Enhanced Maternity Pay

[HollieTH]

Hi all,
I’ve recently found out that I’m pregnant with my bio first (I already have a stepson who we have full time).
I’ve just looked into my companies maternity leave policy, and can see that I’m going to be 2-3 weeks short of service to qualify for enhanced maternity pay, meaning I’d only be entitled to statutory.
I am a major earner for our household and genuinely do not think we can survive on the SMP. I’m considering asking my manager to request discretion due to how close in time I will be to qualifying, but interested to know if anyone has experienced similar?
It’s really worrying me and whilst I want to enjoy this experience I’m very scared about what this could mean financially for my family.
Any insight/advice much appreciated

Depends on your employer but I’ve never known mine or any of my friends flex on the rules- even when 2 separate colleagues were 1 week out, my friend was also 2 weeks out with her employer. It’s hard but their line is that there has to be a cut off so inevitably someone is always going just miss out. Good luck!