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

[RhiannonEMumsnet]

Free online advice clinic Sunday 29th June to Wednesday 2nd July.

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 and pay, 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 Sunday 29th June to Wednesday 2nd July. The Maternity Action team will do their best to provide all answers during that time and at the latest by Friday 4th July. 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 below before 5pm on Wednesday 2nd July. 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.

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 click here

Good morning!

Please do remember to DM us your name and your employers name, so that we can do a conflict check before answering your query. This is held confidentially and deleted after the clinic.

Thanks!

I am being made redundant. I am currently in Maternity leave. My consultation period ends mid July. I am entitled to a 12 week notice period paid confirmed so far in the consultation meetings. My query is the rate they must pay me for this. My understanding is that I am entitled to my normal pay but they are able to off set my SMP element from this (my enhanced mat pay will end part way through the 12 weeks notice period.
thank you.

i have DM details.

Hello, I returned to work following maternity leave in October. I am still breastfeeding my daughter, including many times overnight. I am rotating onto a new placement in August which has on call shifts which run for 48 hours. They are non-resident but because I live too far away, I will be required to be on site for the entire shift. I have spoken with my employer about the difficulty of doing these shifts due to me breastfeeding. They have agreed for me not to work these shifts, however, they have said that my pay will not be protected.

Is this correct? It was my belief that any adjustments made to working patterns due to breastfeeding should not result in loss of pay, and I should be paid as though I were still working the full rota. My employer disagrees and says they will allow me not to work those shifts but my pay will be impacted.

thank you for your help.

Hi, I’ve been on maternity leave since the start of the year and since then the company I work for has changed a few policies affecting all staff including a change to the working hours. It now includes weekend working without lieu days in the week effectively meaning you have to be able to work 6 day weeks several times a month. This wasn’t the case before as I say, and now I have a problem getting childcare on the weekends (solely reliant on nurseries). I’ve been told I won’t be able to do my original job without working ‘full time’ which is essentially these new hours. Im
being encouraged to consider standing down to a lesser role which can offer more flexibility. Can the company do this? Change my working hours whilst I’m on maternity leave and then try to demote me for not being able to do them? I should also add that I haven’t been formally contacted on the new hours either. All correspondence has gone out on the company emails so I just have this information through word of mouth from colleagues.

I just need some clarity on what my next steps should be here.

I am going through a tough time during maternity leave facing a redundancy and my employer are not really following current laws. I have raised the issue with them informally and nearly 2 weeks have gone by without an answer. I found out last week the person handling my redeployment has now left, possibly adding to the delay but other people were in the email. I’ve then raised my concerns to their manager and am waiting to hear back.

They have a role advertised which is well within my skill range and very similar to what I was previously doing but they have not offered it to me. I have flagged the issue and still don’t have a response.

I chased last week Thursday and they said they would look at it as a matter of urgency and get back to me. How long should I give them and how should I escalate next. I know it all depends on what they come back with but the way they have behaved so far has left me less than confident.

Please help as I am stuck on how to move forwards.

Hi,
I’m hoping for some advice or support with a maternity pay issue.

My employer has told me I’m not entitled to either Statutory Maternity Pay (SMP) or Occupational Maternity Pay (OMP), despite me providing all the necessary documents. I’ve been employed by them continuously since 2020. I did have a short break (less than 3 months) between May and August 2024. I continued working bank shifts until I received a permanent contract in April 2025.

According to their own maternity policy, I believe I qualify for both SMP and OMP. I’m due to start maternity leave on 4th August. I’m happy to provide any further details needed.

Thanks in advance.

Hi Maternity in Action,

I am staying in the UK, has the UK citizenship and working as self-employed since 25.04.2024.
I already did the tax return and I know that I am qualified for MA.
I paid class 2 National Insurance.

I am staying in the UK, but I need to move to France soon as my husband is working there and I don’t have any friends or relative here, except my other two young children.
I need to stay there until the child is born.

I tried to call Work and pension department, 0800 169 0283 and overseas telephone for Maternity allowance 0191 206 9390, for one week, but nobody answered my call.

What should I do now to notify them about my circumstances, can I apply from the uk as I am still living here. But I need to leave in the next few weeks.
Do you have any contact or support number for my case as I am so deperate right now.
Thank you.

Hi, so pleased that you're doing this. It's so important for women. I work for a very large company. I have returned from mat leave. During the ad hoc telephone conversations with my manager, in the weeks preceding that return I was casually informed that my role would be changing. I would not be doing the work that I had been. It would be a new area of work. This was a shock to me and I was very unhappy about it. My concerns were brushed over. I complained to HR and was told that if my job title and salary had remained the same, there wasn't a problem. If I didn't like it, I was told to raise a grievance. It was a very black and white response which shut me down. My job title and salary hadn't changed, this is true. I am a highly regarded professional with a lot of experience in my field. I didn't raise a grievance for multiple reasons but essentially it wasn't something I couldn't deal with at the time.

The work I had been doing still existed, it had just been moved elsewhere in the business while I was on mat leave. Someone else would be doing my job permanently, i had to learn something new. Something I had and have no interest in. I felt I was being forced to do a job I had never applied for.

There was no communication with me prior to my return about the change. I had supplied my personal phone no and email to my employer/manager but these were never used to discuss this. I gave consent to be contacted but received next to no personal contact.

It's difficult to state what my job is and the nature of the change without outing myself.

I am deeply unhappy and hurt by what has happened to me and how I have been treated.

Hi,

I would like some advice please.
I am a teacher and wanted to know if I would be able to access the contractual maternity policy. Teachers have to be in service for one continuous year before the 15th week of your due date.
I previously worked at a school from July 2024 to June 2025. I am now at a new school. Continuous service can be used from a previous school if it is continuous. Prior to this I was on maternity leave.
Essentially what I am asking is, when could I get pregnant to be able to access the teacher maternity leave?
Thank you in advance.

Hi,

I am currently on maternity leave with a formal return date in February. Prior to having my baby, I applied for a promotion and was unsuccessful, however I was told that if I did get the new job then it would be fine to start it upon my return. A 9 month "training" period was involved in this new job and I was told they would sort it out upon my return, if I was successful.

I am now in the middle of my maternity leave and have been made aware of a formal training scheme being advertised for this same job. It is potentially worth noting that this new training scheme is a fixed term contract with the idea that you either progress to the "promotion" at the end of the term or go back to your current job.

I have now been told that you are only eligible to apply for this job if you are available for the training period starting in September which is before my maternity leave is due to end. My employer makes a big deal out of making sure people on leave are told of the current vacancies and how to apply but to then be told that you can't apply unless you're willing to shave 6 months of your maternity leave off feels wrong.

Any advice on where I stand would be greatly appreciated before I speak to them. It also makes me feel a bit bitter about whether I didn't actually get the original promotion before maternity leave because I was pregnant as they didn't exactly have much feedback to give although I know it will have been 'above board' with the scoring so to speak.

Thank you.

Hello,

I’m seeking advice about pregnancy-related mistreatment I experienced at work and the impact it’s had on me both physically and emotionally.

I informed my employer of my pregnancy around July 2024. From that point on, I experienced consistent disregard for my wellbeing at work. Despite informing my employer, no risk assessment was ever carried out. I repeatedly asked for one and was eventually told to “find someone myself” to conduct it, and that he would pay them — which never happened. This was due to them trying to say that it needs to be done externally, which I knew it didn’t. This made me feel completely unsupported and unsafe, especially as my job involved early starts and long drives in the dark while physically and emotionally exhausted.

I was made to feel guilty for calling in sick, even with genuine pregnancy-related illness. I pushed through as long as I could, but eventually had to obtain a fit note confirming I could only work from home. Even then, I continued to face pressure to perform the same workload.

My mental health declined significantly during the final 2–3 months of my pregnancy. I was emotionally exhausted, often cried before shifts, and dreaded each day. Despite this, my concerns were dismissed. I sent a formal grievance in October 2024 via email. Later, my manager made me email myself pretending the issue had been “actioned,” though nothing was ever formally addressed. I also asked formally for the grievance policy in December 2024, request wasn’t fulfilled.

I first contacted ACAS in December 2024 (within 3 months of the incidents), but I was heavily pregnant and simply couldn’t cope with following it through. I’ve since been caring for my newborn full-time and only now feel ready to pursue this even though it’s still difficult with the sleep regression in place. I’m currently on maternity leave and due to return in October 2025, but I plan to resign in September as I cannot return to that environment which would also fall under constructive dismissal.

I’d like advice on whether I still have a chance to pursue a claim despite the time limit and what support is available. I’ve been told that for discrimination claims, tribunals can still consider a case if it’s “just and equitable” to do so, I genuinely did my best to raise concerns and start the process in time, but my circumstances made it extremely difficult to continue.

Thank you so much for your time and any help you can offer

Hi there I need some help please.
I became freelance at the start of Jan 2025 and got a role for 3 months, 3 days a week.

This then extended up until end of May. I had my first baby a couple of weeks ago but don’t know what benefits I can claim as I forgot to register as a sole trader and no longer receive Universal credit which seems a must to get any maternity allowance or grant.

Any advice would be great.
thanks

Hi, I'm in my second trimester and looking for advice. I'm currently working for a European employer but I'm based in the UK and my contract is effectively freelance -- I'm not on a payroll and have a consultancy-type year-long contract.

I assume I can't claim anything other than Maternity Allowance but my question is -- at what point should I tell them I'm pregnant. I think they'll be sympathetic, but I'd want to continue to work through the pregnancy (partly to ensure I'm eligible for Maternity Allowance - I pay tax in the UK) and don't want to jeopardise this in any way. I assume I have little by way of protections due to the nature of the contract (no holiday, sick leave, etc etc factored in). Similarly, I assume I'm not obliged to tell them in the way I would be obliged to tell a UK employer by week 25.

Any advice on how to navigate this situation gratefully received.

Good Evening,
I am returning to work this week. Whilst on mat leave my team and I received ‘early notification’ of redemployment and redundancy (we will be formally contesting this, but that is a non-maternity matter). In the meantime, the team I would usually work within has been wound down/ staff have left and so I have been told I cannot return to my previous role. They have asked that for the time being I complete ad-hoc tasks for a different team, of a lower grading than my contractual role. I have raised that I have the right to return to the same job or one that is no less favourable. My employers argument is that there is no alternative role at my grading and I ‘need to be doing something to justify my pay’. I worry they might argue also that I still have my job- in that I am receiving the same pay and benefits but that I need to be ‘flexible’ in the duties I carry out (even if this means taking on an entirely different and unwanted role). It is important to note that at this time we are outside of any formal process and it is unclear when we will move to redundancy proceedings.

Any advice on how to proceed would be much appreciated as my sleep deprived baby brain is struggling to make sense of things. Thanks

I am currently 6 months postpartum but took early maternity leave which began 4th Oct 2024. I have resigned after having a flexible working request refused on the grounds they haven’t been able to hire anyone else. I did appeal but cancelled it before it occurred and continued with my resignation. They are saying I now need to pay back 13 weeks of occupational maternity pay or come back to work for 13 weeks. I am trying to work as much of this as possible to avoid paying anything back however I do not have childcare. I have to ask my mum to take time off from her work to and come and live with us as she lives 3 hours away. I am a teacher so the summer holidays counts towards 6 of those weeks.

My company’s maternity policy states I have to request OMP in writing 7 weeks before the due date. I didn’t request it. I also didn’t receive any communication informing me I was receiving it. I found out today an email was sent during my pregnancy however I was off sick at this time therefore I think the company should have posted this information to me. OMP was paid to me anyway and disguised in the ‘absence offset’ part of my payslip not clearly labelled as OMP like SMP is. I hear from a friend at an equivalent company that on her payslips it is labelled as OMP. Additionally at that time of year we are receiving back dated pay so it was unclear the source of that extra income. It says in the maternity policy if an employee resigns ‘they may be asked to pay it back’ and in the email I received it did not mention anything about paying it back. In my contract it just says refer to the maternity policy.

I am feeling forced to return to work when my child is too young to be left for a full day but equally I don’t have the money to pay it back. Do I have any grounds to refuse to pay some of it back if I am resigning due to them not being able to offer me reduced hours?

Hi,
I would appreciate any advice regarding the following situation.
I started working for my current employer in March 2025 on a temporary contract set to end in October 2025. According to their policy, I am not entitled to any sick pay including Statutory Sick Pay for absences of fewer than four days.
Since starting, I’ve had two instances of absence that I feel I should be paid for:

1. An emergency, pregnancy-related hospital appointment. Where I was in the hospital all day.
2. A routine midwife appointment that required me to leave work halfway through the day.

Both instances have been recorded in the system as unpaid sickness. I have requested that these hours be paid, considering the medical nature of the absences and their relation to pregnancy. I have emailed HR, who initially responded saying they will try to organise some form of exemplary sick pay however despite following up multiple times over the past two weeks, I have received no response. I am now on maternity leave, but have been informed that this will be treated as a resignation since my 12-month leave extends beyond the contract’s end date. Could you please advise on how best to proceed in this situation, especially regarding:

• Whether the employer is acting within their rights regarding unpaid time off for pregnancy-related medical appointments.
• How I might escalate the lack of communication or seek recourse.

Thank you for your time and any guidance you can offer.

Hi. I started my maternity December 24th 2024. I’m a nurse in a private health care . My visa was going to expire May 2025. I contacted my employer to renew my sponsorship. They only agreed to renew if I cut my maternity short and resume in July. I agreed due to once my visa expired my husband won’t be able to work and we can’t pay our bills on SMP. My mother was with me at that time. She agreed to stay with me if I’m going to work in July but unfortunately she fell sick and had to go back to Nigeria. So in June my manager contacted me to resume I explained my situation and they have yet to give me a positive response. I ask for more time my baby is only 5 month . I ask for two more month. This situation affects me mentally and physically. Can you help me, advise me. I feel bad because everyone who had gone on maternity stayed 9 month and more . I feel discriminated and abandoned

Dear Lovelymomtobe

I understand that you have met the qualifying conditions for claiming Maternity Allowance on the basis of your self-employment. You can submit the claim form once you are at least 26 weeks' pregnant: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/maternity-allowance-claim-form

If you are leaving the UK temporarily, you will need to notify the Maternity Allowance claims team once you have submitted your form and you are correct that the number is 0800 169 0283.

If you are leaving the UK permanently or long term and you need your Maternity Allowance to be paid to you overseas you will need to claim it from the International Pension Centre. You will need to contact the IPC on 0191 206 9390
or you can write to them at:
International Pension Centre, The Pension Service 11, Mail Handling Site A ,Wolverhampton, WV98 1LW.

I am sorry to hear that you are finding it difficult to get through to both departments. It may be easier to get through from 8 - 9 am.

Dear OneVividPoster

Thank you for your enquiry. You will need to be employed by the same employer for the first 26 weeks of your pregnancy to qualify for SMP. Bank work is generally classed as agency work and the agency is a different 'employer' even though your bank work and permanent contract are with the same Trust. As such you may be treated as having changed employer during your pregnancy and unfortunately this will mean that you are not entitled to SMP.

I suggest checking with HMRC Statutory Payments Disputes Team as to whether they regard your bank and permanent employer as different employers. You can contact the disputes team on 0300 322 9422. If HMRC decide that you had continuous employment with the same employer for the first 26 weeks of your pregnancy, they will issue a formal decision to say that you are entitled to SMP.

In order to qualify for NHS occupational maternity pay you need one year's service by the 11th week before your baby is due. This service must be as an employee. You are not classed as an employee if you are doing agency/bank work therefore you are unable to meet the required service for enhanced NHS maternity pay. The NHS maternity policy is available online here at section 15: https://www.nhsemployers.org/publications/tchandbook

I'm sorry not to be able to send better news. You will be able to claim Maternity Allowance (MA) for 39 weeks. You can use a mix of agency and employee work to qualify for MA.
You can complete the claim form and submit it from the 26th week of pregnancy: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/maternity-allowance-claim-form
You should send your MATB1, SMP1 form confirming that you do not qualify for SMP and payslips covering 13 weeks or 4 months. You should send the payslips with your highest earnings in order to maximise your MA payments.

We have more information about maternity pay on the Maternity Action website here: https://maternityaction.org.uk/advice/maternity-pay-questions/

Dear WiseTaupeHedgehog

You can claim Maternity Allowance (MA) if you are registered as self-employed and you are not eligible for Statutory Maternity Pay in respect of any other employed jobs that you might have. You will be eligible if:

1. You have been self-employed for at least 26 weeks out of the 66 weeks before your expected week of childbirth. The 26 weeks do not have to be in a row or in the same kind of work. You can also include any weeks of employment if you have or have had another employed job in the 66 week test period.
2. You have paid (or are treated as having paid) at least 13 weeks’ Class 2 National Insurance contributions in the 66 weeks before your expected week of childbirth.

You do not have to prove your actual earnings from self-employment when claiming Maternity Allowance. DWP will treat you as earning a certain amount based on whether or not you have paid at least 13 weeks' Class 2 National Insurance (NI) contributions in your 66 week test period. If you are self-employed, the amount of MA you can get will be either £187.18 or £27 per week.
if you have paid (or are treated as having paid) at least 13 weeks' Class 2 NI contributions in your 66 week test period, you are treated as having earnings equal to the maximum amount of MA and will be entitled to MA of £187.18 per week (April 2025 - April 2026).

if you have not paid (or are not treated as having paid) at least 13 weeks' Class 2 NI contributions in your 66 week test period, you are treated as having earnings of £30 a week and you will be entitled to MA of £27 per week. If your annual profits are at or above the small profits threshold you will be charged Class 2 NICs at a zero rate and they will be ‘treated as paid’. If your self-employed profits are less than the small profits threshold you can choose to pay Class 2 NI contributions voluntarily. The small profits threshold is £6,725 (2024/25).

Your annual taxable profits are calculated after the end of each tax year through self-assessment. This means the question of whether you can be treated as having paid class 2 contributions for weeks of self-employment in a tax year is usually not decided until well after the end of the tax year. It is advisable to pay 13 weeks' Class 2 NI contributions voluntarily in order to qualify for the full rate of MA.

After you have claimed MA you normally get a letter from HMRC telling you the amount to pay and how to pay it. If you then find that the amount of your taxable profits means you meet the condition for being treated as having paid class 2 contributions without needing to have paid them, you can apply for a refund, but you will need to apply by 31 January after the end of the tax year.

If your annual earnings are likely to be below the small profits threshold, you will not be treated as having paid Class 2 NI and you will need to pay 13 weeks' Class 2 NI contributions voluntarily to qualify for MA at the full rate. You can contact HMRC or pay your Class 2 contributions online here: https://www.gov.uk/voluntary-national-insurance-contributions The weekly rate of a Class 2 NI contribution is currently £3.45.

If you have not registered as self-employed you must do so as soon as possible. If you have not been registered as self-employed for at least 26 weeks by the expected week of childbirth you may still be eligible for MA if you can show that you have been working on a self-employed basis. If you are refused MA because you registered late you should write back to DWP with evidence of when you started working as self-employed.
You can claim MA anytime from the 26th week of pregnancy but you may need to claim later if you have not yet met the qualifying conditions. You can get a copy of the form here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/maternity-allowance-claim-form or you can telephone 0800 055 6688 and ask for form MA1. You will need to send your MATB1 maternity certificate.
Please note, if you are claiming Universal Credit or intending to claim Universal Credit, any Maternity Allowance is deducted pound for pound so it may not be worthwhile claiming and you should seek further advice.

Unfortunately you will not be entitled to holiday pay or sick pay unless provided by your freelance contract. You do not need to notify your employer of your pregnancy by the 15th week before your expected week of childbirth as you are not able to take maternity leave with this employer. There is also limited health and safety protection if you are not an employee or agency worker.

You may want to wait until you have qualified for MA before informing your employer to protect your entitlement to MA. 'Contract workers' are protected against pregnancy discrimination (which can include some 'freelance' contracts) but not if you are genuinely self-employed in your own business. If you are not able to complete your consultancy contract you should check your contract for any terms and conditions.

You can find more information on claiming Maternity Allowance if you are self-employed and the rules on working during your MA period, please see our website here: https://maternityaction.org.uk/advice/maternity-and-parental-rights-for-self-employed-parents/

I hope that helps.

Dear CareerWomanWithaBaby

Thank you for your query.

Hours of work are stipulated in your contract and, subject to certain exceptions which I refer to below, it is generally not open to either party to impose a change unilaterally without risking being in breach of contract. To affect a change lawfully, your employer should consult with you about the proposed changes and seek to reach agreement wherever possible. If it is not possible to agree following a fair consultation process, under the current law, an employer can ultimately “fire and rehire” i.e. terminate your current contract with the correct notice and offer to re-engage you under the new terms and conditions. This may give rise to an unfair dismissal claim depending on the particular facts and your length of service.

Furthermore, in many circumstances, employers will retain an element of flexibility in their employee’s contracts to enable them to make changes to certain terms and conditions such as working hours and you should check your contract of employment to ascertain whether your employer has done so. Even if they can vary your hours under the terms of your contract, they should only exercise this right reasonably and my sense is that the current changes that are being proposed/imposed are arguably unreasonable given they require a fundamental shift in your working pattern which is detrimental to you.

Even if your employer is entitled to make the changes, you have a good argument that the changes are indirectly discriminatory against you because of your sex (given that more women than men have primary responsibility for childcare) if you are unable to work the new hours because of your childcare responsibilities. In those circumstances, your employer would need to be able to justify the requirement to work weekends by showing that it is a proportionate means of achieving a legitimate business aim and that there is no less discriminatory alternative available.

Employees who return to work either at the end of or during ordinary maternity leave (i.e. the first 26 weeks of leave) are entitled to return to the role on the same terms and conditions that they had immediately before their leave. An employee who returns to work after more than 26 weeks of leave is entitled to return to the same job on the same terms and conditions unless it is no longer reasonably practicable to do so. In this case, the employee is entitled to return to a suitable alternative job on terms that are no less favourable than their previous role (provided one is available i.e. there is no requirement on an employer to create such a role).

If it is not possible to return to your previous role or to a suitable alternative job, then this is likely to be a redundancy situation. Employers can make employees who are on or returning from maternity leave redundant, but those employees have the automatic right to be offered any suitable alternative roles, if there are any, (including with associated employers) on terms that are no less favourable than their previous role. This right extends to cover pregnancy and the period of 18 months after the child’s birth (if you remain employed with this employer).

In your case, your employer may seek to argue that they are restructuring the business and therefore the role you held prior to maternity leave no longer exists, that this is a redundancy situation and they only have full time or lesser roles available to you as alternative employment. However, my sense is that the fact they have not consulted with you at all about these proposed changes will put them in a difficult position legally.

Potential Claims

Ultimately, if your employer seeks to impose the changes you described then you may have claims for:

• unfair dismissal if they dismiss you or constructive unfair dismissal if you resign. Employees usually need two years’ continuous service to be protected from unfair dismissal but in circumstances where your dismissal relates to your pregnancy or maternity leave it may be automatically unfair, and the qualifying period does not apply. Please note that resigning is a last resort, and it would be sensible to take detailed legal advice before doing so as constructive unfair dismissal claims can be difficult claims to bring.

• indirect discrimination on the grounds of sex if you are unable to work the hours required because of your childcare responsibilities.

While I would not advocate rushing to the Tribunal, the potential to bring these claims may assist you in discussions with your employer (see below).

Practical Steps

The first step would be to get in touch with your employer and discuss what is happening with them to ascertain how it is going to affect you and what options are available to you. If you are unable to resolve the situation informally, you might want to consider filing a formal grievance about the changes and they detrimental impact they will have on you. The grievance could also relate to the way in which your employer has approached the process i.e. failed to consult with you at all thereby treating you less favourably than your colleagues who are not absent on statutory leave. You might also want to think about making a formal flexible working request if the changes are imposed on you. Your employer would be required to consider your request in relation to your specific circumstances rather than applying a blanket rule across the business.

If you decide that you do not want to return to work, your potential claims would be a good springboard for seeking to negotiate a favourable departure package.

I hope that this is helpful and wish you the very best of luck.

Dear Newmumcharl

You can claim Maternity Allowance (MA) if you are registered as self-employed or if you have a mix of employed and self-employed work and you are not eligible for Statutory Maternity Pay in respect of any of your employed jobs. You will be eligible if:

1. You have been employed and/or self-employed for at least 26 weeks out of the 66 weeks before your expected week of childbirth. The 26 weeks do not have to be in a row or in the same kind of work. You do not need to be currently employed or self-employed when you make your claim for MA.
2. You earned at least £30 per week on average from an employed job 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. If you are claiming on the basis of self-employment, you do not need to provide proof of self-employed earnings as DWP will check your National Insurance record. You will be treated as having earnings equal to the maximum rate of MA if you have paid (or are treated as having paid) at least 13 weeks’ Class 2 National Insurance contributions in the 66 weeks before your expected week of childbirth, see below for more info on self-employment.

MA is paid for up to 39 weeks. It is not means-tested so it will be not be affected by your partner's earnings.
If you are claiming MA on the basis of employment it will be paid at a flat rate of £187.18 (April 2025 - April 2026) or 90% of your average weekly earnings if they are lower than the flat rate. You should send in payslips from your employed job covering 13 weeks (or 4 months if you are paid monthly) in which you earned the most in order to maximise your MA payments. If you do not have 13 weeks/4 months of earnings, send as many payslips as possible.

• *You do not have to prove your actual earnings from self-employment when claiming Maternity Allowance. DWP will treat you as earning a certain amount based on whether or not you have paid at least 13 weeks' Class 2 National Insurance (NI) contributions in your 66 week test period. If you are self-employed, the amount of MA you can get will be either £187.18 or £27 per week. if you have paid (or are treated as having paid) at least 13 weeks' Class 2 NI contributions in your 66 week test period, you are treated as having earnings equal to the maximum amount of MA and will be entitled to MA of £187.18 per week (April 2025 - April 2026) if you have not paid (or are not treated as having paid) at least 13 weeks' Class 2 NI contributions in your 66 week test period, you are treated as having earnings of £30 a week from your self-employment and you will be entitled to MA of £27 per week. You can send payslips from your employed jobs to ‘top up’ your average earnings or you may be better off paying Class 2 NI contributions voluntarily to qualify for the full rate of MA.

Your annual taxable profits are calculated after the end of each tax year through self-assessment. This means the question of whether you can be treated as having paid class 2 contributions for weeks of self-employment in a tax year is usually not decided until well after the end of the tax year. It is advisable to pay 13 weeks' Class 2 NI contributions voluntarily in order to qualify for the full rate of MA.

After you have claimed MA you normally get a letter from HMRC telling you the amount to pay and how to pay it. If not, you can contact HMRC or pay your Class 2 contributions online here: https://www.gov.uk/voluntary-national-insurance-contributions

If you have not been registered as self-employed for at least 26 weeks by the expected week of childbirth I would advise registering as soon as possible. You may still be eligible for MA if you can show that you have been working on a self-employed basis. You can also use any weeks of employment to make up the additional weeks. If you are refused MA because you registered late you should write back to DWP with evidence of when you started working as self-employed.

You can claim MA anytime from the 26th week of pregnancy. You can make a late claim but it will only be backdated for a maximum of three months. You make your claim to the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) and you can get a copy of the form from the Government’s website here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/maternity-allowance-claim-form or you can telephone 0800 055 6688 and ask for form MA1.
You will need to send your MATB1 maternity certificate. If you are claiming MA on the basis of any employed work in the 66 weeks before your baby was due you will need to provide proof of earnings. If you do not have payslips you can send other evidence such as bank statements or other proof of earnings.

Please note, if you are claiming Universal Credit or intending to claim Universal Credit, any Maternity Allowance is deducted pound for pound so it may not be worthwhile claiming and you should seek further advice.

Most other benefits are means-tested. You have mentioned that you are no longer eligible for Universal Credit (UC). Entitlement to UC will depend on your total household income (including maternity pay) and other circumstances including the number of dependents, your housing and childcare costs. You can claim UC during maternity leave and you can apply for UC regardless of whether you are employed or unemployed. You are not required to look for work if you are claiming UC and you are the main carer of a child under 3. You may become eligible for UC after your baby's birth (when you may become entitled to an additional child amount), depending on how much maternity pay you are receiving and your other circumstances.
You can find a benefits calculator here: https://www.gov.uk/benefits-calculators
If you are eligible for Universal Credit (even a £1 award in one month) this will enable you to claim the Sure Start Maternity Grant of £500 for your first baby or first multiple birth-see: https://www.gov.uk/sure-start-maternity-grant
If you are claiming Universal Credit (with household monthly earnings under £408), you can apply for a Healthy Start card during pregnancy and for each child under 4: https://www.healthystart.nhs.uk/
You can claim Child Benefit from the birth of your baby. Child Benefit is not means-tested. You can claim Child Benefit for more than two children. Some or all of your Child Benefit is repayable if you or your partner individually earn more than £60,000. Child Benefit is paid in addition to any other maternity pay and benefits you are eligible for: https://www.gov.uk/child-benefit

I hope that helps.

Dear Trinisash

If you are an employee working under an employment contract (even if temporary), you have the right to reasonable time off with full pay for antenatal or pregnancy-related appointments and care. These can include things like scans and health checks with doctors or midwives. Your employer can ask for proof of the appointment from the midwife. If your employer knows you are pregnant and knows it is a pregnancy-related appointment you must be paid for it. If you are unable to resolve it informally I would suggest that you raise a grievance about the fact you have not been paid for this appointment and can show them the ACAS guidance in relation to this: Time off for appointments - Maternity leave and pay - Acas If the employer continues to not pay you for these appointments then you would be able to bring a claim for the pay, and possibly also for pregnancy discrimination. You would need to contact ACAS to start early conciliation within three months (less one day) from the last appointment you are claiming for.

The emergency hospital admission is likely to be treated as sickness absence, even though it was connected with pregnancy unless it was in the last 4 weeks prior to the birth. Otherwise, the usual sickness procedures would apply and if your employer only pays SSP they do not have to start paying until the 5th day. If you are off sick for a pregnancy-related illness in the last 4 weeks before the expected week of childbirth then your employer can automatically start your maternity leave and pay if has not already started rather than paying sick pay..

As you are now on maternity leave and the temporary contract is running until October, you are still an employee on maternity leave until that point. Therefore it is not the case that you have resigned (unless of course you wish to do so) but instead is for the company to terminate the contract in the usual way due to it being for a fixed term. They must still serve notice in the usual way and have a reasonable cause for doing so and you are entitled to written reasons for the dismissal. If you have more than two years service you are protected against unfair dismissal and may be entitled to a redundancy payment. You remain entitled to accrued annual leave up to the end of your contract and your employer must pay your full 39 weeks of SMP (unless you start a new job in that period).

I would suggest that you raise this with HR and ask for confirmation that you will be paid for accrued holiday on termination of your fixed term contract. If you are unable to resolve it informally you can raise a grievance about the non-payment of time off for your antenatal appointment and any further issues in relation to termination of your fixed term contract.

I hope you are able to resolve things.

Dear Spottingtwerps

Thank you for your enquiry. If you take up to 26 weeks’ Ordinary Maternity Leave, you have the right to return to your original job. If you take Additional Maternity Leave (more than 26 weeks), you are still entitled to return to your original job, but, if that is not reasonably practicable, to a suitable alternative role on no less favourable terms.

You have explained that your job title and salary have remained the same, but the actual work and responsibilities have changed significantly – with a large proportion of the responsibilities having been taken away from you. It could therefore be argued that this is in fact not the same role and that it was reasonably practicable for them to give back responsibilities that were reassigned to someone else during your absence.

It could be argued that your employer has tried to avoid possible liability and any legal argument from you that they have breached your statutory rights on return to work by allowing you to return on the same salary and job title.

Constructive Dismissal

It could be argued that removal of responsibilities would also result in a significant change in your duties without consultation with you which is a repudiatory breach of your contract, and also discrimination on grounds of maternity leave and may also possibly be considered serious enough if it rendered your position untenable to entitle you to resign and claim constructive dismissal (although a resignation purely to bring a claim would not usually be advisable). The fact that you state that you are now performing a different role / one that you have no interest in suggests that you have in fact returned to a different role. However, constructive unfair dismissal claims are notoriously difficult to bring and I am unsure how long you have been back at work and in this role. You would be expected to resign in response to the breach but this is a big step to take and I would suggest seeking further detailed advice about your prospects of success.

Sex or Maternity Discrimination

Unfavourable treatment because of your maternity leave may constitute maternity discrimination under the Equality Act 2010. The lack of meaningful communication and failure to use your provided contact details to consult with you prior to your return may further support a claim of discrimination. The absence of meaningful response to concerns you raised informally may also be discriminatory. You would need to consider what evidence you have to show that you have been treated unfavourably and that the reasons are because of your maternity leave or decisions taken during your maternity leave. Your protected period ended when your maternity leave ended so, again, the strength of any claim may depend on how long you have been back at work and how closely it is connected to your maternity leave.

You may also have a sex discrimination claim if you are being treated less favourably than an actual or hypothetical male comparator, for example, than a man in your former role or a male colleague who has returned from a lengthy period of leave and has not faced changes to his role.

Grievance Process

Wherever, possible I recommend trying to resolve it informally by asking for a meeting with a manager and/or senior manager. It is important to keep it amicable if your goal is to remain in the job and to be clear about the outcome/s you would like to see.

HR have advised you to raise a grievance and this is often an important step in resolving such issues and protecting your legal position. It can also go some way to resolving the issue / your concerns within a formal framework, however, I would usually only suggest as a last resort as it is likely to be treated as a complaint and it can sour relations. If a grievance does not resolve your concerns to your satisfaction the next option would be (if you choose to take matters further) to bring a claim against your employer in the employment tribunal.

Time Limits

You do not mention when you returned to work and how long you have been working in this new role. You are advised that in order to be able to progress any legal claim in an employment tribunal against your employer it is important to be aware of the time limits for doing so. You have three months less one day from the date of the discriminatory act (or the last in a series of acts) to bring a claim against your employer. Within this time limit you have to initiate the ACAS Early Conciliation Process which is a mandatory step prior to being able to issue a claim against your employer (if that is what you intend to do).

If you feel that your position is untenable and you want to avoid the stress and time that it would take to formalise matters via legal proceedings (which if you do not resign can be difficult if you continue to be employed) then there is an option whereby you can ask for protected conversation with your employer and ask whether there is an option of a negotiated exit – to avoid matters becoming protracted by you raising a grievance and then possible claims against them in the employment tribunal. There is no guarantee that your employer will engage in this, however it is an option.

I hope that the above helps and provides you with some options.

Dear Daydreamer94

Thank you for your enquiry. As you are on maternity leave, you benefit from additional redundancy protections which continue throughout your maternity leave and end on the date which is 18 months from the date of childbirth (if you notify your employer of that date, otherwise the protections expire 18 months from the expected week of childbirth) (known as the “protected period”).

Please note that there is no total protection from redundancy, but if a redundancy situation arises during the protected period and it is not practicable for your employer to continue to employ you in your current role, then:
You have the right to be offered any suitable alternative vacancy within the employer or any associated employer during the protected period (if one exists – there is no requirement for the employer to a create a new role where no suitable alternative vacancy exists).
The right is to be made an offer in priority to other redundant employees, however if there are other employees with the same redundancy protection as you then your employer is entitled to choose who to offer the role to. If that happens, you can ask them how they have made that decision, and to demonstrate that this is fair.
The right is limited to an offer, and so your employer technically does not need to offer a choice of suitable alternative roles if more than one is available (though you can of course ask about these during consultation).
This right to be made an offer of suitable alternative employment is different to the right that other employees without this protection have, which is only for the employer to search for any suitable alternative vacancies.
If you are offered a different role that you do not consider to be suitable alternative employment, you should explain why (e.g. loss of pay, loss of seniority). Unreasonable refusal of an offer of suitable alternative employment can result in you losing your entitlement to statutory redundancy pay if you are then made redundant, however if you show that the role is not suitable, and no other offer is made, then you can challenge the employer’s process in light of the protections mentioned above.

You are right to raise any concerns directly with your employer and we recommend doing so in writing (e.g. email) so there is a clear paper trail for the points you are raising. We recommend that you mention the protections to your employer during consultation to ensure they are aware. You should also ask about the selection criteria that they have used and how you have been scored, to ensure that these are fair and not discriminatory. Your employer should be able to provide clear reasons to justify your score. You should also take a note of points that you raise in consultation meetings, and how your employer responds, so that you can follow-up on these as needed. Your employer should respond to your concerns prior to closing redundancy consultation.

In relation to your next steps and how long you should give your employer as your employer has said they will look into your concerns as a matter of urgency, you may wish to give them up to a week to respond substantively (i.e. counting from their last response to you, as we understand you were in touch with the new manager recently). If they do not do so, you can make a formal grievance at that point. Please note that there is no obligation to wait and you can make a grievance at this stage, particularly if you’re worried that the redundancy might be confirmed imminently. However, it sounds like it may be premature if your employer has said they will come back to you, and is perhaps dealing with limited resources if members of the team who were previously managing the redeployment process have now left. Either way, you should check that your grievance complies with any policy your company has in place (e.g. in terms of who to send it to, what detail to include). Your employer may choose to deal with the grievance as part of any redundancy consultation or appeal process, or as a separate grievance process. Either way, it should respond to your concerns.

If your concerns are not answered and you are made redundant and are still concerned about the fairness of the redundancy in particular:
You should appeal the redundancy decision, if given the opportunity to do so, and raise your concerns again in writing. Your employer is not absolutely obliged to offer the right of an appeal following a redundancy termination, but it is typical and recommended (but not mandated) by ACAS. If they do so, they should give you details of how to appeal the redundancy decision. Be specific and clear in your appeal about why you think you are not being treated fairly or how your employer is failing to comply with the law, giving examples.
You can also follow the ACAS Early Conciliation process and, if that does not resolve the matter, issue a claim in the Employment Tribunal for unfair automatic unfair dismissal and/or discrimination (see below). Bear in mind that there are strict time limits for bringing a claim (whilst this is a simplification, the rule is generally 3 months minus 1 day from the date of the relevant treatment, such as the date of the redundancy or discriminatory treatment).

If your employer fails to make you an offer for a suitable alternative role (where one exists, assuming there are no other protected employees who the employer offers the role to instead, acting reasonably) then you will have a claim for automatically unfair dismissal and unlawful detriment.

Your dismissal would also be automatically unfair if the only or principal reason for your selection for redundancy is your pregnancy or taking maternity leave. You could also claim unlawful pregnancy and maternity discrimination if pregnancy or maternity had a "significant influence" on your selection for redundancy.

Even if none of the above apply, you may nevertheless have a claim for unfair dismissal if the employer either cannot substantively justify the dismissal (for example if there is not a reduction in the type of work you are employed to do) or if there are other procedural issues with the consultation process. You need to have been an employee for at least 2 years to bring this claim (this does not apply to the other claims mentioned above).

You may still be entitled to statutory maternity pay even after termination as it remains payable for the full 39 week period, however, any enhanced maternity pay would end when your employment ends unless you are able to negotiate payment as part of a redundancy settlement. You should raise this with them if you have not yet received the full amount of available SMP.

You may find the following websites helpful:
https://www.acas.org.uk/redundancy-protection-for-pregnancy-and-new-parents
https://maternityaction.org.uk/advice/redundancy-during-pregnancy-and-maternity-leave/
https://www.gov.uk/employee-rights-when-on-leave

I hope it goes well.