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

[RhiannonEMumsnet]

Free online advice clinic Sunday 2nd November to Wednesday 5th November.

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 2nd November to Wednesday 5th November. The Maternity Action team will do their best to provide all answers during that time and at the latest by Friday 7th November. More information on where to go for more help once the clinic has ended is 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 5th November. 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 everyone!

We are here ready to answer your pregnancy and maternity legal queries!

Just a reminder to 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. This is entirely confidential.

Thanks!

Hi,
I am claiming maternity allowance as I am self-employed and have sent off all of the forms. I got the letter to say I would receive the full amount and to fill in the form once I finished work with a start date for my payments to be made. I asked to be paid from 1st November but I did not receive any payment. Baby is due on 9th November.
I have tried the number but it just keeps asking me to press 1 or 2 and then it hangs up on me.
Any help would be appreciated.
Thank you.

Good morning. Thank you so much for setting up this thread!
I am back at work after a year off on maternity leave and was on a 3 month trial for a compressed hours contract (this was agreed prior to returning to work). My employer has come to the end of the trial last week and refused to make the new hours permanent as they have decided they will not offer compressed hours to any employees for "fairness" in terms of workload. My individual circumstances have not been discussed and it has been made clear to me that there is no discussion to be had. Is this legal? Trying to decide if it is worth the fight or if it will simply cost me too much in legal fees to then have it refused.
Many thanks

Hello,

I submitted a flexible working request and it has been declined. I do believe that the reasons are valid. I admit, I did suspect it would be declined. I'm not due to return to work for a little while, and unfortunately, I will be unable to return to work due to childcare issues. I need to give one month's notice to resign, but they have asked me to let them know ASAP regarding the flexible working request so they can put things in place. What do I do? Do I give them my notice now but tell them that I won't be returning, therefore will accrue holiday pay until the end of my notice period? Or do I go along with the working pattern they have suggested and then 1 month before, hand in my notice? I dont want to lose the accrued holiday pay for 2 months as though it doesnt sound a lot, every little helps.

Many thanks!

I gave birth when I was 22+4 weeks pregnant. My baby was born alive but unfortunately died shortly after. This birth has been recorded as a live birth in my discharge summary and i have a birth and death certificate. I didnt manage to give my MATB1 form to my employer as I wasnt given one before birth however I provided it straight away after the birth. I notified my employer I was pregnant when I was around 6/7 weeks pregnant which I have proof of in an email. My employer consulted a solicitor and they told me Im an entitled to parental bereavement leave however, I am not entitled to maternity leave and pay. I informed my employer that legally I am entitled to leave and pay as my child was born alive and died shortly after and the 24 weeks threshold is applied for stillbirths. I informed them that if their decision remains unchanged I will go to the HMRC statutory disputes team. My employer consulted their solicitor again and they said their decision remains unchanged as they are simply following legislation. To add to this I earn £25k per year so I meet the requirements for SMP. I wanted to check my employment rights to see if I am entitled to leave and pay in my circumstances as Im not sure if I am reading the legislations wrong. My employer consulted a solicitor so it is making me doubt myself but I believe the advice the solicitor provided my employer is incorrect and unlawful.

Hi!
After completing my risk assessment, my employer cut my hours (and wage) instead of giving me suitable work, which was clearly available and been done by other coworkers . My employer even hired more employees that stated taking the clients I could have been taking.
Of course I did my best to fix this, emailing my employer and having more than a few meetings when I not only asked them to give me more work but also pointed out which ones I could been given (in case this had simply been overlooked). They fail to make immediate changes and were very inflexible about my suggestions. I also offered to help in the office and, despite being told by the manager that they definitely needed help there, I was then told it wasn’t worth it for the company having me trained if I was eventually (in 4-5 months) leaving on maternity leave. Needless to say that they also hired some people for the office after this.
I ended up being forced to breach my risk assessment to have some work.
In addition to reducing my earnings, my employer made errors in my payslips and payment which lead me to fall short on the minimum threshold for childcare benefits (of my 3-year old).
This issue was later solved but not without impacting my personal finances and eligibility for childcare benefits.
Last week I noticed a sudden change on the amount of work coming my way. Suddenly my rota is all filled up and even extra hours had been required. I then noticed that the 8 weeks before this (the ones I was denied suitable work and even was payed less than owed due to an error) were the qualifying weeks for my maternity pay.
I need help and clarification on how all this actions are legally ruled?
Can my employer deny me suitable work when it is so obviously available within the company? Can they ask me so many times (and end up forcing me) to do work that was mentioned as unsafe in my risk assessment? And can they so clearly make the payment for my 8 qualifying weeks be so low as to entitle me to a lower maternity pay?
My usual wage was close to £1000 going over this often. During the past 2 months it was as low as £645.
now that the qualifying weeks are gone, my working hours are all filled up again and next months estimate a wage of over £980 again.
Thank you for your time. Hope you can give me some advice.

Hi, if you could send over your names and employers names via private message so that we can check for conflicts of interest before answering your query, that would be great.

If you have posted on the thread already, you will have a PM reminder from us. Thanks!

Hello, I will be returning to work after almost taking a year off. During my maternity leave a new person (Senior Manager) was hired which I will reporting into so my reporting structure has changed as I was previously reporting to directly into the Director. My new manager has now restructured the team so my precious direct report (Associate Manage) is now also reporting into my new manager and not me. I was also looking after 2 brands before my leave and the new Senior Manager has now split the brands between me and my previously direct report (Associate Manager). I will hence only be looking after 1 brand upon my return. Considering that I no longer have a direct report and my responsibilities have changed, would this be considered discrimination upon return of work? I was never consulted about these changes either only told that this is the new team structure.
Many thanks for any advise you you can provide!

Dear Lslyvw

The Maternity Allowance claims section at DWP can be contacted on 0800 169 0283. There are three recorded messages but after each one you should press 2 to speak to an adviser, then 1, then 2. At that point you will join the queue to speak to someone. Gov.uk says that they are open from 8am to 6pm so you may have more luck getting through if you call early in the day.

Maternity Allowance will usually be paid from the date that you put on the claim form at questions 71/72 (if you are self-employed) and, as you say, if you were still working they will ask you to confirm the date you stopped work. You can ask to be paid every two weeks or every 4 weeks. You can also ask for an advance if your first payment will be delayed.

All the best and I hope you manage to get through soon.

Dear Nusxoxo

I am very sorry to hear about the loss of your baby and the difficulties you are also having in being able to take maternity leave and pay.

You are correct that you are entitled to maternity leave as your baby was born alive and died shortly afterwards. This applies regardless of how early in your pregnancy you gave birth. Your employer (and their advisers) have incorrectly advised on a stillbirth, which only gives you the right to maternity leave if your baby was stillborn after 24 weeks of pregnancy. This does not apply to you as you were issued with a birth and death certificate, not a stillbirth certificate.

Maternity leave is a day one right and applies to all employees. You have given your employer the correct notice and your maternity leave started the day after your baby's birth. The legislation that confirms this is the Maternity and Parental Leave etc Regulations 1999 which you can show your employer here: https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/1999/3312/regulation/2

This defines childbirth:
“childbirth" means the birth of a living child or the birth of a child whether living or dead after 24 weeks of pregnancy;
Regulation 6 states: 'Where the employee’s ordinary maternity leave period has not commenced by virtue of paragraph (1) when childbirth occurs, her ordinary maternity leave period commences on the day which follows the day on which childbirth occurs.' You are required to notify your employer of the date of birth as soon as reasonably possible after the birth (which you have done).
If your employer continues to refuse your maternity leave you can start an employment tribunal claim by contacting ACAS on 0300 123 1100. You must do this within 3 months, less one day, from the day following your baby's birth. In addition to the information above, you can show your employer this information from ACAS: https://www.acas.org.uk/your-maternity-leave-pay-and-other-rights/taking-maternity-leave

Maternity Pay
The Social Security Contributions and Benefits Act 1992 covers entitlement to maternity pay and defines childbirth or 'confinement':
“confinement” means—
(a) labour resulting in the issue of a living child, or
(b) labour after 24 weeks of pregnancy resulting in the issue of a child whether alive or dead,
See Section 171 here: https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1992/4/section/171

You will be entitled to Statutory Maternity Pay if you have been employed by the same employer for 26 weeks by the end of the 15th week before your expected week of childbirth (or would have been had your baby not been born early). You also need to have earned on average at least £125 per week in the 8 weeks (if paid weekly) or two months (if paid monthly) immediately before the week you gave birth to your baby.

You have given your employer your MATB1 maternity certificate confirming the due date and you should also send them a copy of your baby's birth certificate if you have not already done so. This is the only additional notice required for maternity pay. If you have not met the qualifying conditions above, your employer must give you an SMP1 form so that you can claim Maternity Allowance from DWP.

If your employer is wrongly refusing SMP, you can ask HMRC disputes team for a formal decision and I suggest contacting them on 0300 322 9422 as soon as possible as it can take a while to get a decision on your entitlement. You should let your employer know that you are contacting HMRC and make sure your employer knows that they can claim reimbursement for any SMP they pay you. There is more information for employers here: https://www.gov.uk/recover-statutory-payments

You can claim Maternity Allowance from DWP while you wait for a decision from HMRC. Any Maternity Allowance paid to you will be taken into account once SMP is awarded by HMRC. However, if you are claiming Universal Credit, please seek further advice as any Maternity Allowance would be deducted pound for pound.

I hope this helps to resolve it. Maternity leave lasts for 52 weeks and maternity pay lasts for 39 weeks. If you wish to return earlier you must give at least 8 weeks' notice. You remain entitled to parental bereavement leave and pay, in addition to your maternity leave, and it can be taken up to 56 weeks from your baby's death.

Wishing you all the best.

Dear Tiredandoverwhelmed2025

Thank you for your query and I’m sorry to hear that your flexible working request has been refused. If there is any option to continue the dialogue with your employer to find a workable solution, then it might be worth having that discussion to see if they are amenable to some sort of flexible arrangement e.g. a trial period or phased return, or you can appeal the decision if you want to propose any other options or ask for more information about their reasons for refusing your request.

Assuming it's not possible to reach a workable arrangement, your only obligation is to give one month’s notice, and you do not need to give this early even if you already know that you will not be able to return or do not wish to return to work. Even if they have made some changes to your working arrangements, it is still open to you to decide not to return provided you give the required notice.

If you were to give notice now, your employment and therefore your ability to accrue holiday while on maternity leave would terminate on the expiry of that notice. On that basis, I would suggest that you wait until a month before you are due to return to work at the end of your maternity leave and then give notice. This would ensure that you continue to accrue holiday for as long as possible but that there is no requirement to go back to work to serve your notice. It will also keep your options open in case circumstances change.

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

Hi,
I am self employed through a limited company of which I am a director. I pay myself through both a monthly, minimum wage salary, and through dividends. I intend to continue doing this in 2026 when my baby is born with cash reserves saved in the business.
My husband has a similar setup, though he will not be the main caregiver and will likely be taking limited time off.
I am confused whether this means I should apply for SMA or SMP, and how I go about doing either.
What is the best thing for me to apply for, and is my husband entitled to statutory paternity pay?

Hi,
I became a mother in 2024 and my child, now 15 months old, has recently started attending a childcare setting. During my maternity leave, I submitted a formal request for a permanent flexible working arrangement. My request was based on several important considerations:

• I am currently breastfeeding, and it is important to me to spend more time with my child during this crucial period of attachment and development.
• Due to the layout and limitations of my flat, it is not practical for me to respond to overnight calls without causing significant disruption to his sleep.
• Despite working part-time, I have consistently delivered a high standard of service and demonstrated continued commitment to my role.

I am a peripatetic worker and can work across different settings within and outside London services. In my request, I asked to:

1. Work four days per week,
2. Be assigned only to services within London, and
3. Be exempt from the on-call rota required in some services.

My line manager has informally informed me that my request to work four days per week on a permanent basis has been accepted. However, the other two elements of my request have been rejected. I have not yet received written confirmation of this decision.

I am anxious about being required to participate in the on-call rota, as this would disturb my child s sleep. Conversely, if I fail to respond to calls, I am concerned that this may lead to a capability assessment on the grounds of not meeting job requirements.

I am unable to afford moving to a larger flat, and I would not want to move my son to another childcare setting as he has only recently settled.

Before my maternity leave, I was granted flexible working as a reasonable adjustment for work-related stress. During that time, I received positive feedback and met all performance expectations. This experience clearly demonstrated that reduced hours did not hinder my effectiveness or performance.

I would appreciate your advice.

Advice

Hello! I currently have 3 jobs - one main full time job and two casual jobs. All of which I am an employee at but will only receive maternity pay at main job. My due date is 15th feb 2026 and I am going to start maternity leave/pay for main job on 1st December 2025. I need to start maternity leave early for my main job due to the strain it is putting on my body, although, working the other two casual jobs isn’t physical so I can work longer at them.

Can I confirm it is still okay to work at other 2 casual jobs whilst on mat leave and receiving mat pay from main job?

Can I also confirm that I can work at either of these casual jobs regardless of when I first started until baby is born? I started 2nd job last year, therefore, before qualifying week but I started my 3rd job on 16th October 2025. My qualifying week is 2nd November. So should be fine to work 3rd job throughout the whole of maternity leave as well?

My main job employer is struggling to fill my role in time for me going on leave and I have offered that I help them out during December which will be my first month on maternity leave when I receive 90% of usual pay, by using KIT days until they find someone else.

Can I work KIT days any time during maternity leave? Will maternity pay be affected at all because I am in the 90% bracket of maternity pay and will also be picking up shifts at other two casual jobs at the same time? Meaning I start maternity leave December, receive 90% of pay paternity pay, work KIT days and get paid for them, as well as working shifts at other jobs? Can I confirm that that is ok to do and maternity pay will not be affected?

any information regarding this would be really appreciated as I want to make sure I don’t mess up my maternity leave/pay by working when I shouldn’t.

Thank you!

Hello, I've read in one of your articles which says that being the Director of my own limited company, I could claim SMP. I believe I meet most of the requirements for SMP; however, I do not have an employment contract with my own company. In this case, would I still be able to claim SMP, or would I rather qualify for MA?

Thanks very much!

Hi,

As you know, maternity pay is based on the hours you work, ie full time hours you will receive that in maternity pay. If I was working part time, how long before maternity leave starts would I have to change my hours to full time, to then qualify for full maternity pay within the NHS? Many thanks.

Why is strep 2 not tested for in this country, our Great Grandson was still born at term, our Granddaughter had symptoms but was told all okay! We are all heartbroken!
💔

Hello and thank you in advance for setting this up.

There has been a lot of turbulence at my company over the past few years - to give you an indication, my line manager has changed three times while I’ve been on leave!
I know my company has to offer me the same job as when I went on maternity leave, but I am finding it difficult to dicern how “same job” is defined…

Is it considered the same job to return to if my direct reports have now increased (from 3-4 to 6-7 people to manage) and my peer support network has significantly decreased due to key leavers not being replaced and redundancies while I’ve been on mat leave for (nearly) a year?? I’m due to return in December.

Both levels of seniority above me within my team have been removed (my manager and their manager, who was the team Director) so I am now the most senior person within my team and when I return will be reporting to a very senior manager outside of my team, instead of someone within my team with relevant industry knowledge. I am concerned I no longer have anyone in my field to help guide me in my role, which I was only promoted to a few months before going on mat leave.

My job title is technically the same, as are the rough responsibilities (overseeing four brands’ performances) but I feel isolated and uncomfortable not having that industry experience around me any more; there are no longer experienced peers to lean on.
I accepted the job based on there being a key technical advisor (head of audience) and team director to work alongside and support me!
Another team’s director is now overseeing our team as well as other marketing teams, so we still have a team director on paper, but it arguably isn’t the same as before, since they are split across other teams and are not someone who has risen through the ranks of our specific industry.
The new direct reports I have gained were previously managed by the technical advisor (head of audience) who has left and not been replaced so it’s doubly a problem in losing their expertise and gaining their staff to manage and guide.

My new line manager means well but I don’t feel I can talk to them openly and they have never worked directly in my industry so can’t help guide my decisions.

I have not been consulted or specifically informed about any role changes. The thought of returning to my role and operating “on my own” without the role-specific manager or peer network I previously had, and with additional people to oversee, is unappealing.

Is there anything I can do?

Dear csewing

Thank you for your enquiry. Directors of limited companies are usually considered to be employees, including where they are both employee and owner of their own company. As such, I would recommend seeking advice about your tax and employment status and putting an employment contract in place.

As far as maternity leave is concerned, you must be an employee to qualify for leave as this is the right to take a year off work and return to the same role. If you are the sole owner and employee of the company this may be less of an issue as you can determine how much time you will take off. A sole trader who is self-employed (is registered as self-employed through HMRC and pays tax/NI through self-assessment) is not entitled to maternity leave and would have to agree the time off with clients or others or take time off as fits the needs of their business.

As far as maternity pay is concerned, you will be regarded as an 'employed earner' if you pay yourself through a payroll and deduct tax and Class 1 NI at source (or would do if your earnings were high enough). If your company is not registered as an employer and you are not paying yourself through PAYE, you will be treated as a self-employed earner if you pay your tax and Class 2 NI through self-assessment.

If you are an employed earner, you can pay yourself Statutory Maternity Pay if you meet the qualifying conditions. You can find an SMP calculator here to help you work out if you qualify: https://www.gov.uk/maternity-paternity-calculator

You can qualify for SMP if you have been employed by your company continuously for 26 weeks by the end of the 15th week before your baby is due and you earn at least £125 per week on average in the 8 weeks/2 months prior to the 15th week. Your earnings will include weekly or monthly earnings that you pay yourself through PAYE i.e. that are subject to tax/class 1 NI if high enough. It does not include dividends.

You can pay yourself 90% of your average earnings (in the relevant period) for the first 6 weeks and then the standard rate of £187.18 per week for 33 weeks or 90% of your average weekly earnings if lower. You can claim reimbursement of 108.5% of your SMP if you are classed as a small employer and you can claim advance payment from HMRC if you need the funds in advance. You can find more information here: https://www.gov.uk/recover-statutory-payments

If you are in fact self-employed and you pay your tax/class 2 NI through self assessment, your only option is to claim Maternity Allowance. If you are an employed earner but you don't meet the qualifying conditions for SMP, e.g. because you don't earn enough, you should complete an SMP1 form to explain why you don't qualify for SMP and then you can claim Maternity Allowance. Maternity Allowance is paid by DWP for 39 weeks at £187.18 per week or 90% of your average earnings if lower. You will need to send payslips for 13 weeks/4 months if you claim Maternity Allowance and you should send the payslips with your highest earnings in order to maximise your payments. You cannot choose to claim Maternity Allowance if you would be better off than on SMP, you can only claim Maternity Allowance if you do not qualify for SMP.

The Maternity Allowance claim form is here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/maternity-allowance-claim-form
The SMP1 form is here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/statutory-maternity-pay-employee-not-entitled-form-for-employers

The same will apply to your husband and he can pay himself paternity leave for up to two weeks if he is an 'employed earner' in his own company or working for another employer. If he is self-employed, there is currently no equivalent to Maternity Allowance for fathers or partners to claim.

If you do not wish to take your full SMP/Maternity Allowance you can transfer any untaken weeks to your husband and he can take shared parental leave and pay himself Statutory Shared Parental Pay if he meets the qualifying conditions. All employers can claim reimbursement for Statutory Paternity Pay and Statutory Shared Parental Pay from HMRC (as for SMP above).

Once you are receiving SMP or Maternity Allowance you can work for up to 10 days during your maternity pay period. I suggest keeping a careful record of your work in case you are asked for evidence from HMRC or DWP. Any work on one day will use up one of the 10 days, even if you only work for one hour. You can continue to pay yourself from your business, however, you may be asked to demonstrate that you are not working if you are making regular payments.

I hope that helps to clarify what you may be entitled to. There is more information on the Maternity Action website about maternity pay and rights for fathers and partners: https://maternityaction.org.uk/advice/maternity-pay-questions/ and https://maternityaction.org.uk/advice/rights-at-work-for-fathers-and-partners/

Dear Eve0991

Thank you for your enquiry. Directors of limited companies are usually considered to be employees - you are both employee and owner of your own limited company. You do not need a written contract of employment to be able to qualify for maternity rights as what matters is length of service and earnings, however, you may want to seek advice about putting an employment contract in place as confirmation of your terms and conditions.

You are entitled to 52 weeks' maternity leave if you are an employee. Maternity leave is the right to take a year off work and return to the same role. If you are the sole owner and employee of the company this may be less of an issue as you can determine how much time you will take off. You are not prevented from taking maternity leave because you don't have a written contract.

You will be able to pay yourself Statutory Maternity Pay if you meet the qualifying conditions (see below) and your company is registered as an employer and you pay yourself through PAYE and deduct tax and Class 1 NI at source (or would do if your earnings were high enough). You don't need a written employment contract in place to qualify for SMP.

You will be eligible for SMP if you have been employed by your company continuously for 26 weeks by the end of the 15th week before your baby is due and you earn at least £125 per week on average in the 8 weeks/2 months prior to the 15th week. Your earnings will include weekly or monthly earnings that you pay yourself through PAYE i.e. that are subject to tax/class 1 NI (or would be if your earnings are high enough). It does not include dividends.

You can find an SMP calculator here to help you work out if you qualify: https://www.gov.uk/maternity-paternity-calculator

You can pay yourself 90% of your average earnings (in the relevant period) for the first 6 weeks and then the standard rate of £187.18 per week for 33 weeks or 90% of your average weekly earnings if lower.

You can claim reimbursement of 108.5% of your SMP if you are classed as a small employer and you can claim advance payment from HMRC if you need the funds in advance. You can find more information here: https://www.gov.uk/recover-statutory-payments

If you don't meet the qualifying conditions for SMP, e.g. because you don't earn enough, you should complete an SMP1 form to explain why you don't qualify for SMP and then you can claim Maternity Allowance.
The Maternity Allowance claim form is here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/maternity-allowance-claim-form
The SMP1 form is here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/statutory-maternity-pay-employee-not-entitled-form-for-employers

Maternity Allowance is paid by DWP for 39 weeks at £187.18 per week or 90% of your average earnings if lower. You will need to send payslips for 13 weeks/4 months if you claim Maternity Allowance and you should send the payslips with your highest earnings in order to maximise your payments. You cannot choose to claim Maternity Allowance if you would be better off than on SMP, you can only claim Maternity Allowance if you do not qualify for SMP.

If your company is not registered as an employer and you don't pay yourself through PAYE, you can claim Maternity Allowance on the basis of self-employment.

I hope that helps.

Dear GemCal

Thank you for your query. As your due date is 15/2/26, you are correct that the 15th week before your baby is due is the week of 2 to 8 November 2025. You can work in job 2 and job 3 before and after the birth of your baby and it will not affect your maternity leave or Statutory Maternity Pay in job 1. This is confirmed in Government guidance which says: "Section 3.12 - If you are getting SMP from one employer and, before your baby is born, you do some work for another employer, your SMP is not affected. Your SMP will stop if after the baby is born, but before the end of the Maternity Pay Period, you work for an employer who did not employ you in the qualifying week." https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/maternity-benefits-technical-guidance/maternity-benefits-technical-guidance

Please note this applies to Statutory Maternity Pay, if you are getting any enhanced maternity pay from job 1, you will need to check your employer's maternity policy for their terms and conditions. You should also check your contract of employment to see whether there are any requirements to notify your employer or seek their consent to take on other employment.

You can work for up to 10 KIT days in job 1 and this can be at any time in your 52 week maternity leave/39 week SMP period apart from the two weeks immediately after the birth when your employer is not allowed to give you work. You can work KIT days during the first 6 weeks of your SMP period when you are receiving SMP at 90% of your average earnings, however, it is very important to check how much your employer intends to pay you for those KIT days. There is nothing in the regulations about how much you should be paid for a KIT day so it is a matter for agreement. Please also note that an employer is allowed to offset SMP against pay for a KIT day as long as you are still receiving at least the National Minimum Wage. I suggest checking whether you will be paid your normal wage plus the SMP at 90% (which your employer can claim back from HMRC), or is your employer paying your full pay and offsetting your SMP at 90%? If it is the latter you will only be receiving 10% more for working during your 90% SMP period.

As mentioned above, you can work in job 2 and job 3 both before and after the birth (apart from the two weeks immediately after the birth), and it will not affect your SMP in job 1. This applies even if you are working for up to 10 KIT days in job 1, and if you are working in any or all of your jobs during the 90% SMP period.

If you want to take (unpaid) maternity leave in either job 2 or job 3, you must give notice to the relevant employer by the 15th week before your expected week of childbirth (or as soon as possible afterwards). You can start and finish your maternity leave in any of your jobs at different times, for example, you could take 3 months' maternity leave immediately after the birth in job 2.

I hope that helps.

Dear Hellybell25

We are so sorry to hear of the loss of your Great Grandson.

Unfortunately we can't advise on health matters or health services on this thread. We recommend speaking to your local MP and the relevant maternity services.

Wishing you and your family all the best.

Dear IzzyStevens

Thank you for your query. I am sorry to hear of the difficulties you have been having. Health and safety rights can be difficult to enforce in the workplace but I hope the following is helpful.

You must tell your employer in writing that you are pregnant in order to have the right to reasonable adjustments, suitable alternative work or a maternity suspension. If you have not already done so, you should confirm your pregnancy in writing.
Your employer must carry out a risk assessment and take the following action to remove any risks that have been identified:

1. Take reasonable action such as altering your working conditions or hours of work. This applies to all workers.
2. Where it is not possible to make your current job sufficiently safe, your employer must offer you safe suitable alternative work on similar terms and conditions that you currently have. If another role requires significant training or is very different from your current job, it may not be considered as a suitable alternative.
3. Where there is no suitable alternative employment available, your employer must suspend you and pay your normal pay. This is designed to ensure that employees do not lose income as a result of unsafe working conditions. If you remain on maternity suspension up to the 4th week before your expected week of childbirth, your employer can automatically start your maternity leave and pay from that point (but not before).

You are only entitled to suitable alternative work or a maternity suspension if you are an employee or an agency worker (with at least 12 weeks in the same placement). You should check your contract to see if you are a 'worker' or 'employee'. If you are not sure about your employment status you should seek advice. If your employer has not taken action to protect you or your baby and you have lost work or pay as a result you may have a claim for unauthorised deduction of wages (loss of wages and/or maternity pay) and/or pregnancy discrimination if you can show that there were risks and your employer did not take action to protect you. This will depend on your individual circumstances and type of work. It may also be pregnancy discrimination if you have been treated unfavourably because of your pregnancy, for example, having your hours or clients reduced. These can be difficult claims to bring and you should consider what evidence you have to show that the reason was because of your pregnancy. There is a strict time limit for starting a claim in an Employment Tribunal of three months (less one day). Time usually starts running from the date of the act/decision or last in a series of acts/decisions you are complaining about. If you are making a claim for unauthorised deduction of wages the time limit is 3 months from the date of payment or last in a series of payments. If you are thinking of making a Tribunal claim, you would be expected to raise it with your employer first in order to try to resolve it. I suggest putting your concerns in writing or use your employer's grievance procedure. A grievance will often be treated as a complaint so it is important to be clear about what action you would like to see taken, the impact it has had on you and that you have lost pay (and possibly maternity pay, see below) as a result. Unfortunately employers do make mistakes with payroll from time to time and would be expected to rectify it (and apologise), which I understand they have now done. If payroll errors continue you should raise this internally or consider raising a grievance to ask for improvements in payroll procedures. If you are thinking of making a Tribunal claim in respect of the loss of the work, you will need to go through ACAS Early Conciliation first. You can complete an online form to start early conciliation here: Early conciliation or telephone the ACAS helpline: 0300 123 11 00. You must start Early Conciliation before the time limit expires. In some circumstances, a tribunal will extend the time where it is ‘just and equitable’ but there is no guarantee that a late claim will be accepted. An ACAS conciliator will try to help you and your employer reach an agreement. Your employer may be willing to find a resolution if you have pursued it to this stage and agree to pay any loss of wages and maternity pay. Maternity Pay Your Statutory Maternity Pay will be based on your average weekly earnings in the 8 weeks (if you are paid weekly) or two months (if you are paid monthly) before the end of the 15th week before your expected week of childbirth. This will be based on the due date on your MATB1 maternity certificate which you need to give your employer by the 15th week before the EWC. You can find a maternity pay calculator which will help you identify the correct payslips and how much your SMP will be here: https://www.gov.uk/maternity-paternity-calculator

If your maternity pay is affected by the reduction in your hours, this will form part of your losses for a claim for pregnancy discrimination if you can show that the reason for the change in hours was because of your pregnancy or because of your employer's failure to remove risks at work without loss of pay.

I hope that helps and wish you all the best in trying to resolve it with your workplace.

Dear candyfloos

Thank you for your query. I am sorry to hear that the trial period has not been agreed. I am unsure from your query whether your original request was made by a formal flexible work request, if so, you can appeal a refusal of your request and this may still apply after your trial period (depending on the circumstances) or you can raise a grievance if you have concerns about the trial period and the decision that has been made. A grievance can often be treated as a complaint and I would usually only suggest it as a last resort. Achieving flexible work is very much a matter of negotiation and maintaining good working relationships, so pursuing a grievance may not be the most constructive way to try to resolve it.

You can make up to two flexible work requests per year and your employer must seriously consider each request. Therefore, the other option is to start a new flexible work request. You can put forward different flexible work options (if there are any) such as reduced days or hours that you need to meet your childcare needs. It is a good idea to put forward a number of different options, if you can, as it can be harder for your employer to refuse all your requests. There is further information about making a flexible work request and the business reasons your employer can give for refusing on the ACAS website here: https://www.acas.org.uk/statutory-flexible-working-requests/making-a-request

It is important to make it clear in your request why you need the changes. In order to bring a claim for indirect sex discrimination, you will need to be able to show that you need the working pattern requested and that you are unable to work in your previous working pattern because of your childcare responsibilities. Although it's no longer a requirement to state the impact on your employer in a flexible work application it can be a good idea to give this some thought so that you are able to put together a strong application that shows how it would work, any problems that might arise and how they could be dealt with. For example, how will the work be covered on your non-working day/s and what impact will it have on colleagues or clients?

A refusal of a flexible work request may be indirect sex discrimination if you are unable to work the hours required by your employer because of your childcare responsibilities and your employer cannot justify their refusal on business grounds. These can be difficult claims to bring and very much depend on the individual circumstances of each case. A tribunal cannot order your employer to give you the flexible work pattern you are requesting, they can only order compensation for a successful claim. Unfortunately there are limited options for free legal advice and representation for employment tribunal claims, therefore, it can be a risk and there is no guarantee that any compensation would cover legal costs.

We have more information about flexible work requests and indirect sex discrimination claims on our website here: https://maternityaction.org.uk/advice/child-friendly-working-hours/

In order to deal with the rejection of your request in the short term, are you able to take annual leave, e.g. a day a week, to achieve the working pattern you need?

I hope that helps with considering your next steps.

Dear Kim0501

Thank you for your query. I assume that you are returning to the “same” role as you performed before your maternity leave i.e. notwithstanding the changes, there was no discussion with you about returning to a suitable alternative role instead. The law says that is it discrimination to treat a woman unfavourably because of her pregnancy or maternity leave. Removing management responsibilities, reducing your workload/responsibilities, and failing to consult with you about these changes whilst on maternity leave could all be considered to be examples of unfavourable treatment. The fact that the changes happened whilst you were on maternity leave, and you were not spoken to about them, could indicate that is the case. However, the key thing will be to understand why these changes have been made.

It is important to talk to your employer about the changes to your job. You should outline your concerns and set out why you feel you have been disadvantaged because of these changes whilst you were on maternity leave. It is possible that there may be a business rationale for why the changes have been made that is not connected with your maternity leave. Having this dialogue with your employer will help you to understand whether this is the case. However, in any event, they should have been keeping you informed of any changes. In terms of how to go about raising the concerns with them, I would recommend setting these out in writing (an email is fine); not only does this give you a clear record of the concerns being raised, it also ensures that nothing is missed. I would suggest also asking in your email for a meeting to discuss the concerns if you feel comfortable with this.

It is important to be clear with your employer what outcome/changes you are asking for as a result. For example, this might be to have your management responsibilities reinstated, and/or to retain responsibility for the brand that has been reallocated.

I would recommend that you keep talking to your employer in order to try to resolve the matter and keep it amicable for as long as possible in order to maintain a good working relationship. If you are not able to resolve it informally, you can raise it more formally by speaking to a representative from HR (if there is one) or a more senior manager.

If you are not satisfied with the response from your employer and you believe you have been treated unfavourably because of your time on maternity leave, it would be open to you to bring a claim to the employment tribunal for maternity discrimination. If you are thinking of making a claim in an employment tribunal, you should seek legal advice as there are strict time limits for starting employment tribunal claims. This will be especially important here given it sounds like the potential discriminatory acts (i.e. the changes to your role) may have happened some time ago and you have only just found out about them. It will be important to show that you have acted quickly upon becoming aware.

The first stage in the process is to contact ACAS to start the pre-claim early conciliation process. You can complete an online form to start early conciliation here: Early conciliation or telephone the ACAS helpline: 0300 123 11 00. You do not have to exhaust the processes with your employer before contacting ACAS.

For completeness, I would flag that, if the changes to your role are significant, this could potentially give rise to a claim for constructive dismissal. This is where you resign because your employer has seriously breached your contract of employment. However, if you are considering this, I would urge you to take some legal advice prior to resigning so that you understand the implications and your options as this would typically be a last resort.

Unfortunately there are limited options for free representation for tribunal claims. You may be eligible for legal aid: https://www.gov.uk/legal-aid or you should speak to your union, if you are a member, or check whether you have any legal expenses cover on any home or car insurance.

I wish you all the best and hope that you are able to resolve matters.