SMP payments after redundancy termination date

Julia99

Hi, I'm looking for a little advice.
I am due to start maternity leave in 6 weeks, but am also being made redundant in Jan.
My company has stated that although my employment will effectively be terminated in Jan, my SMP will continue to be paid on a monthly basis.
Forgive my ignorance, but does that mean that the company still holds some duty for me i.e. should I still be entitled to accruing holiday pay etc over this period.
Am I able to insist that I recieve my SMP as a lump sum alongside my redundancy payout?
Many thanks for any assistance on this.

Pete111

Hi

The answer is No and No

The company is basically acting as a funnel for a Gov't subsidy. You will not be an employee after Jan but will continue to get SMP on a monthly basis (until this runs out) as the company has a duty to continue paying this to you as you were employed during the qualifying period. All other employee benefits will usually cease in Jan along with your employment

Good luck with everything

P

clayton1106

this has happened to me, i ended up extending my maternity leave by the amount of accrued hols i had left , and had to be paid the holiday pay on top of my maternity pay,now im being offered the same job under new managment and company changeover, with better rights for employees.

imogenlayla

If you get all your maternity in a lump sum you'll end up hundreds of pounds worse off due the amount of tax youll have to pay on it. this happened to me i lost out on £600

jdturk

imogenlayla wrote: »

If you get all your maternity in a lump sum you'll end up hundreds of pounds worse off due the amount of tax youll have to pay on it. this happened to me i lost out on £600

how does this work then?

imogenlayla

It works that way beacause you are taxed on whatever you earn from april to april in my case i got my lump sum in march when i was made redundant having been on mat leave since october. therefore i had earned more in that tax year april til april than i would have done if my mat pay had carried on until july in the new tax year( like it was supposed to do) They work it out on pay as you earn (the more u earn the more u pay) I paid £600 on my lump sum whereas if it had carried on until july i would have paid £10 per month total of £40!! Its really unfair!
If my employer had paid the lump sum after april 6th i would have been entitled to claim all the tax back

ableandy

If you are being made redundant there are a number of things you should consider. Firstly, you should look at whether it is a genuine redundancy situation. Redundancy can happen when your place of work closes or moves, either temporarily or permanently, the type of work you do will no longer be done at your place of work, or fewer employees are needed to do the type of work that you do. If you have been made redundant but the person covering your maternity leave has not, this is not likely to be a genuine redundancy and you should seek legal advice straight away. Secondly, you should look at whether your employer’s selection criteria are fair. If you are selected for redundancy because of pregnancy or maternity leave you can claim unfair dismissal and sex discrimination.

If you are made redundant during maternity leave regulation 10 of the Maternity and Parental Leave etc Regulations 1999 says that you must be offered any suitable alternative vacancies. You do not have to apply or be interviewed for any suitable alternative vacancy but should be offered it in priority to your colleagues. If a suitable alternative vacancy exists and you are not offered it you may have a claim for automatic unfair dismissal. This protection is only available to women on maternity leave. As soon as you return to work you are no longer covered. However, selection criteria must still be fair and time off because of pregnancy or maternity leave must not be taken into account.

Suitable alternative vacancy
Suitability is looked at from the employee’s point of view, so if the job offered is on less favourable terms and conditions, including the location and hours of work, or is very different from what you were doing before, it is not likely to be regarded as suitable. If your employer
offers you a suitable alternative vacancy and you turn it down unreasonably you will lose your right to a redundancy payment.

Consultation
Employers must give employees as much warning as they can of impending redundancy, and must consult with employees. Failure to consult with an employee because she is on maternity leave may be sex discrimination.

Redundancy and Notice Pay
You must have been employed by your employer for at least 2 years to get statutory redundancy pay. You should check your contract to see if your employer offers any contractual redundancy pay. Statutory redundancy pay depends on how much you earn a week, how old you are and how many whole years you have worked for your employer:
· if you are 21 or under you get half a week’s gross pay for every complete year of employment with the same employer.
· If you are 22-40 you get one week’s gross pay for every complete year of employment with the same employer.
· If you are 41 or over you get one and a half week’s gross pay for every complete year of employment with the same employer.
Your weekly pay should be based on the last week’s pay you got before you started maternity leave, not your maternity pay. There is a maximum limit of £330 for a week’s pay (£310 where employment ended before 1st February 2008). Your maternity leave is counted as continuous employment.

You are entitled to paid notice if you have been in your job for at least a month. You should check your contract to see how much notice you are entitled to. If it does not say anything you are entitled to the statutory minimum of one week’s paid notice for each full year you have worked for your employer, up to a maximum of 12 weeks. Your contract cannot give you less than the legal minimum. If you are entitled to notice pay, your employer is allowed to deduct any maternity pay you receive for the same period as the notice pay you get.


You must also be paid any outstanding holiday up to the end of your notice period.