Do you think I am allowed to do freelance work while on maternity leave?

[iwouldgoouttonight]

I'm on maternity leave for six months and getting half my usual pay. I often do freelance work as well as my full time job (my employer knows about it) and they have offered me some work while I'm off. Its not much and I can probably fit it in while DD is sleeping and it would really help money-wise, my half pay is barely enough to cover my half of the mortgage and bills.

Do you think this is allowed? I'm assuming the government pay basic maternity pay and my employer tops it up, so does that mean I am effectively claiming a benefit when I am working? But when you fill in a tax return you don't have to say when the work was, just whether it was in this financial year, so I could have done the work before my maternity leave started.

What does anyone think? I don't want to do it if I'm going to get into trouble but could really do with the money!

Are you self-employed for your freelance work? If so, you can work on a self-employed basis while receiving maternity pay no problem.

If you would be employed by the other employer, it's complicated and more likely to be a problem. Have a look here, this factsheet has a whole section on working during maternity leave, including working for a different employer, and you need to have worked for the second employer at crucial times not to jeopardise your SMP.

Thanks - I'll have a look at that. I'm not employed by the second employer - I'm self employed/freelance so hopefully that will mean its ok.