Maternity

[Sofie Louise]

Hi guys ...

So I'm thinking of quitting my job where I am currently employed at because I cannot afford childcare for my little 7 month old.
I am still on maternity pay but i heard off a family member I could ask for my company to make me redundant if they cannot provide childcare as I'm willing to work?

Not sure if this is true or not ... please can I get some advice

Thank you

No that's not true, your children are your responsibility, not your employer's. If you don't wish to return you should hand in your notice.

Also, FYI, it is positions that are made redundant, not people, so they could not make you redundant unless they were getting rid of your function.

A person can not be made redundant- it's the job that no longer exists that is redundant so no, you can't be made redundant through your lack of childcare.

Short answer is no. Your role isn't redundant so that's not legally possible if they still need the job doing.

If you're just getting SMP it's fine to quit your job. If you're getting any enhanced pay you need to check your maternity policy first. Some companies require you to pay back the enhanced portion if you don't return for a set amount of time.

If you do quite, don't resign until the very last moment including taking any unpaid leave that forms your maternity leave. You still earn holiday on this so if you take the full 52 weeks you will be paid your full year holiday pay as a lump when you leave

My wife and I would like to have children one day soon, but our biggest concern is affording to live once the child turns 6 months.
I do 12 hour shifts with the NHS (7-19:30) 3-4 days a week and my wife works from 6:30-15:00, 5 days a week.
Our only option would be childcare 3 days a week at the nursery attached to the hodpital I work in, but we would be looking at approx. £800 a month for that.
There's no way we have an extra £800 per month just for childcare, let alone the added extras by having a new child.

If one of us cut our days down, we could reduce the days of childcare but we would also be earning less so the finances would work the same.

How on earth do people manage to afford childcare? We don't have family in a position to support us either.
I'm terrified this will mean we can never have children.

Your relative is talking absolute rubbish.

I'm not sure how any of that answers the OPs question.

But with respect, it would be fantastic if there were better social care for children, but many families have to manage this, and do so. And working for the NHS doesn't make you more special than them in any way. I've been there, so have many others here. And we'd probably all agree that if free childcare or low cost childcare was affordable, it would be the preference. Welcome to capitalism... production of the next generation of workforce has no relevance to this economic system. But if you want children you will have to cut your cloth. It is simply impossible to have the same lifestyle as child free couples. And £800 per month is cheap compared to the other options.