smp through an employer if off sick..

kurjam

hi everyone, hope someone can advise...
my baby is due in feb 09, and i have been off work sick due to pregnancy problems, my employer would not pay sick pay so have been getting incapacity benefit through the job centre.
i today got a form of my employer stating they can not pay me smp because my earnings ,ust be at least equal to the lower earnings limit....
which i understand is £90 per week.

now before i went of sick my earnings were approx £120 a week, so why would i not get smp, will it be because i have been getting incaoacity benefit for the last 9 weeks ??
thanks for any advice

does anyone know who i can phone for advice on this ??

stazi

To get SMP, your employer looks at your earnings in the 8 weeks before the 15th week before your expected week. You need to have earnings of at least £90pw.

Your earnings must be less than £90pw, or if you were getting IB in these weeks, you may have had no earnings.

You'll need to claim Maternity Allowance from JCP. Ask JCP to send you form MA1. Your employer will give you form SMP1 and your MatB1 back.

kurjam

thanks for the reply....
just asked for a maternity allowance pack sending it to me in the post , my employer did not send me my matb1 back so got to ask her for it, so i can claim

faerie_girl

You should ask your midwife for another MATB1 form.