Flowery Help Rqd Please! - blurry description of enhanced maternity pay amd other

[BBW]

Hi,

O.K. - This will be a bit long, but will just pour out all information and then try to summarise where I need help!!!.

My daughter was born 29/08/08, and I stopped work on the 4th August 08. I am entitled to 25 days holiday a year, and had only used 5 days up to that point, so told my boss I wanted to take the 4 weeks of August as holiday, and start Maternity Leave on 1st September. My work only has three staff that are not directors, so holidays are not marked down, or kept tally of, but nobody abuses it, and we rearely manage our full entitlement in a year.

I had also agreed with my work, an enhanced maternity package of 6 weeks full pay, then 20 weeks at 50%, keeping all benefits, I didn't return beyond that I would drop to SMP. When they confirmed this in writing, they said I would keep all benefits, except my car parking pass for my prime city centre space, as it wouldn't be required. My understanding was I keep all benefits for my OML period, and when I stopped my pass was still valid, and I didn't want to make a fuss about keeping it, but I figured if it wasn't cancelled then it probably wouldn't be. Then at christmas time, I found out from the other girls in work that my boss had cancelled my pass, but hadn't even let me know. I still didn't make a fuss, as I thought it would just cause bad blood unecessarily, for somthing quite minor.

Anyway, when my first pay check arrived that was a split ( i.e. 50%) I noticed that I had been paid 50% of my salary, plus SMP on a seprate line. This was not my understanding of what we agreed, but I looked back on my letter that spelt out my enhanced pay, and it doesn't explicitly say that I would recieve, enhanced AND SMP, or just enhanced.

So, I've now come back from holiday yesterday, to find a letter from my boss, saying that he's noticed I have been overpaid in my maternity leave by £1800 and when I return in May we can work out a repayment plan.

He has also 'per his attached spreadsheet' wrongly taken my maternity leave to start mid august, by losing two weeks of my accrued holiday, and so my February salary is made up of only 2 weeks enhanced instead of 4 weeks. As per him, I've used up my 20 weeks, which I havent.

This has left me about £800 net short in my pay. I am mad to say the least, as he knew fine well my holidays etc, and he didn't discuss this with me, he just did it - and it's totally wrong. Can I make him pay me this on Monday?

Now onto overpayment. Hand on heart, I probably knew they didn'y mean that I would recieve statutory as well as enhanced pay. They meant they would pay me 35%ish, and SMP would top it up to equate to 50%, but there is no documentation to clarify this.

Add in the discoutersy involving the carparking, and my short February salary becasue he can't be bothered to check or ask what holidays I've taken, I'm really mad, and I'm now tempted to reply and say, no I have been paid exactly what we dioscussed - enhanced and maternity.

Where do I stand if this gets messy ???

Sorry really long post, and no summary!!!, thanks for bearing with me.

I can provide any further info if required.

Big Big Thanks

I always thought enhanced SMP was on top of SMP so that you got both at the same time - the enhanced simply being a top up of SMP to the contract level/companies maternity package.

Yes - That was also my understanding, enhanced was a top up to bring SMP up to a 50% level.

I suppose my question is, if they haven't explicited stated either way what I would receive, i.e. SMP + top up or SMP + 50%, can I say I understood it to be SMP + 50 %.

I know this isn't in the spirit of enhanced pay, and I know I'm being arsey to even think like twisting the definition like this , I'm just so annoyed!!.

This also stems from my boss, saying to me the week before I told him I was pregnant, that he hoped I had no plans for babies yet, as it would ruin my career, would split up the team, and would be extrenly selfish to even think of it at the moment!. Grrrrrrrrr.

I think you should have queried it after the first pay slip if you thought it was wrong or were unsure.

However if your employers letter says enhanced pay to 50% (or whatever was agreed) then I would say that you should have known that it included the smp and they will argue that the overpayment is correct.

letter doesn't say enhanced 'to', says the company will pay me 50%.

So company pay me 50%, and government pay me SMP ??- it is quite ambiguous wording.

Not fussed to pay back money, as without being blaze is sort of immaterial, just want to be as awkward as possible and muddy waters sufficiently to piss boss off, like he has to me by conveniently losing two weeks of my accrued holiday.

I dont think it needs to say "to", if it said enhanced aternity pay of 50%, I would have expected 50% not 50% plus SMP.

Hopefully you can work out the holiday pay as a separate issue and come to an agreement over the overpayment.

If you were told you will get 6 weeks' full pay then 50% and then 20 weeks at 50%, then that's what you should get. That's pretty generous!

They don't need to spell out how that pay will be comprised, that doesn't matter, they just need to tell you what you will get, which they did.

Repaying the extra is fine, and agreeing a payment plan is fine. What you should do is challenge the amount - if you should have had an extra 2 weeks at full pay than your boss is saying at the beginning because of holiday, then recalculate the actual amount you owe, and base the repayment plan on that. Provide them with the calculation you make it to be and agree a monthly amount to pay back.

If you understand why you must pay the extra back, I don't see why you want to be as 'awkward as possible'. They've made a mistake, simple as that, something you noticed immediately, but presumably didn't query?

Your boss has made another mistake in the spreadsheet he's attached for you, so just correct the amount he says you owe and proceed on that basis. You can't 'make him pay you' the difference between the amount he says you owe and the amount you actually owe! Overall you still owe them, it's just a question of the amount.