fixed rate contracts. Any ideas?

[MariaCC]

This is for a friend rather than me - she asked me about this earlier but because I'm self employed, I haven't got a clue!

She's on a fixed term contract. If she effectively goes on mat leave at the end (or towards the end) of her current contract, what is she entitled to? Will she still qualify for the scheme at her employers? Will she qualify for SMP? Or is she in the world of maternity allowance (one I know ALL about!).

Also if she goes on leave before the end of her contract, will she qualify for their scheme or SMP only until the end of the contract?

Many thanks for your help!

Whether she qualifies for the employers own scheme is completely up to them, they can set their own terms and conditions for that. I very much doubt it though, as I would expect the qualification for any extra pay to be that she is employed for the duration of her maternity leave and probably that she returns for a set period as well.

So she is looking at SMP. SMP qualification is about being employed for the right length of time and earning the right amount. Once she's met the qualifying requirements she can leave employment as early as 25 weeks and still be entitled. See here about SMP.

Hi! Thanks for this - really useful. I've passed it on!