SMP alabaster ruling

[Zayyus]

Evening everyone.
Can anyone help me answer this question

My qualifying week for maternity pay was calculated Jan-feb 2022.
I received a pay rise at work April 2023 while I was still on maternity leave.
According to the alabaster ruling should my SMP be recalculated or not..?.

Secondly.. company policy states omp is paid 50% of salary for 12 weeks. I opted to have it as a lump sum on my return..
I received £108 and got told this is it. No explanation as to how they got to this figure. I'm on roughly £160pw. So 50% would be £80 for 12 weeks no? Or have I misunderstood.
If someone could help me that would be great. I work in school if that's relevant.

Anyone?

Yes, your SMP should have been recalculated as you received a pay rise whilst you were still on statutory maternity leave.

Your employer must provide you with an explanation as to how they have calculated your OMP.

When did you start mat leave? Sounds like your normal earnings are below the SMP rate of £172.48 so you should have been getting 90% of your average weekly earnings all the way through. In that case it does sounds like your mat pay should have been recalculated and you should be paid the difference. Though if your new salary exceeded the SMP rate they would top you up to that and no more.

On the lump sum, does the policy state that it’s 50% in addition to SMP or is 50% including SMP? If it’s the latter (which it normally is) then your lump sum would be the difference between 90% of your normal earnings and your full pay and don’t forget that tax and ni will be deducted. So that may not be a lot extra.

Thanks for the replies.
I started maternity leave June 2022.
Yes my earnings were below the rate so I received 90% of salary all the way through.
On the policy is says
12 weeks OMP plus lower rate SMP.

The pay rise would only effect the first 6 weeks as after that my earning would be higher than the SMP rate.

Payroll are sticking to their guns but won't show me how they came to the £108 figure.
My HR lady at work said so herself she doesn't have a clue and is going with whatever Payroll are telling her.
When I asked about the £108 figure she said "they said it's an average of your weekly wage"
But it's a simple calculation.. 12 weeks at 50% pay.

Feel like a parrot repeating myself it so frustrating.

It must be really frustrating- try this support service: https://pregnantthenscrewed.com/help/ they say they can help with mat pay queries via their phone line. Hopefully they can give you some wording to use to get info out of payroll.

Thank you for the link.
I have a meeting with my manager today, hopefully I can explain it to her and here's me praying she understands.
The HR lady is still refusing the back dated smp due to pay rise. She has said herself pay rise was effective from April 2022.
My relevant period was Jan and fed 2022. Went on leave June 2022 until June 2023. Had backdated pay in Nov and Dec 2022. Plus hourly rate changed on the payslip. Yet she's saying the pay rise doesn't effect smp. I even threw the alabaster ruling at her.. still not budging.

If your SMP is 90% of your weekly wage then OMP may only top you up to 100%. OMP is not normally intended to put you in a better position than if you were at work, it’s a top up to SMP.

You have only given rough figures:
£160 x 90% = £144 SMP.
£160 - £144 = £16 x 12 weeks = £192 it may be she has paid 50% of this £96.
£108 / 12 = £9 per week which is 50% of £18 per week. A bit mean in my view but potentially contractually correct.

My advice is to use your actual average salary in my calculations to work out if it comes to £108.

After the meeting with your manager contact pregnant then screwed and ACAS. https://pregnantthenscrewed.com/

See what they say but write to your payroll person and cc in their boss and your manager. Head it unlawful deduction of wages. Set out exactly what you have said and attach a copy of the alabaster judgment. Also include this link https://www.gov.uk/guidance/statutory-maternity-pay-employee-circumstances-that-affect-payment#employee-earnings-affected-by-a-pay-rise State that as per gov.uk you are legally due the arrears and failure to pay is unlawful deduction of wages. Request payment in November salary. Advise them if it is not paid you will ask ACAS to commence early conciliation.

This should be a fairly straight forward case and any sensible employer will get legal advice at the first sign of ACAS early conciliation.

@Sisterpita this actually makes a lot of sense!!
Let me do some calculations. Thank you so much.
On my contract its written
6 week at 90% salary.
12 weeks omp at 50 % salary plus lower rate smp.
21 weeks lower rate SMP or 90% salary.
It looked quite straightforward to me but never did I think they would use the above calculations and offset it.
Is my understanding of the pay rise bit correct...?
Thank you again for your help.

@Zayyus yes you are correct about Alabaster - I’ve given you a link to the gov.uk page where it couldn’t be clearer.

The gov.uk page is also about claiming Maternity Allowance to top you up to SMP rate.

Follow my advice and contact ACAS then send an email as I have suggested.

It is clear unlawful deduction of wages.

@Zayyus If your contract states 12 weeks omp at 50 % salary plus lower rate smp then they appear not to have paid you correctly unless your contract caps you at 100%.

Definitely talk to ACAS and pregnant then screwed.

Omp is paid at equivalent to 50% of the employees salary for a period of 12 weeks..I think ' equivalent to ' are the key words here. 😶

@Sisterpita The wording Is important here.
12 weeks at 50% of salary plus lower rate smp.
This is why I assumed it would be 50% of my weekly pay for 12 weeks.

@Zayyus that looks clear to me it’s 50% plus SMP. I would pursue both Alabaster and the OMP. I can see there is an argument you shouldn’t get more than 100% salary in total but it’s not 50% of the difference between SMP and salary,

IANAL so you need ACAS or Pregnant then screwed to help you go for early concilliation.

Many thanks for your replies @Sisterpita