Maternity Pay Question

[CalaLilly]

I'm a bit clueless on maternity pay and would be very grateful if some of you lovely ladies could answer some of my ponderings so that I don't have to raise eyebrows or start tongues wagging in my face to face networks!

Am I right in saying that to qualify for Statutory Maternity Pay you need to be employed continuously for at least 26 weeks into the 15th week before your baby is due?

Is it also true that there is a national insurance glitch saying that you have to be earning at least £90 gross per week to qualify for SMP? Is that for the full 26 weeks? What if say for the first 13 you earn less than £90 pw but then you started earning substantially more?

What kind of money do you get for SMP?

If you work for a company that offers its own Mat Pay do yet get that on top of SMP?

Does anyone happen to know what kind of amount you'd get as an NHS employee?

Wow! That's a heck of a lot of questions! Sorry and thanks for helping me

www.direct.gov.uk/en/Parents/Moneyandworkentitlements/WorkAndFamilies/Pregnancyandmaternityrights/DG _10029290

Lots of your questions will be answered there.

NHS, depends how long you've been in. If you go on your intranet at work and look for maternity policies, that should tell you. Or ask HR for it.

Cheers!!! I'm not actually employed by NHS at the moment though (not unless NHS Professionals counts!) as have been doing a degree for the last few years. I plan on going back as a nurse very soon though and have worked for NHS in the past.

Are you trying to plan how soon you can get pregnant after going back and still qualify for SMP? If that's the case, then you need to wait 3 weeks after you start start work to 'do the deed'

Contractual maternity pay in the NHS, I believe you'd need to with them a year to get it.

NHS Terms and Conditions here.

And I happen to know, for purposes of maternity pay, the break in NHS service can't be longer than 3 months to get contractual maternity pay, so you wouldn't qualify for that right away.

nhs pro will not count towards continuous service because of the as and when nature of the work.

Yes you need to be continously employed for 26 weeks into the 15th week.

Yes you must earn more than £90 a week to qualify. SMP is worked out on your average earnings over an 8 week period between weeks 17 and 25 of your pregnancy so as long as you are earning enough at that point you'll be ok.

SMP is 90% of earnings for the first 6 weeks then about £118 a week for the next 33, assuming you earning at least that normally.

Companies with their own mat pay put whatever terms they like on it, but it's normally expressed as including SMP rather than on top.

By the way, the 33 weeks have gone up about a fiver, and is now paid at £123.06 per week (as of 5 April 2009). The DWP website, which is often pathetic and out-of-date, still has the 2008 rates on it, but Direct.gov updated the information.

Wow!!! You guys are AMAZING! Thank you so much And yes, I may well be snooping to see how soon I can have a baby after starting back. I've already been married 2 years and I'm applying for a job working with newborns, whom I'm evidently passionate about, so I doubt it would surprise my potential new ward manager anyway. Now if only I can conceive on the date I want to...

Just to clarify with the contractual maternity leave pay- it is employed for a year by the time you start mat leave and not conceive, isn't it? I'm guessing that would be a little invasive of an employer if they were to take that approach! I guess the could also go by due date as well!

From NHS handbook (link in previous post):

An employee working full-time or part-time will be entitled to paid and unpaid maternity leave under the NHS contractual maternity pay scheme if:
i) she has 12 months? continuous service (see paragraphs 15.60 to 15.64) with one or more NHS employers at the beginning of the 11th week before the expected week of childbirth

So you need to have the year's service in before you hit 29 weeks, so if you want it, you can't get pregnant until you've been there 25 weeks, or roughly 6 months.

If you have worked for the NHS for long enough to get sontractual matrnity pay eg. 5 years but changed NHS Trusts during at 15 weeks pregnant, who pays the SMP part of the Maternity pay and how? I am very confused. I have been on mat leave for 6 weeks now and have been recieving OMP - SMP but not receiving the SMP, therefore only getting about 50% of my salary.

I have been given a from to take to Jobcentre plus but they were confused too and gave me some more forms for maternity allowance.

I'd like to get this sorted out asap as I don't want to find out it's too late. I'm really regretting changing jobs!

If you dont qualify for SMP you can get Maternity allowance, which is roughly the same amount of money (I think the weekly amount is the same, but you dont get the 90% in first 6 weeks part, IYSWIM?).