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

[NicolaDMumsnet]

Free online advice clinic 4th March - 7th March 2024 - OPEN NOW.

A warm welcome to the first clinic of the year!

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 from Monday 4th to Thursday 7th of March. The Maternity Action team will do their best to provide all answers during that time and at the latest by Friday. More information on where to go for more help once the clinic has ended is here. All past clinics are here.

How it works:

• If you have a question about your rights at work during pregnancy, maternity or parental leave, post it here below before the 7th of March. 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.

• 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.

• 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

Hi

I was employed by three different employments both of which have ended before my baby was born, I was also self employed during my test period and I just need to know do I have to send off a SMP1 for all three employments with my maternity allowance claim form? I had my baby on the 8th but was due on the 28th! And j still havnt claimed as it’s been so confusing and I can not get hold of anyone to help me ! I also would like to know will I have money deducted because I’m claiming after my baby has been born

My company opened up generous voluntary severance packages that were available to the business division that I work in. Both myself and my friend and colleague who were on maternity leave were not made aware of this and it was not until after the VSP window was closed that this was mentioned to us. Feasibly I may have wanted to consider this as I now have a little one at home and had been considering a career break. Do the company have a responsibility to ensure that people on maternity leave are made aware of this?

Many thanks in advance!

I have worked abroad for 5.5 years and will be returning to the UK in April but have just found out I am pregnant! I just wanted to know if I was entitled to any Maternity Pay even though I’m classed as unemployed and haven’t paid NI during my years working abroad. I just need to know what I’m entitled to.

Also how easy it would be for me to get a job whilst pregnant? Do I need to disclose this straight away? I will be approx 11 weeks when I move home.

I’m currently on maternity leave and received a letter from hr saying that I can only carry 37.5 hours of annual leave over to next year. It mentions about being paid the rest. I don’t wish to be paid the leave as will impact my universal credit and childcare element as well. I thought mums were allowed to carry over 5.5 weeks of leave if they had been unable to take them? I went off start of June and had been off sick April and part of may so couldn’t take any leave and baby arrived few weeks early so maternity started day after baby was born.

when I returned from maternity leave previously I took two days a week off as leave which worked well for me and also had no impact on my job or role.

during a meeting it appears my days are being changed no one communicated since I’ve been off different managers now - I’ve worked the same days for 3 years now and have childcare for those days. Contract is full time and includes on call and weekend work. Where do I stand? Financially I will be losing around £500 a month not doing the days I did before and also have no childcare with no spaces anywhere wait lists are over a year long. I can’t afford to drop days or hire a nanny for one day given my pay will drop.

I am currently pregnant and my baby is due on 12/07/2024!! I have decided I do not want to come back to work. I have not yet told my employer as I didn't want to affect SMP. From reading on the Maternity Action website it appears that as long as I tell my employer after the 15th week (Sunday) before my due date, I will qualify for SMP. This is referred to as the Qualifying period, is there any other requirements I need to met in order to qualify?

If what I have mentioned above is correct then as long as I tell my employer after 24/03/2024 then I will receive SPM? It will put my mind at rest if you could confirm, I can then let my employer know as they are eager to find out whether I plan to return to work.

Thanks in advance. :)

:)

Good morning, and thanks for sending in your queries.

Just a reminder to send your name and employers name to us by private message so that we can allocate your question to a volunteer solicitor.

These details are not logged or shared for any other purposes than completing a conflict check.

Thanks

I’m due to go back to work end of March and I’ve requested to go back full time until August and then reduce my hours to part time. They’re not letting me return to my original post with the original hours and are instead saying I start with part time (24hr p/w) until August and then from there it’ll be varied monthly hours based on whether or not they have work available. Prior to my maternity leave, I was working full time hours and the hours were stable and not dependant on work. They’ve been difficult ever since I got pregnant and I had to fight for my maternity pay causing me a great deal of stress and that was only finalised a week before I went on leave (2 weeks before baby was due). I really need some advice. It’s a small company and I don’t feel comfortable raising a grievance but I feel they’re trying to push me out but avoid making me redundant. Been there since Autumn 2021. There are new employees that have started whilst I’ve been away to cover my work but they’ll be remaining there

eta: I have privately emailed with relevant information

Hi there,

I'm looking to understand how I could make the best of use of my maternity allowance.

I've been self employed for 5 years now and I'm eligible for 39 weeks maternity allowance.
However, my partner works for a private hospital and is eligible for maternity/paternity leaves.

We were hoping to share our maternity leaves however I'm aware that being self employed I can not share my maternity allowance with my partner.

What could be the best option in our situation?
Could I get the first 2 weeks of maternity allowance and leave the rest to my partner. Is it another way to share maternity leaves.

Thank you for your help.

Hi,

I have worked 2 jobs for the last 4 years. One of the roles is teaching piano one day a week in a school. I am classed as a casual hours worker but I work 7 hours a week and I'm paid by the council.

I tried to find out if I am entitled to statutory maternity pay from this role as well as my other job. I contacted the financial manager at the school before week 15 of gestation - I tried all avenues - phone, email and in person however she did not respond to any of my emails, phone calls and was always busy or in meetings when I went into the office to talk to her. Week 15 passed and I'd still not heard anything back and assumed I wasn't entitled to anything.

She then finally contacted me back saying to send her photos of my MatB1 form. I sent this and then heard nothing more about it. I tried to chase it up further before I went on mat leave but the finance officer said she didn't know yet if I was entitled. I knew by this point that it was too late.

After further research, it seems that I may have been entitled to statutory maternity pay from both jobs, however it seems obvious to me that an application was never submitted by my employer. I don't know if I can receive what I was entitled to now as it's too late. All I have is evidence via emails that I did try to sort it out before week 15.

I have tried to get advice and call maternity action but haven't been able to get through as there is no hold system on the phone.

Please advise if there's any way I can appeal this🙏 thanks!

(Have emailed further relevant information)

Hi,

I have been employed since 18th Sep 2023. My employer sacked me within 1 week whichever on my contract is 2 weeks minimum. I have appealed this adjusted my last day to 15th March. I told them I am pregnant while they are telling me I am fired. I am 2 weeks away from the end of my probation, the reason they are giving me is that there is not enough workload to warrant my role, they need the money to hire a manager.

I am at 23 weeks pregnant which I just started to show. I have all the reasons to think it is discrimination dismissal. I have been doing the same workload while I was initially employed, I keep requesting more workload and helping but they are not giving me what they were saying when I was employed. The manager had a history of mistreating pregnant women before. Although it is hard to prove, I still think it is an unfair dismissal.

I have contacted HRMC who confirmed that I am qualified to receive SMP but I do not dare to give my MBAT1 to this manager. HR seems taking her side I have just contacted payroll instead see if there is anything they can do.

At this stage, I have 2 questions, please. Is it necessary for me to appeal this for discriminal dismissal cause I did not tell them before the dismissal and I did not work for them more than 2 years which makes it automatic discrimination.
Is there anything I could do to make sure they have to pay for my SMP cause the timeline is very tight. My due date is 27th June if this helps.

Any advise will be appreciated, I am feeling helpless at this point really looking for some constructive advise. Thanks

Dear Graciep123

I suggest completing your Maternity Allowance form as soon as possible so that you don't miss out. You will need to print it, complete the form and post it to DWP. You will also need to send your MATB1 maternity certificate (keep a copy) and payslips covering 13 weeks (or 4 months if you are paid monthly). DWP will ask you for any additional information they need.

Once they have received your form, your claim can be backdated for a maximum of 3 months from the date of claim so you may not lose out but it will depend when you stopped work. If you were unemployed in all your jobs 11 weeks before your expected week of childbirth, your Maternity Allowance period will automatically start from that date. If you stopped work later than 11 weeks before your expected week of childbirth in any one of your jobs, you should put the date you stopped work on the claim form and your Maternity Allowance period will start from that date. For example, if you stopped work 4 weeks ago in one of your jobs, your MA period will start from then and you will not lose any weeks if that date is less than 3 months before your date of claim.

If you do not have any SMP1 forms from any of your employers, you should put the names, contact details and dates of employment for each of your employers on the MA claim form. If you stopped work for all/any of these employers before the 15th week before your expected week of childbirth, it will be clear to DWP that you do not qualify for Statutory Maternity Pay (SMP) from those employers and they may not ask you to provide an SMP1 form. However, if you stopped work in or after the 15th week before your baby was due in any of your jobs, you should ask each of those employers to give you an SMP1 form stating why you have not qualified for SMP. As mentioned, send your MA claim form as soon as possible and you can send in the SMP1 form/s later once your employer/s have sent them or if DWP ask for them.

It is also very important to send payslips covering 13 weeks or 4 months if you are paid monthly. You should send the payslips with your highest earnings in the 66 weeks before your expected week of childbirth in order to maximise your MA payments. DWP will work out your average weekly earnings based on the payslips you send in. The maximum MA is £184.03 per week (April 2024 - April 2025) or 90% of your average earnings if lower. You can send payslips from any employer and any week in your 66 week test period, it does not need to be 13 weeks in a row or with the same employer. You can also add together earnings from more than employer if you have more than one job in the same week.

Your weeks of self-employment can also be taken into account if you were registered as self-employed. You do not need to prove your earnings from self-employment but will be treated as earnings over £184.03 per week for any week in which you have paid Class 2 National Insurance contributions. You can also do this as part of your MA claim if you wish to.

The MA claim form is online here as well as some Notes on completing the form and how to work out your 66 week test period. Complete it as best as you can and DWP will ask you for any further information they need: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/maternity-allowance-claim-form

Please note: if you are claiming Universal Credit, any Maternity Allowance will be deducted pound for pound so you should consider whether it will be worthwhile claiming MA if your Universal Credit payments are higher.

I hope all goes well.

Good Afternoon,

I ended work on a 5 day week contract and accrued 20.5 days holiday from 2023 that is being carried over and 20.5 up to 4/8/24. I am however returning back to work on a 4 day week contract. My employer has calculated 24’s leave based on 5 day week as it should be however if my maternity ends on 30th June 24 and AL commences on 01/07/24, does that AL then commence based on the 5 day week until that’s finished and I actually start working again? My understanding was that as I’m retuning on a 4 day week and ML ends in June then I’ll only use 4 AL days each week for a full week off thereafter until used and I return? Please advise!

Many Thanks

Hi

I'm due to return to work after taking 2 lots of maternity leave (returning to work for a year in-between)

Before I went on any leave there was 3 of us on the same level and job title in the team. When I returned after my first year of leave, the other 2 had been promoted and I was asked to cover someone's maternity leave. I wasn't informed of this promotion opportunity and discussed with my line manager during appraisal so it was documented that I wasn't happy that it hadn't been communicated to me. After a year in the mat cover role I went on my second maternity leave and now after a year I am returning to work. My line manager has informed me I will be going back to my original role from 2 years ago, not at the promoted level that my other 2 colleagues are at.

I discussed that I thought I'd be at the promoted level as had I not had been on maternity leave I would have also been promoted to this level. He said as I hadn't been in the role for a couple of years I hadn't gained the additional experience the other 2 had. Is this discrimination or do I need to just suck it up? I've always performed highly and know if I hadn't been on leave I'd be at the same level as my colleagues now.

Thank you

Hello,

Since returning from maternity leave last month I have found out that my maternity cover (male) was paid approx 20% more than me (approx £7000 a year) The job was just for 14 months maternity leave cover but otherwise they received all the same benefits. Is this legal? And does it matter that the cover paid more was male?

I asked HR and their reasons were:

• Because it was a shorter term post that would not be extended
• They had experience
• They were available immediately.

I have been working for my company for 3 years, meet all their criteria suggested in the job description (essential and desirable) and I gave them 5 months notice of impending maternity leave, so the reasons don't seem very legitimate to me. I have also been employed with them on shorter term contracts and was never offered higher pay because of this. Is there anything I can do? I don't feel very valued by my employers now.

Thank you

Dear Cathd92

Thank you for your query.

During maternity leave, your contract of employment remains in force, and you are entitled to benefit from all terms of the contract except those relating to remuneration (i.e. wages/salary). This means that you continue to be entitled to accrue annual leave and enjoy contractual benefits like health insurance. You also have the right not to be treated unfavourably because you are on maternity leave and my sense is that there is certainly a strong argument that failing to advise you of the possibility of taking voluntary redundancy while on maternity leave could constitute unfavourable treatment.

If this is something you still want to consider, it would be worthwhile discussing the possibility with your employer mentioning that their failure to give you the opportunity of considering it was unfavourable treatment and potentially discriminatory. If no agreement can be reached, you could consider raising a formal grievance in this respect.

Time limits may be an issue as your ultimate option would be to bring a tribunal claim for maternity related/sex discrimination. In order to start a claim you would need to contact ACAS within 3 months of the act complained of although there are circumstances where this can be extended where it is just and equitable to do so.

Either way, it is worth a discussion with your employer to see if you can come to a mutually acceptable arrangement.

I hope that helps.

Dear Kalou89,

Thanks for your query and congratulations on your pregnancy.

You will be eligible for Maternity Allowance (MA) if you meet the following employment and earnings test:

1. You have been employed for at least 26 weeks out of the 66 weeks before your expected week of childbirth.

1. You earned at least £30 per week on average in any 13 weeks (or 4 months if you are paid monthly) in the 66 weeks before your expected week of childbirth. These weeks do not have to be in a row and can come from any time in your 66 week test period. It is important to send payslips with your highest earnings over the 13 week/4 month period in order to get the maximum amount of MA.

If you have been working in a EU country you may be able to use those weeks to help you qualify for MA: www.gov.uk/government/publications/maternity-allowance-claim-form

If you have not been working in an EU country and you are unable to complete 26 weeks of employment in the UK by the week before your expected week of childbirth you will not be able to claim MA. Unfortunately it is unlikely you will be eligible for maternity pay from a new employer but you should check your contract.

You do not have to disclose your pregnancy when applying for a new job. The earliest you need to tell an employer is the 15th week before your baby is due (or as soon as possible afterwards). This is when you need to give notice for maternity leave. You may want to tell your employer earlier in order to have paid time off for antenatal appointments and health and safety protection. You should also bear in mind that you are unlikely to be protected against pregnancy discrimination if you have not informed your employer but as it can be difficult to evidence that you were not selected for a job or your probation period was ended because of pregnancy, you may want to protect yourself by telling your employer at a later date.

I hope all goes well.

Hello,
I am currently 22 weeks pregnant and my contract ended end of February due closing my position. (I am nanny and the child is starting nursery). I didn't expect,that they are going to put the child in the nursery so soon.
What shall I do next? Who is going to pay my maternity allowance? What are my right?
Thank you very much in advance.
Petra

Alsoo one more question my partner is self employed. If he stays at home for a week or so after birth of our baby. Is he entitled to get money support from Government?
Thank you.

Hi there

I went through the stressful process of voluntarily applying and securing a new role with my employer whilst on maternity leave. By all accounts, this new role is something between a side step and a promotion, and comes with a moderate pay increase.

Rather than returning to my previous role, I will be going straight into the new role when I return to work in a few months time. However, the following issues have emerged:

• I will be using KIT days to ‘phase back’ into work and into the new role, doing a few shorter weeks before formally ending my maternity leave and starting the new role full time. I will be using every single one of these KIT days to work in my new role, however my employer is insisting on paying me my previous role’s rate. Is this correct or does this constitute unfair treatment/discrimination?
• When I verbally accepted the new role I agreed with my new manager that I would be using my accrued annual leave during my maternity leave to work 4 days a week for as long as possible, roughly 5 months. I agreed to review this periodically and stop the 4 day weeks if there were any issues and my new manager was extremely supportive of this plan. However, the HR department have now said they are not happy with this. The only reason they are citing as not wanting to allow my working 4 day weeks is that if it doesn’t work out then I will have a large number of days of annual leave to use. They want me to use a greater number of days to delay my return to work date, which neither I nor my new manager want. There is nothing in our policy about how the accrued leave needs to be used, and this has not been previously discussed. HR have agreed this is a grey area. I am happy to propose a suggestion of how the days can be consumed in the event that it doesn’t work (e.g mixture of carrying over, payment for unused days and slightly longer summer/Christmas breaks), however I do not want to consume the annual leave earlier just on the basis that it ‘might not work’. I believe that the benefits working shorter weeks would provide me and my family as we adjust to my being back at work significantly outweigh the risks of it not working, and I feel it is unfair of them to block my request without good reason, especially if it is supported by my new manager. Can I push back and insist on using the annual leave in the manner that both I and my manager want?
• Finally, they have now advertised my current/previous role as a vacancy despite me making clear to my current/previous manager that I have not signed a new contract. Is this allowed?

This is all causing me a lot of stress and is taking away from the precious weeks I have left with my baby before I go back to work so I want to get this resolved as soon as possible.

Your help is very much appreciated.

NM x

Dear Ellenewmum,

You can get SMP from more than one job but you have to meet the qualifying conditions in each job.

You will be eligible for SMP if you are a casual worker or an employee (and you are paid through PAYE/your employer's payroll) and you meet all three of the following:

1. You have been employed by the same employer for at least 26 weeks by the 15th week before your expected week of childbirth. This means you need to have started the job before the start of your pregnancy.

1. You need to be employed in all or part of the 15th week before the expected week of childbirth. You are still employed during sick leave and annual leave.

1. You earned at least £123 per week in the 8 weeks (if you are paid weekly) or 2 months (if you are paid monthly) immediately before the end of the 15th week before your baby is due.

If you worked for 7 hours a week, it may be that your earnings were not high enough to qualify for SMP. If you did not qualify for SMP your employer should give you an SMP1 form. You may be eligible for Maternity Allowance instead but only if you were not eligible for SMP from either job. If you qualified for SMP for one job, you cannot claim MA for the other job.

Please note that in order to be eligible for SMP you must give your employer notice of the date you want to start your SMP and you must provide a MATB1 maternity certificate. Notice must be given at least 28 days before the start of your SMP period or within 13 weeks of the start of your SMP period at the latest.

If your employer is refusing to pay SMP or has not given you a decision, you can contact HMRC Statutory Payments Disputes Team on 0300 322 9422 to ask for a formal decision. In order that HMRC can advise you correctly and make a decision you will need to have your payslips available (or bank statements if you don't have any payslips) from the middle of your pregnancy. This will be the 2 months prior to the end of the 15th week before your expected week of childbirth.

You must usually contact HMRC within 6 months of the payment in dispute. You should provide HMRC with the evidence that you tried to sort it out with your employer as they have discretion to consider a later appeal. If HMRC decide that you are eligible for SMP they will order your employer to pay it or they will pay it directly.

I hope that helps.

I am currently 29 weeks pregnant and have been informed my role is being made redundant after a 45 day consultation period. However, I have just found out that they plan to outsource my job role to a freelancer once I’m gone. I understand I’m still entitled to SMP.

The redundancy consultation period ends on the 12th April. I was planning to use holiday from the 19th April until my maternity leave starts on the 16th May but now that I’m being made redundant I won’t be entitled to that holiday leave anymore. My notice period is 1 month from the date I am made redundant but I won’t be able to work this as I suffer from bad PGP and I’m struggling day to day as it is, let alone being that heavily pregnant. This is frustrating because without my notice pay I essentially will have no income from 12th April until my maternity leave starts. For reference my due date is on the 21st May.

I have unfortunately worked for the company for less than 2 years so won’t be entitled to much, if any, redundancy pay. I think this also stops me from being able to claim unfair dismissal.

I’m looking for some advice please on what is best for me to do, whether there’s anything I can do, whether I can claim anything extra, what I’m entitled to ask from my employer and whether I have no option but to bring my maternity leave forward from the date I am made redundant meaning less time with the baby when they’re here. Thank you

There has been a restructure in my organisation with some people moving into new roles and others made redundant. My role was not made redundant, but my job title and responsibilities changed slightly. The salary also increased. I did not have to reapply for the role, I was just offered it and moved over into it. I will be going on maternity leave in May when the higher salary will be in place, however I see that they have calculated my SMP at the lower rate from my qualifying period. I believe I've read that if an employee is given a raise at any point during maternity leave, this must be reflected in SMP even if the raise was after the qualifying period. Would this still apply in my circumstances? Thank you in advance.

Is the earning needed to qualify for SMP based on what you were paid or or everything you earned before your workplace pension and voluntary pension top up was taken out?

Follow up to my other post above...
Ie. If I was paid £495 into my bank

If my payslip said £555
-£40 Pension
-£20 voluntary pension top up

I'm asking because if paying into my pension does count as earnings then I will qualify for SMP but if they don't count (which is what my employer has done) then I don't qualify for SMP.

Is qualifying weekly earnings monies calculated as earnings before my pension payments were removed or what was paid into my bank?