A few questions relating to maternity leave...

[TheRealMrsOsborne]

I know there are a few threads already which are a bit similar to this but i'm struggling to work out the answers to my questions

I wanted to join the child care vouchers scheme in order to save the tax but when i received the literature from work (I work for the NHS) it advised not to join if you were pregnant. I now undertsand that this is because my maternity pay would be calculated based on my wages minus the childcare fee and would therefore result in less maternity pay.

My question is, can i join the scheme after 25/26 weeks? I believe they calculate your maternity pay based on a time frame up to 26 weeks, i'm thinking that if i did this it wouldn't then mean my maternity pay was based on my pay minus the deduction for childcare - am i making sense?

I'm not planning on taking any unpaid leave and am not wanting to join the scheme for any other reason than to save the tax.

Also my annual leave is calculated in hours of holiday and bank holiday, if i am unable to use all of my bank holiday entitlement because i'm on maternity leave does this then become holiday to take at the end of my maternity leave or do i just lose it?

Thanks in advance and sorry if it doesn't make much sense!

evening. fellow nhs employee who has done jsut what you are asking.

you can use the voucher system as and when you want to. you should be advised to avoid using it during the qualifying weeks (which if I remember falls somewherebetween 24 and 30wks). In my case I "bought"vouchers throughout my last pregnancy (due sept 08) and was told not to claim in pay months of may and june. I "bought" more in the preceding months so that I still covered my costs using the tax but I didn't need to use the full amount each month so always had some spare. If you speak directly to your payroll person rather than HR bod they should be able to tell you which months not to put claim in.

with annual leave - I suggest that you take everything that is due to you in the current tax year just before you go on maternity leave. i.e. a/l weeks 32 to 36 then mat leave or whatever you choose. Nhs policy doesn't always let you carry everything over - this is something you will have to agree with your line manager. I've been incredibly lucky as I went off on sick leave 12weeks before my baby was due with pregancy related illness, Ihad not taken any annual leave since beginning of financial year. My manager is paying that plus my accrued for new year and tagging it on to my maternity leave with the condition I return within the year. I'm going back the day after ds's first birthday with 8weeks pay behind me.

Thanks for that twinkly, i guess i just need to find out which are the qualifying weeks for working out maternity pay and then start the voucher scheme after those weeks.

I'm due in august and will be back in jan/feb so if i work it right i should be able to use some leave just before maternity leave and just after.

Thanks again, it just all seems so complicated, you wouldn't think this is my 3rd baby

Your SMP is calculated based on your average earnings weeks 17 - 25 of your pregnancy. If you get more than SMP, you'll have to check your maternity policy to see how they work it out.

With your annual leave, you are entitled to all your normal paid leave throughout your maternity leave now. Use as much as you can before you go, but anything you don't use you should be able to either take at the end of your leave or after you come back, depending on rules about the holiday year and carry-over where you work. Bank holidays are the same as other holiday for these purposes, you don't lose them because you weren't there to take them.

Thanks for that Flowery i'd better get checking out the policy