help-prgnancy and redundancy

badnads

Please can someone give me advice, I am 4 months pregnant and found out yesterday I am being made redundant from April!! My boss has told me he is not paying me maternity pay but he knows I can claim £106 per week for 26 weeks. Questiobn is does anyone know if he is correct and if so where do i go about claiming for it?? P.S I live in Edinburgh many thanks

hope_strong

Hi

I'm sorry to hear this, you must already have plenty on your plate with a baby on the way.

Are you in a union or professional body - can they advise?

Does your bank have a legal helpline which comes with the account - perhaps you can ring for advice?

I don't know about employment law but perhaps your local Citizens Advice can point you in the right direction.

I'm sure others on this board can direct you to free sources of advice.

best of luck

-Hope

hope_strong

Does this help?

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

-Hope

callansdad

Why are you being made redundant? Is the company seizing trading? Dont despair.

I would first of all get in contact with citizens advice. Remember if your employer cannot (or will not) pay you Statutory Maternity Leave you will be entitled to Maternity Allowance. You get it through the Job Centre. It works basically the same way. I had to get this with both babies as my earnings didnt reach the SP threshold. It worked out better for me in the end as you have to submit your payslips and you can choose any 13 wks so i chose ones with holiday pay and overtime to boost my MA.

http://www.jobcentreplus.gov.uk/JCP/Customers/WorkingAgeBenefits/Dev_008115.xml.html

HTH

billie19

A similar thing happened to me way back in 1996.
I got intouch with the Maternity Alliance Org.

Just done a quick search and they have now ceased.
Here's the Org that have taken over - Give them a try.

Working Families takes over Maternity Alliance helpline
Sadly, The Maternity Alliance was forced to close at the end of 2005. Working Families have been asked to take over their employment-related advice work and have agreed to do so. So, in future, if you need advice on employment law, including paternity and maternity leave, call the Working Families freephone helpline on 0800 013 0313.

For information about other Maternity Alliance projects, please check out https://www.maternityalliance.org.uk

Cheers

Billie

badnads

Many thanks, spoke to jobcentre this morning, I am entitled to £106 per week for 26 weeks but I cant claim until 3 months before. Thanks again for you replies

skintchick

Have you been in your job two years or more? IF so you are entitled to a redundancy payout in law.

I've just been made redundant too so if you want to chat just PM me

hugs

katglasgow

Hi there,

Have you though about speaking to ACAS to get some advice?
They will make sure you are being treated fairly with regards to employment law, particulartly because you are prgnanct. I phoned them for advice when I was treated very badly truring to my job after maternity leave and they were really helpful. They will even attend meetings with you at your work if required.

They have a Glasgow office -
0141 248 1400
http://www.acas.org.uk/

Hugs x

Counting_Pennies_2

Is it just yourself being made redundant, if so you should do a lot of investigation about the fairness of the decision. Come back to this forum if that is the case and perhaps we can all advise further.

Here are the details below from the following website http://www.workingfamilies.org.uk/asp/employer_zone/e_fs_maternityleave.asp

QUOTE: Redundancy during pregnancy
Small businesses are often the first to suffer from the effects of any period of economic instability. It may be that you need to restructure your business at short notice.

Any woman who is pregnant or on maternity leave should be treated in the same way as any other employee if her post becomes redundant. That is, you should consult with the employee about the likely changes and the impact on her work. You must offer alternative employment if this available.

If no alternative work is available you will need to make the employee redundant. Failure to go through the consultation process could make the redundancy automatically unfair and could lead to an Employment Tribunal. A woman on maternity leave has the priority over other workers in being offered any suitable job in the organisation. QUOTE

You might want to see if although you are not yet on maternity leave if they offered you any other suitable employment. Did anyone else get suitable employment within the company? Have they employed anyone else in a role similar to yours shortly before your redundancy or since?

Do come back with more details if you would like further help.

I won't try to make you cheerful by saying you will walk into another job while pregnant, discrimination laws dictate this shouldn't go against you but my HR experience and personal experience of friends make it harder to find work, so do be prepared, but don't let this put you off.

Did you think what you would like to do when you have had baby. You could try contacting some of the local franchise companies for childrens activities such as music groups etc and ask if they have part-time vacancies with them etc. That way you could do the work when you baby is here.

Good luck

callansdad

I was made redundant 3 months into my maternity leave last year. I wasnt given any notice. As i said in my last post i was getting MA, which is lucky, at least i was still guaranteed pay. I have had to go through employment tribunals to get my redundancy and my notice pay but it is getting there. You will be entitled to something if you have been there for a few years