Friend's Mat Leave/Contract nightmare - advice please?

[specialmagiclady]

Friend has been working for 2 years in a private home with no contract (yes, I know, I have slapped her with a wet fish...). Paid regularly, good holliday arrangement, NI paid by employers etc.

Now pregnant, she's been discussing when to go on Mat.Leave with her boss. Boss has effectively terminated her contract 2 weeks before she was due to go on ML. She's given her a couple of months notice, but it's not what she was expecting based on previous discussions.

Can she do this? Does this mean she's no longer going to get Maternity Pay, which she understood she would get when she first told them she wsa up the duff?

To be fair, it's conceivable that they might have terminated the contract at this time but all previous discussions (ie before she was pregnant) had talked about ending a month later.

Any advice for her? SHould she just put up and shut up?

She will still be entitled to SMP as long as she was still employed 15 weeks before her due date.

However 'terminated the contract', what do you mean? Made redundant? On what basis was her employment terminated? If she was sacked (or treated less favourably) because she was pregnant and taking maternity leave then that's illegal discrimination.

You say it's conceivable they might have terminated the contract at this time. Do you mean they might have made her redundant? Was it a fixed term contract with a specific end date or something?

It's the kind of job that has a natural end point in a "my work here is done" kind of way. Previous to her being pregnant, they had agreed that she would stay on 'til September, even mid September. Her baby is due near the end of September. Now she's suddenly looking at having no more work a month before the baby's due.

I think she needs to clarify what "terminating the contract" means. Until this week, they've been talking about paying her maternity pay etc. which would assume she's still employed, right? Now suddenly it's all "terminating contract" mid August. She can't work out if they're trying to wriggle out of paying her Mat Pay or just want to end a really happy 2 year period on a horrible note.

If her work is coming to an end and they no longer need someone doing that job, then that's redundancy and she needs to make sure she gets what she's entitled to.

If they are making her redundant earlier than they otherwise would because of her pregnancy that's discrimination.

They may be doing it to avoid paying her maternity pay, but they may not be aware it makes no difference. They can claim back SMP from the government anyway so it costs them nothing, and she still gets it even after her employment ends as long as she was still employed 15 weeks before due date.

Thanks - that clears it up a bit. Will pass on. x

I was made redundant when I was 6 months pg (geuine redundancy) and I received mat pay because I was still employed within the 15 week before due date limit.

Has she spoken to them about matenity pay since they told her she will be leaving in August?