Entitled to Maternity Pay?

ultramagnetic_commuter

Hopefully this is right place to ask this...

I am trying to find out if my other half is entitled to statutory maternity pay. Searching online just confuses me more.

She worked full time for a company and after her first child she left to look after him. A few months later they asked her to do some freelance work, hourly paid at home, which she has been doing since for about 18 months. She does about 10-15 hours a week. This varies, some weeks more, some weeks fewer hours.

If she has another baby is she entitled to maternity pay?

dmg24

How much does she earn, and what type of NI Conts does she pay?

ultramagnetic_commuter

Thanks
Earns £6-7k pa.
Not sure about NI - looking at her payslip it doesn't have any deduction for this.

Becles

Is she employed by the company or working as a self employed freelancer?

If she is employed, they do her tax and NI. If she's self employed, she pays her own NI and has to fill in a tax return.

ultramagnetic_commuter

Sorry for confusing, but I am confused!

They definately deduct her tax. i.e. at the moment, she isn't having it deducted as she hasn't reached her allowance but if/when she does, they will start taking it.
She is paid 'holiday pay' @ 10%
But how come I don't see a deduction for NI on her payslip?

And then going back to the original question, what does this all mean in relation to maternity pay?

Chazpots

Hi there,

What are her weekly/monthly earnings?

She does not necessarily need to be paying NI to qualify for Statutory Maternity Pay but her average gross weekly earnings need to be £90. The employer uses the date that is 15 weeks before the baby is due (called the Qualifying week). They then look at the 8 weeks prior to this. If her average weekly earning were £90 then she should qualify. There are other factors but that's a start.

Can I just check - she's not registered as self employed?

Chaz

ultramagnetic_commuter

Thanks

Income per month ranges between £300 - £550.
No, she's not registered as self employed.

If she isn't apparently paying NI should we be worried - shouldn't she be paying it?

Sorry for such basic q's...

Becles

She has to earn over £105 a week to pay NI.

NI is different to tax in that it's looked at on a pay period basis not on earnings over the year like tax is. Eg:
Week 1 - earn £100 and pay no NI
Week 2 - earn £110 and have to pay NI
Week 3 - earn £100 and pay no NI
and so on.

I assume she is earning less than £105 every week which is why no NI is payable.

As has been said, if her average weekly wage is over £90, she may be entitled to SMP.

Chazpots

Hi,

With those earnings it could be a close thing. It all depends on what she is paid for the 2 months prior to her qualifying week. It's then converted to the average weekly earnings. As an example. If she earnt £300 in Month 1 and £550 in Month 2:

£300 + £550 = £850 divided by 2 = £425

£425 x 12 = £5100

£5100 divided by 52 = £98.08

Her average weekly earnings would be above the £90 required. However, if she earnt £300 for the 2 months then her average weekly earnings would fall below the £90. So it really will depend on what she earns before her qualifying week. Her employer will work it out at the time. Although I don't think it hurts to work it out yourself...just to be on the safe side!

I would not worry about her not paying NI. As long as she is the main payee for Child Benefit she will be credited for those years. Those years will count as qualifying years towards her basic pension.

Chaz

ultramagnetic_commuter

Thanks all, that really clarifies things. So we need to do our best to get lots of work done in the right periods! Extremely useful to know.

Chazpots

BTW. You might find this link a useful bookmark...

http://www.dwp.gov.uk/lifeevent/benefits/statutory_maternity_pay.asp#workedout

All the best,
Chaz