone she is as she has PCOS so her periods are all over the place. She's waiting for a scan.

If she did fall pregnant before starting her contract, she wouldn't be entitled to SMP anyway so surely in that case she would be better off looking for a permanent role because then at least she has more chance of having a job to come back to afterwards?

Yes if she’s only entitled to maternity allowance because of the dates then she may be best off looking for another role - this may be the case anyway if she works in a field with maternity policies that tend to be on the more generous side (ie where you are eligible for occupational pay immediately). I would wait for the dating scan before making any big decisions.