Enhanced Maternity Pay

[nc14]

I recently found out I’m pregnant and my likely due date means I’ll be one month short of qualifying for Enhanced Maternity Pay with my employer. My contract isn’t clear as to what happens in this situation - and I’m not sure if I’ll still be allowed to take a year off. Does anyone have any experience with this? I know it may come down to my contract/ employer but I’m not ready to tell them about my pregnancy yet and am hoping to get a steer.

Are you in the UK? If so, you can still take a year off and you will still qualify for either SMP or mat allowance. How many weeks pregnant are you and when did you start this job?

The enhanced mat pay is entirely at the discretion of your employer. Only your contract and employer can advise you on that.

Hey

In my contract (obviously yours might be different)
I get enhanced maternity pay if I have worked for the company for a year.
I also have to sign to say that I will return to work after MAT leave.

Best to speak to HR or have a good flick through your maternity policy.

Thank you both. I’m in the UK. I calculated whether I’d be entitled to enhanced mat pay according to my company’s policy and sadly I think my due date falls about a month before I’d qualify. It’s annoying, but luckily I can still afford to take a year off, I’m just not sure if my company will allow me to take a year off or whether that’s part of the enhanced package. My contract isn’t clear as it doesn’t seem to envisage people in my situation.

Legally you can take up to 52 weeks maternity leave so you will be fine on that front. Whether you’ll qualify for SMP or MA you’ll have to check. Also, unless you return at 26 weeks some of your rights change.

52 weeks maternity leave is a day 1 statutory right, so pay aside you’ll be able to take the year off. Then if you’re not entitled to occupational maternity pay (this is separate to the leave itself) you will either receive statutory maternity pay or maternity allowance.

Your company cannot prevent you taking a year off. If your contract says that it's illegal.
If you started work there before becoming pregnant (about a month before iirc) you are entitled to SMP, which is 6 weeks at 90% of your usual salary, then 33 weeks at roughly £150/week and then 13 weeks at £0 (but still off work). This adds up to one year, and your employer will pay you directly and then claim it back from the government.
If you started your job after becoming pregnant, you're entitled to maternity allowance instead, which still gets you a year off but you don't get the 90% for the first 6 weeks (you get £150/week for those weeks instead), and I think you claim this directly from the government instead of your employer paying you.

All this information is online on gov.uk website, and easy to look up and check what I've said is right.

Thanks all, that’s very helpful. I’ve been working for my employer since late last year and I’m only around 8 weeks so I should qualify for SMP.

Legally you can take a year off regardless of how long you have worked there. Its the pay you get that's affected by enhanced terms rather than the amount of leave

You would still get SMP and up to 12 months off, although no maternity pay after 39 weeks, as long as you started there before you got pg. If not you may get Maternity Allowance.

For SMP you only need to have not been pregnant when you started and earn above a certain amount per week on average during your qualifying period (weeks 17-25).