MNHQ here: post your pregnancy & maternity work questions here for FREE legal advice from Maternity Action

[NicolaDMumsnet]

Free online advice clinic 7th - 11th November 2022 - OPEN NOW.

A big welcome back to our third clinic of the year, running from Monday 7th November till Friday 11th.

Mumsnet and Maternity Action are once again teaming up to provide an online legal clinic, offering free advice on pregnancy, maternity and parental rights at work from volunteer employment lawyers who are members of the Employment Law Association.

Whether you have a question about maternity leave, your request for flex work, your rights as a pregnant worker, or think you may be discriminated against by your employer because of being a parent, this is the place for you.

The clinic takes the form of a Q&A on this thread and will run for a week from Monday 7th to Friday 11th November. The Maternity Action team will do their best to provide all answers during that week and at the latest by the Tuesday of the following week. More information on where to go for more help once the clinic has ended is here. All past clinics are here.

How it works:

1. If you have a question about your rights at work during pregnancy, maternity or parental leave, post it here below before the 11th November. Please give as much information as possible but remember that this is an online forum and can be viewed by the public – including your colleagues and employer. Please don’t name your employer publicly if you are likely to be taking action against them in future. You can use private message to disclose information to the volunteers that you’d rather not make public.
2. Please send your name and the name of your employer by private message to @MaternityActionfreeadvice so that it can be passed on to the volunteers to do a conflict of interest check. We cannot post a reply until you have sent this information by private message.
3. Once your advice has been posted online, you will have an opportunity to provide feedback. This helps us to find out whether you found the advice helpful, whether it helped you to resolve your situation at work and some information about you. All survey responses are anonymous and confidential. Providing feedback will help us to see what improvements can be made in developing this type of online free legal advice clinic. Fill out the survey here

. Ts and Cs – please read The advice provided to an individual poster is based only on the information provided by that poster. Advice on this thread is also particular to the individual who has asked for it and is likely to be specific to that person’s situation. A poster may have provided further relevant information by private message which will not appear on this thread. So please take care if you choose to apply that advice to your own situation - it is recommended that you first take legal advice from one of the sources we have suggested here.

Mumsnet, Maternity Action and Maternity Action's volunteers accept no liability for any loss suffered as a result of an individual choosing to follow advice provided to another poster's question on the thread.

The lawyers, all of whom are specialists in employment law, will be working as volunteers for Maternity Action in respect of the clinic. Any personal information collected as a result of the clinic will be held by Maternity Action and will be deleted after 18 months. If you wish to make a complaint about the service you received, you can use Maternity Action’s complaints policy here.

Hello,
When I started with my employer in 2018 I was told I would get a pay increase on the anniversary of my start date for the next 3 years. There were 3 others already on this agreement. 2 others who started with me and 1 who started 12 months after me.
I went on maternity leave in 2021 just before my 3rd and final pay rise. When I requested it I was told the staff member that had done the pay rise previously had left. I queried with HR and was told to speak with the manager.
I am now being told I will not get the final pay rise for another 12 months. Two years after it was due.
The employee who started after me has had his.
The employees who started with me have left.
The employees who started before me received theirs on the agreed anniversary.

I have escalated to the managers manager but still not had any response. Are there time limits for making a formal complaint?
Thanks
CM

Hello,

First, thank you for providing this service! I have two questions about your rights if you choose not to return to work after maternity leave:

1. If you choose not to return to work at the end of your leave but have worked Keep in Touch (KIT) days, are you required by law to pay those back to your employer?
2. If you accrue paid leave (holiday) during your maternity leave which would otherwise be paid upon your return to work, is your employer required to pay any accrued if you choose not to return to work?

Thank you in advance!

Hi there
I work as a tutor for a well known tutoring company and have recently returned to work after maternity leave. I am on a permanent contract but no contracted hours (zero hours/supply style) do I have a right to the same number of hours/same pay as I was on before I went on my mat leave? My employer currently won’t give me the same hours as I was on when I left and we are struggling with me being on a much lower wage than before. I am contracted as an assessor and tutor - for assessments I make half of what I would tutoring (before I went on mat leave I did about 10 hours tutoring now they are only allowing me to have 1 hour of tutoring and some assessments so I’m earning a lot less than before mat leave) I also had to take maternity allowance rather than SMP as I was just under the threshold for working at the company long enough (I don’t know if that makes a difference to the advice).
Many thanks 😊

Hello,
Thank you so much for taking the time to read this. I am 13 weeks into my first pregnancy. I have two jobs and informed both employers early on (5/6 weeks) due to having concerns around moving and handling elements of my job.
One employer has been fantastic whilst the other is saying I don’t need a risk assessment and that I need to provide evidence from a medical professional outlining what I can and cannot do. My GP and midwife have said that is job specific and not something they would normally do.
I feel completely unsafe and pressured and am still performing transfers which includes lifting people independently (something my risk assessment in my other job has outlined I cannot do in my current condition).
I’m sorry if this is very confusing but I just don’t know where to turn and every week I feel more and more vulnerable it is causing me huge amounts of stress.
Thank you again, any advice would be gratefully received.

Hi there. I'm pregnant with my second child I'm 22 weeks today and have had severe case of sickness throughout my pregnancy so far. At this current moment it's under control due to taking anti sickness tablets but I still am sick before taking them in the morning and once after I take them. I feel I'm ready to go back to work but still struggle with my sickness in the morning most of the time I awake up when my partner gets home from working nights around 6.30am and can't get back to sleep until he goes to bed so I'm struggling to get myself into a routine right now. But my plan is to try and take my sickness tablets in the morning and hope for the best that my day goes ok. Since being off work I've been on SSP but because I'm salaried I still get taxed. I got SSP of £500 and taxed £160. Is this correct? Luckily my other half gets a good wage from doing nights otherwise we wouldn't be able to afford our bills. I also pay into two pensions one which is the normal one and one which is salary sacrificed. This one I can take out when I'm 55. I feel I'm under stress because I'm worried I won't be supported when I go back to work and be made to stand for long periods of time (I work as a mailing assistant in a warehouse) so I have multiple duties which requires training in most aspects of warehousing. If it wasn't for a low SSP amount I wouldn't be going back to work with my sickness still the way it is as motion also sets me off. Thanks for reading this.

Hello,

I am 2 months pregnant and my company has gone into administration. I don’t know what to do. I have been reading on line that I won’t be entitled to state maternity pay as it’s too early in my pregnancy. I am looking for work but feel like an employer will not want to have me to then tell them 2 months later I am pregnant… I have the option to work freelance and will try this out but Ben reading that I need to have started this 6 months before I have the baby if I am to get any help after the baby is due. What shall I do? Is there any way of getting my state maternity? I have worked all my life and gutted I won’t receive any help. Do you think I should look to work temping somewhere or is freelance a better option (to get any help after baby is born). Any advice would be greatly received. Thanks -!

Hello,

My employer has used my pregnancy-related absence towards the contractual sick pay package (employees get 45 days full pay per year for sickness absence). My pregnancy absence has been counted with my other absences for the purposes of calculating number of my full paid sick days, and this has tipped me over the top of the 45 days, meaning I’ve dropped onto statutory sick pay and this has decreased both my salary and maternity pay. Without the pregnancy related absence being included, I would not have exhausted the 45 days and so would not have dropped onto SSP. Is this right?

Thank you

Hello,

Currently 21 weeks into maternity leave and I have been offered a new job outside my current organisation. I’m trying to work out some of the financial and legal implications of accepting the role but am receiving a lot of conflicting information. I’ll provide as much information as possible.

The new job has offered to hold the role for me until next July as I want to take my full 52 week mat leave entitlement. I am currently completing the pre-employment checks and have not yet seen or signed a contract. The new employer has stated they would just start me on a contract and put me down as being on maternity leave.

1. If I handed in my notice and signed the new external contract before 39 weeks would I still receive SMP or would this cease immediately? Financially I really need to retain all my SMP otherwise I can’t afford to accept the job. I have received enhanced maternity pay but this has finished and I have already checked my employer and I don’t need to pay this back should I resign.

2. If I handed in my notice and signed the new external contract before 52 weeks would I still have any ‘protection’ from a maternity HR perspective e.g should the new employer pull the job/restructure before I start the role next summer? I don’t want to expose myself to the risk of leaving a job and in the 6 month wait time before starting the next job be told the role is no longer available etc

3. Can I have 2 contracts overlapping and this not impact anything from a legal/maternity perspective? E.g is there an option to accept the new contract but continue my current contract until June (when I could give my one month notice)? Wondering if this is an option to ensure I am ‘protected’/solve this SMP issue but don’t know if it’s legal to do this.

4. What should the new employer be offering me contract wise from a legal perspective? Can they put me on maternity leave? I didn’t think maternity leave could be transferred between organisations. Or would they just need to start me on unpaid leave? Is there anything I need to be mindful of with this?

Any other guidance of questions that I should be exploring with either my current or prospective new employer would be helpful. I really want to accept the job but don’t want to do anything wrong such as putting in my notice as the wrong time or request the wrong start date that means I could miss out on any money I am entitled to or do something wrong from a legal perspective.

Thank you for your help, I’m finding this situation very complicated!

Hi,

I am currently on maternity leave and was offered the opportunity to apply for a promotion which I had previously applied for when I was pregnant but didn’t get.

I was interviewed for the position, and was offered the position on an immediate start because there was a business need or was told when a future position came up that I would be able to have this one if I chose not to come back early and not have to go through a process of being interviewed again. This position being in the foreseeable future but no guarantee as to when this would be.

I said I didn’t want to return early from maternity, and I also couldn’t find childcare that soon. My employer told me I would return to my original position when I decided to return if I didn’t take the post up when it was offered now. My question is, is this discrimination? I’m at a disadvantage as I will end up returning to my old role because 1. I didn’t end my maternity early and 2. Couldn’t find any childcare.

Any advice would be great! Thank-you in advance.

Hi!

I work 25 hours per week as a teaching assistant at a college on a 0 hours contract. I changed job roles within the college in October 21. I became pregnant in September 21 but did not know this until after I had started my job.

I informed them when I was 20 weeks pregnant and submitted all relevant paperwork. There was no question of entitlement and they seemed satisfied with my claim.

There were complications with payroll and I was not paid for 5 months, from January to June 2022 and my baby was born in May 22.

This meant the calculations for my maternity pay were delayed and there was a question as to whether or not I would get it. This led to them checking their records and realising that as i don't work half terms, I had not worked enough in this job role to be entitled to maternity leave. I had changed positions at the college in October 21.

It turns out that even if I had been paid on time and my baby had not arrived a month early, I would still not have qualified due to not working enough weeks. This took months for them to clarify with me, after several emails and face to face meetings, and so there was a delay in me applying for government maternity pay which I am still not receiving and my baby is 6 months old.

The claim can only be backdated 3 months and so I am missing out on a minimum of 3 months maternity pay as a result of the lack of clarity from my work.

I didn't apply sooner for government maternity as I believed this would prevent me from receiving pay from work.

Is there anything I can do?

Thank you so much, this service is incredible.

Lizzie

Dear tala22

Thanks for your query. Unfortunately there is no legal requirement for an employer to continue to pay an employee their full salary during pregnancy-related sickness absence. A scheme where company sick pay remains for a set number of days/weeks and then pay drops down is not unlawful, provided that you are being treated in the same way as a male worker would be in equivalent circumstances (i.e. a man who had been on sick leave from more than 45 days) and that the amount you are paid is not so low as to undermine the aim of protecting pregnant workers. It is not clear from current caselaw exactly what the threshold of being “too low” would be but indications are that SSP would be deemed sufficient.

Pregnancy-related sickness should be ignored however in relation to your sickness record so that you are not disadvantaged as a result of disciplinary, sickness absence management or redundancy decisions.

Unfortunately, your maternity pay could be affected by a period of sickness absence during your pregnancy. Statutory maternity pay (if you are eligible) is calculated on the basis of earnings in the eight weeks/two months before the end of the “qualifying week”. The qualifying week is the 15th week before your baby is due. If you receive SSP during this period your statutory maternity pay could be lower. Any enhanced maternity pay (if applicable) would be paid in accordance with the terms of your employer’s scheme.

There is further helpful information on the following webpage: Sickness during pregnancy and maternity leave, and on return to work - Maternity Action

Hello, im currently employed as a HGV driver and have been deemed unable to work by my risk assessment due to being unable to wear a seatbelt comfortably or correctly due to growing bump. I have suggested the truck being fitted with a pregnancy safe adjuster clip which has more or less been dismissed. I have 6 weeks left until I leave for maternity and they have suggested I do alternative work in their offices. I'm wondering where I stand in terms of my working hours and the actual work they're having me do as opposed to deeming me unsuitable for work and giving me paid leave.
I've basically become the office joey and I'm doing all the menial tasks that the other office staff don't want to do. My contract also states that my working hours are 7-3.30 yet they're now wanting me to do 8-4.30 in line with the other office staff. 1) in my job as a driver I'm entitled to the perk of job and knock so I dont work a 40 hour week. Should this be honoured? 2) my initial risk assessment for driving stated I shouldn't be driving during rush hour times so am I well within my rights to keep my normal hours? I will be out of pocket and wasting more of my time than usual by being here for 40 hours a week and driving at these times. What was an easy 15 minute journey quickly becomes 45 minutes during rush hour.

I have also read on HSE website that my company are legally obliged to provide me with a private hygienic room where I can lie down for rest purposes. They do not have the ability to facilitate this. Where do I stand? I get tired towards dinner time and have nowhere to comfortably rest. When I was still driving I had the option to rest on my truck bed as and when I needed to.

I have a lot of gripes in regards to making me do office work as I have my HGV license for the exact reason that I don't wish to do this kind of work. Given all the things stated above, can this be reasonably declared "suitable alternative work relevant to the worker" as stated on HSE? I dont believe I can endure 6 weeks of this however I can't afford to take early maternity because my company aren't paying me SMP. It is currently causing me more stress than its worth.
Please help 🙏
Thanks in advance!

Hi,

I am due to return to work in January after my maternity, however I’m having to leave the company as the flexibility has changed while I’ve been out to a mandatory 3 day office work week. I joined under a different flexible working agreement and with a 2 hour commute each way it’s just not right both for a young family but also cost of living.

I have a 3 month notice period but my contract states I have to do one month’s effective service not including holiday otherwise I have to pay back my maternity (not SMP).

My question is though do I have to do one months service and then had my notice in and work the further 3 months or is that month included in my notice. It’s not clear and of course isn’t something I can ask them.

I’ve attached my maternity policy. Would love some advice as I’m looking for a new job and would give a new employer clearer time frames.

Hi there, I am due to start a new job at the end of my maternity leave. My new employer would like me to work for a few days in December, to settle in and do a smooth handover, which I am happy to do.

My question is about KIT days and what this agreement will mean for my maternity leave. Can I use my KIT days for working a few days with my new employer? Will this affect my maternity pay? Will I have to do any paperwork for this?

Many thanks.

Hello I'm on mat leave currently from a job.as a teacher.
I asked to return to work part time and.to job share an additional responsibility I lead. I had been able.to do this after my first baby for a number of years. I had moved back to full time working before this second maternity leave.
School refused my request- claimed.it would be detrimental to quality of.provision but gave no evidence of.how this would be case. Confirmed there had been no detriment to quality of provision when I had previously worked part time and job shared my leadership role.
I appealed and nothing came of it apart from to be told in an online meeting that if I dropped leadership role I could return as part time classroom teacher. I wasn't happy with this so didn't automatically accept that offer. After thinking on offer for a month I decided to accept and contacted school to ask if I accepted this what part time hours could I offer. They then replied saying that there was no offer of me returning part time as just a classroom teacher. The offer was never in writing. I have since had to hand my notice in as cannot afford childcare for full time job. I have found part time.work elsewhere in a lower paying role.
I have heard since from colleagues that the person currently employed to cover my maternity leave may be asked to stay on from January (when I was.due back) but due to commitments to another contract they would only be teaching part.time in my school. If this is case and they are going to employ this person part time to do my role, when they told me I couldn't be employed part time, is this constructive dismissal?

Dear Maplemac

We are sorry to hear that one of your employers is not being supportive of your pregnancy. Your employer must protect your health and safety during your pregnancy. The employer should have in place a general health and safety risk assessment which includes an assessment of any particular risks to expectant mothers. You must notify them of your pregnancy in writing, if you haven't already done so, and ask for an individual risk assessment.

You are entitled to reasonable adjustments to your working conditions e.g. ensuring that you do not do heavy lifting and adjustments to your working hours if that would remove the risks. Providing you are an employee in this role, if it is not possible to amend your duties to avoid the risks, you should be offered suitable alternative work or, if none is available, suspended on full pay.
If there are risks and your employer fails to take adequate action, any failure may amount to pregnancy discrimination.

There is plenty of helpful information available to employers on the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) website:
www.hse.gov.uk/mothers/

Given that your employer is not taking the action needed we suggest that you ask for a meeting to discuss your concerns and send them a link to the HSE website. You could also consider whether it is possible to share with them the risk assessment from your other, similar employment and provide information on the risks from your GP or midwife.

It can be helpful to have medical evidence of the risks and I suggest discussing your concerns about your job with your GP or midwife and asking them for a letter setting out the risks that should be avoided in pregnancy e.g. heavy lifting or asking your GP to provide a 'fit note' which states that you are fit for work providing certain adjustments are made e.g. removal of heavy lifting and any other risks you and your health professionals are concerned about.
If your employer continues to fail to engage with you, you have a number of options available to you.

You could:
Notify the HSE or local authority environmental health officer (depending on your workplace) and ask them to speak to your employer;
Raise a grievance if all attempts to resolve it informally have failed and you want to make a complaint about the way it has been handled;
Contact ACAS to attempt to conciliate this dispute; and/or
Bring an Employment Tribunal claim. Please note there is a time limit of three months (less one day) from the act or series of acts you are complaining about for taking action.

If your other employer is being supportive, you could also discuss this matter with them. They may have some insight into how you can constructively progress this matter with your other employer.

You also mentioned that you are feeling stressed as a result of your employer’s behaviour. If you are feeling too unwell to work, we suggest that you discuss this with your GP and whether you should be signed off sick from work until this issue is resolved. However, you should check what sick pay you would be entitled to as a reduction in pay in approximately weeks 18 to 26 of your pregnancy can affect your maternity pay or may mean that you do not qualify for Statutory Maternity Pay at all.

Maternity Action have more information on health and safety here: maternityaction.org.uk/advice/health-and-safety-during-pregnancy-and-on-return-to-work/
and information on maternity pay here: maternityaction.org.uk/advice/maternity-pay-questions/

Wishing you all the best with your pregnancy and I hope you are able to resolve this soon.

Dear Roba2

I'm sorry to hear about all the difficulties you have faced in relation to your maternity pay and hope the following helps to resolve it.

1. Maternity Allowance claim

In relation to your claim for Maternity Allowance there is a strict 3 month backdating rule. However, there is one exception to this which may help you. There is a special provision for Maternity Allowance claims where you can claim within three months of the date you were notified by your employer that you were not entitled to SMP and, in these circumstances, your MA claim is treated as being made on either the date you gave your employer notice of when you wanted your maternity pay to start or in the 15th week before your baby was due, whichever is later.

This is the wording from the Social Security (Claims and Payments) Regulations 1987:

(3) Paragraph (4) applies to a claim for maternity allowance for a pregnancy or confinement by reason of which the claimant gave her employer notice of absence from work under section 46(4) of the Social Security Act 1986 and regulation 23 of the Statutory Maternity Pay (General) Regulations 1986 and in respect of which she has been informed in writing by her employer that there is no entitlement to statutory maternity pay.
(4) A claim to which this paragraph applies shall be treated as made on the date when the claimant gave her employer notice of absence from work or at the beginning of the 14th week before the expected week of confinement, whichever is later, provided that she makes the claim–
(a)within three months of being informed in writing that she was not entitled to statutory maternity pay.

If they haven't already done so, you will need to ask your employer to complete - and date - an SMP1 form stating that you have not qualified for SMP. I understand from your query that you have already applied for Maternity Allowance but, if not, you should complete the claim form as soon as possible and send it in. You will need to send them your MATB1 maternity certificate, the SMP1 form from your employer and payslips covering 13 weeks or 4 months. You should send the payslips with your highest earnings in the 66 week period before your baby's birth. If you don't have all of this information yet, send the form in and send these documents later. DWP will ask you for anything else they need from you.

You can use the notes section of the Maternity Allowance claim form at Part 11 to explain your employer's late notification about your SMP and copy the regulations above. You should ask for your claim to be treated as made on the date you gave your employer notice for maternity leave and pay (if you know the date or have an email or letter evidencing that date) or in the 15th week before your baby was due (tell them your baby's due date, not birth date). If you have already claimed Maternity Allowance, you can write to DWP, Maternity Allowance, Walsall Benefit Centre, Post Handling Site A, Wolverhampton, WV98 1SU stating your name, address, National Insurance number and providing the information above on backdating your claim and your employer's late notification.

Information on the regulations above is not contained in any of the DWP guidance on Maternity Allowance and they may only backdate your claim for 3 months. If so, you should ask for a mandatory reconsideration of their decision quoting the regulations above and you can contact the Maternity Action advice service and we can help you to appeal.

Please note: if you are claiming Universal Credit, any Maternity Allowance will be deducted pound for pound so it may not be worth claiming. I suggest getting further advice before continuing with your claim if this applies to you.

1. Statutory Maternity Pay (SMP)

It is also unclear why your employer has refused your SMP and I suggest taking it up with your employer and/or HMRC. If you are awarded Maternity Allowance as above and then it turns out that you would have been entitled to SMP your employer can make an adjustment for any Maternity Allowance that has been paid to you.

a) To qualify for SMP, you needed to be employed by the same employer for the first 26 weeks of your pregnancy. Changing jobs within the same employment would not normally break your continuity of service unless you were originally employed by an agency and then started employment directly with the employer. Otherwise your employer can treat employment under a zero hours contract and then a permanent contract as continuous service. Sick leave and annual leave still counts as employment and even if you don't normally work in half terms or school holidays this still counts as continuous employment.
b) You also needed average weekly earnings of at least £120 per week (April 2021/22) in the 8 weeks prior to the 15th week before your baby was due to qualify for SMP and this may be more of an issue for you if you were not being paid in this period because of the payroll errors. However, the HMRC manual on SMP states that where incorrect earnings were paid, in your case you weren't paid, and your employer has agreed the actual earnings you should have been paid in that period, they can use those earnings for calculating your average weekly earnings. This is what the HMRC statutory payments manual says:

'If incorrect earnings have been paid, which would produce a situation that worked to the disadvantage of either the employer or employee, and there is documentary evidence of an agreement between both parties as to the actual earnings that should have been paid, you should use the earnings agreed to calculate an employee’s AWE. Where there is no evidence of an agreement, you should calculate the AWE using the earnings actually paid.'
If you think your employer has wrongly refused your SMP because of your continuous employment or the earnings calculation I suggest contacting the HMRC Statutory Payments Disputes Team on 0300 322 9422 and asking for a formal decision on your entitlement to SMP. As mentioned, you can still claim Maternity Allowance to protect your position while you get a decision on your SMP entitlement.

I hope that is resolved soon and you get some maternity pay.

Thank you so much for taking the time to reply, that is really helpful. What a fantastic service - many thanks

Hi there,

I’m currently on maternity leave and finding maternity pay (as grateful as I am to be receiving it) is not enough to live on. My husband is a paramedic so thankfully can do overtime, but this isn’t fair on him or our 3 month old daughter as she isn’t seeing him as much as we’d like. What help am I able to apply for?

Thank you

Dear CookiesMonster

Thanks for your enquiry.

Although you are not entitled to 'remuneration' (normal pay) during maternity leave, a pay rise should not be withheld because of maternity leave. You mention that you do not have anything written in your contract regarding pay rises. Were the initial conversations around pay rises recorded in any written form e.g. email, offer letter? If so, this would be helpful evidence to use.

There are no time limits for making a formal complaint, however, there are strict time limits for starting an employment claim. You would usually need to raise the issue with your employer first and explore all avenues for trying to resolve it, however, this appears to have happened some time ago and you may have no option but to start a claim in order to protect your position.

If you have had no response from your manager or their manager, I would consider raising a formal grievance in line with your company’s grievance policy (or, if they have none, in line with the ACAS Code on Grievances and Disciplinaries). This does not need to have any particular format – it can usually be sent as an email or letter, but it is important to set out the timeline, all relevant points, what you were promised and how this has not followed through with, the fact of the intervention of your maternity leave and why you are concerned that might be connected, and the fact of the other individuals you know of who have received their pay rises.

The person you should send a grievance to should be set out in your contract of employment, but if you have an HR team it would also be worth copying them in, or indeed sending it to them directly if you do not think the original person is appropriate. When writing a grievance it can often be helpful to set out your preferred outcomes – obviously for you this may be that you would like to receive the pay rise that was agreed with immediate effect and backdated, but another alternative outcome might be to understand why you have not received it as per the agreement.

In order to show maternity discrimination you would need to show that the reason for the unfavourable treatment (refusal to provide a pay rise) was because of your intention to take maternity leave or absence on maternity leave. Unfortunately this can be difficult to evidence. Alternatively, failure to provide a pay rise because of maternity leave may be direct and/or indirect sex discrimination. You have also mentioned that another male colleague has been given a pay rise and I suggest exploring whether this raises any equal pay issues.

The time limit for discrimination claims is 3 months (less one day) from the date of the act or series of acts you are complaining about. You would need to contact ACAS to start early conciliation within the time limit. Tribunals have discretion to extend the time limit where it would be just and equitable, however, you should start your claim within the time limit wherever possible.
The time limit for equal pay claims is 6 months and you should get specialist advice.

Hi,

I’m an NHS doctor. I work in hospital and work long days, weekends and night shifts as part of my job. My job involves a lot of standing and wearing a heavy lead gown.

I have some risk factors for preterm labour and spoke to my employer in September about a week of nights (my last week) which is coming up this month now.

Night shifts can predispose your preterm labour and my obstetric doctors were supportive of me coming off nights in pregnancy. I am continuing to work long days (last ones over Christmas when I’ll be 34 weeks) and have had no time off during this pregnancy except for appointments so far.

Having had my first risk assessment last month (at 23 weeks!) where it was agreed that I would come off nights and continue long days and weekends for as long as is feasible, the managers are now saying that I should have swapped out of those nights with a colleague, that I need to pay the time back if I miss them (I will be continuing my normal day job during the time I would have worked nights) and that they cannot pay anyone else to cover these shifts, whilst I am still working. As such these night shifts (next week) are still uncovered.

This seems contrary to what colleagues have been through and what the BMA have advised to me. I would like some advice please regarding the legality of what they’re saying and what avenues I have if required.

Many thanks and kind regards

Dear MummyLon

Thanks for your enquiry. You are not required to repay any KIT days you have worked during your maternity leave if you are resigning. KIT days are optional and if you and your employer agreed on working some KIT days during your leave you are entitled to be paid for the work you undertook.

The law states that when on maternity leave you continue to accrue annual leave as normal. You are then usually entitled to take your annual leave after the end of your maternity leave and you would book holiday with your employer as normal for your workplace. However, if you are resigning from your job, you will be entitled to be paid for any accrued (untaken) annual leave up to the end of your notice period.

You should check your contract to see what notice you are required to give e.g. if you have to give one month's notice you should give notice a month before the end of your maternity leave if you do not want to return to work. You can 'work out' your notice period during your maternity leave.

I hope that helps.

Just a reminder to those who have posted on the clinic and not yet sent through their details, please PM your full name and the name of your employer to this username so that we can get your query allocated to a volunteer. Many thanks :)

Hello,
I was on maternity leave from July 2021 - April 2022. I resigned from my job before returning from maternity leave as I was moving counties.
I was then employed on a zero hour contract as a supply teacher from 25th April - 22nd July 2022. I worked in 9 of these weeks.
From 1st September 2022, I have been employed on a part time temporary contract.

I am not eligible for Statutory Maternity Pay but I think I could be eligible for Maternity Allowance. My test period for maternity allowance is 19th December 2021 - 26th March 2023.

My question is - does the time I was on maternity leave and receiving maternity pay during this test period count towards the 26 weeks I need to work or be employed during this test period?

Dear KPardoe

Thanks for your enquiry. Maternity pay is very low and significantly below the minimum wage which is a real concern in the current cost of living crisis. You may be entitled to Universal Credit to top up your family income, however, this is means-tested and will depend on your household income and other circumstances, such as your housing costs, childcare costs and number of dependents.

Please note: if you are already claiming Working or Child Tax Credit you should get advice before claiming Universal Credit as you may be worse off and you can no longer make a new claim for tax credits.

During maternity leave, your household income will include your partner's earnings and your maternity pay. Universal Credit is assessed on a monthly basis and will go up or down in line with your earnings. This means that the timing of your claim is important as you may not be eligible prior to maternity leave but may become eligible during your maternity pay period or during a period of unpaid maternity leave.

You can find benefit calculators here to check what you may be entitled to: www.gov.uk/benefits-calculators

When using the calculator during your maternity leave period you should enter your maternity pay, not your normal earnings, or enter zero to see if you are eligible during a period of unpaid maternity leave. If you are receiving Statutory Maternity Pay it will be partially disregarded under Universal Credit as with other earnings, however, any Maternity Allowance will be deducted pound for pound.
If you are eligible for Universal Credit you may also be eligible for other benefits for your baby including the Sure Start Maternity Grant and Healthy Start. Your local authority may also provide help with discretionary housing payments or council tax reduction if you are struggling during maternity leave.

Maternity Action has more information on all these benefits here: maternityaction.org.uk/advice/money-for-parents-and-babies/

I wish you all the best.