Work just withdrew my maternity pay
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Kayalana99 wrote: »"To satisfy the continuous employment rule you must have been employed by your employer for a continuous period of at least 26 weeks into the qualifying week.
The qualifying week is the 15th week before the week in which the baby is due."
Have you checked yourself if you are able to get it? I don't understand this whole 26 weeks / 15th week quote above, but 26 weeks is around 7 months and you have been there 7 months, working, have you not?
By my reckoning OP started whilst already pregnant so SMP isn't going to apply.
You've misquoted, it's 'upto' the 15th week before the baby is due' not 'in to' you have to have been employed for 26 weeks before then to qualify formSMP.
The only thing to apply for is maternity allowance.0 -
marliepanda wrote: »By my reckoning OP started whilst already pregnant so SMP isn't going to apply.
You've misquoted, it's 'upto' the 15th week before the baby is due' not 'in to' you have to have been employed for 26 weeks before then to qualify formSMP.
The only thing to apply for is maternity allowance.
OP was told, she is due Company Enhanced Maternity leave which is what she is challenging her employer about.0 -
Congratulations on your baby and I hope she is well soon.
I agree with most of what sangie says, write a detailed email and be polite, saying you understand the company's position, but that it has put you in a very difficult position having made plans based on what they told you.
If it was my firm, I'd feel obliged to honour the commitment. (Without setting a precedent).
Where I disagree with sangie is the union bit (sorry sangie). I'm the nicest employer I can be, but if you came at me via a union, hell would freeze over before I paid more than a penny that I legally had to. Your employer may of course be more sanguine!
Good luck and I think some earlier posts were a little harsh.0 -
Ah ok I get it so they have to be employed for 26 weeks up to the 15th week before the baby is due...so essentially around 41 weeks + 15 weeks of still being pregnat potentially which the OP wouldn't be in.
If you can, apply for M/Allowance now and get the ball rolling do that.
There is two things worth considering here, what is legally entitled as standard (SMP) and what a company offers you for M/P.
If the company said they pay regardless of how long you have worked there, even though they legally don't have to and you have had this confirmed (hopefully in writing...) I don't see how they can back out, a contract can be verbal just as it is non-verbal.
If I was you, take a breather. You've just had a child, but I would seek out a legal opinion because this isn't a simple mistake, you've been promised something and based your finances around this. Yes everyone makes mistakes, but it is not fair at this stage to withdraw M/Pay after saying for months you are entitled and even giving you a breakdown of what they are going to be paying you to then say 'hang on we legally don't have to so we're not going to'People don't know what they want until you show them.0 -
Start the formal grievance procedure with your employer. Put the basics in a letter.
It's possible they have formed a contract with you. They may dispute this. Ultimately it would be tested in court. If it got that far it's unlikely you'd keep your job.
Good luckChanging the world, one sarcastic comment at a time.0 -
If you are the nicest possible employer, why would you damn someone for being a union member and asking their union for support. Seems a little contradictory. And if you are the nicest possible employer the union are going to be very happy about that and want to have constructive relationships with you. Good employers are something we value. The advice I have just given the OP would probably be the exact same advice I would give a member. But that member, stuck in a hospital, emotional and worrying over her baby, may appreciate someone else having that conversation. You'd judge the fairness of the situation your HR department created purely based on the fact that she asked her union rep to talk to you? Now that doesn't sound like a fair or rational employer. Which surprises me because you usually make sense!
Where I disagree with sangie is the union bit (sorry sangie). I'm the nicest employer I can be, but if you came at me via a union, hell would freeze over before I paid more than a penny that I legally had to. Your employer may of course be more sanguine!
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The latest you can apply for Maternity Allowance is three months after you stop work.
See here:
https://www.maternityaction.org.uk/advice-2/mums-dads-scenarios/pregnant-and-benefits/common-maternity-pay-questions/
It may be worth contacting this organisation for advice particularly if it means that you will lose some MA because of your employer's mistake.
Also, you will need the appropriate forms and the baby's birth certificate to apply for MA.
Once you have spoken to Maternity Action it may be worth while including the information about the MA as it will no doubt be problematical receiving the MA as you have already been paid the SMP by your employer.
Good luck and congratulations on your new arrival!0 -
I expect the confusion arose because of how long pregnant you were when you informed them. I believe that broadly you must fall pregnant no less than 1 month after first date of employment to meet the requirements.
So if you told them you were pregnant say 8 weeks after starting and they assumed you'd found out and told them as early as is possible ie. 4 weeks it was right to think you'd be entitled. However if when you told them you were already 5 weeks pregnant then you would have just missed the cut off for entitlement.
In the end if you were so adamant they you were not entitled why didn't you show your evidence as to why you were so certain? Or did you think that if you had it in writing even knowing it was wrong that you'd be protected? If so you took a risk by not keeping the money aside.0 -
I expect the confusion arose because of how long pregnant you were when you informed them. I believe that broadly you must fall pregnant no less than 1 month after first date of employment to meet the requirements.
So if you told them you were pregnant say 8 weeks after starting and they assumed you'd found out and told them as early as is possible ie. 4 weeks it was right to think you'd be entitled. However if when you told them you were already 5 weeks pregnant then you would have just missed the cut off for entitlement.
In the end if you were so adamant they you were not entitled why didn't you show your evidence as to why you were so certain? Or did you think that if you had it in writing even knowing it was wrong that you'd be protected? If so you took a risk by not keeping the money aside.
Why would she think it would be wrong? Even if legally the company don't have to pay (which OP knew this), the company are entitled to offer whatever they like. If HR and the head of HR both confirmed that they pay maternity pay regardless of how she has worked for the company, why would the OP think otherwise? She actually did the right thing going through the channels to check rather then taking one persons opinion.
This isn't a case of arguing over what legally she's entitled to, the company fed her false information saying they pay M/leave regardless of how she has been at the company - even giving her a breakdown of payments to only stop it when the actual payment was due!
I really feel these comments of you should have known better are not helpful (nor justified) as if a company tells you they will support you through M/Leave to then pull the rug out is nothing short of disgraceful.
OP has done nothing wrong here.People don't know what they want until you show them.0 -
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