redundancy at 31wks pregnant

aun

Hi

I'm facing redundancy in few wks, and I've been told that I'm not entitled to SMP

I'm Polish and I'm working for the company for 15mths now.
When I started the job I was on a temporary contract as a maternity cover, but after resigning by my friend I was covering for I was informed (in June) that the contract became permanent.

I didn't know for sure if my friend will come back to work or not, and me and my husband decided to try for a baby.

In the beginning of November I've sent MATB1 to my employee and today I got a surprising letter saying that as from 13 December my position is under redundancy, because my boss' business is in Kent, and I work in Surrey, and generally I didn't give my boss enough time to find a cover (in a law I did).

What was very interesting, he wrote me in a letter that the contract was temporary, as I agreed to cover for a maternity leave, and it was an agreement between me, and my friend- but she doesn't work there any more, and I was paid by his company, so I don't really understand the above.

He wrote me, that as the Dec 13th I don't work for him any more. He didn't refer to my letter I've sent in the beginning of November informing him I was pregnant, nothing about SMP or even if I'm entitled to MA...

In my opinion I am entitled to SMP cosCAB[FONT=&quot] [/FONT]consultant say :
“A woman who is going to be made redundant and is pregnant can still qualify for Statutory Maternity Pay (SMP) if she has worked for the same employer for at least 26 weeks by the end of the qualifying week (which is the 15th week before the week in which the baby is due) and is still in the job in the qualifying week.
If she is made redundant and stops being employed after the qualifying week but before she starts maternity leave she is still entitled to SMP.”


My position is redundant after qualifying week, but one day before my stated in a letter maternity leave..


Now I'm confused, I wrote a letter that I;m going to send tomorrow informing my employee about quoted above text, adding also if he feels that I'm not qualifying to SMP he should send me [FONT=&quot]SMP1 explaining why I don’t qualify for SMP so I could claim Maternity Allowance.[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot][/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Am I entitled to SMP or not then??[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]I've worked over 12 mths, so I think I should get SMP even though my position is under redundancy, plus the redundancy is time is in my 15th qualifying week.... dunno[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot][/FONT]

jazzyman01

You are an employee and as such are entitled to the maternity pay. It would seem your employer is trying to terminate your employment because he does not want to pay maternity - surely he must realise he can claim this back from the government?

You have a good case to write to him stating you believe you are being discriminated against because of your pregnancy and that the proposed redundancy came after you had informed him of your pregnancy.

You also need to put in the letter that you do not accept you were temporary as you were advised your position was permanent in June when your friend elected not to return from maternity leave.

You could also just try and talk to him and reason with him - depends on how you feel.

Marcheline

Whatever happens, I'm fairly certain you will get Maternity Allowance.

kevrod79

Which is a bit less than SMP. Going through the same process at the moment. My wife was made redundant at 31 weeks and her boss has to pay her SMP (90% for 6 weeks then stat for the remaining 33).

I believe he is required to pay this to you so you should pursue him for it.

Kev

p.s I am prepared to be corrected!!

woody01

The employer doesn't pay SMP or maternity pay anyway. The government does.

kevrod79

woody01 wrote: »

The employer doesn't pay SMP or maternity pay anyway. The government does.

Agreed Woody, but the cash is paid through the employer. Many seem to forget that, while they pay it, they claim it back from the Gov.

Kev

Pete111

Your employer appears to be panicking about your maternity.

At the very least you need to ensure you get your SMP. You are owed this as you have been an employee for 15 months - he cannot try to argue now that thsi was an informal agreement! (not that thsi would hold any water anyway)

As others have said it does not actually cost your employer a penny so make sure you get this at the very least . You may also wish to consider other action as he has by the sounds of it, not followed any sort of process in deciding /confirming your redundancy (ie no consultation etc) and it does appear that the redundancy may have been decided due to your maternity situation - which as Jazzy man says leads to other potential issues such as sex discrimination etc

A discussion with him sounds like a good start point. Make sure you note his comments however.

P

MrsTinks

Call ACAS - one deciding factor may be if you ever got it in writing that your temp contract was becoming permanent - if you didn't then it migth be trickier but ACAS should be able to advise you

Gloomy_Past_Bright_Future

Did you give your employer the required notice?

You have to let them know 15 weeks before the baby is due.

So you have to let them know by week 25.

Gloomy_Past_Bright_Future

Check this link;

http://www.direct.gov.uk/maternity.dsb

This gives your date you should have informed your employer, and your entitlement

aun

Gloomy_Past_Bright_Future wrote: »

Did you give your employer the required notice?

You have to let them know 15 weeks before the baby is due.

So you have to let them know by week 25.

Yes I sent him my MATB1 at the last moment just before the 15th week.

I don't really understand why he's making such a problem with paying SMP.. as you mentioned above the government will pay him back anyway, so dunno why he's trying so hard to make it difficult for me...

For now I keep copies of MATB1, letters I sent him and postal proofs, we'll see what will happen now.

Thanks for replies guys, I really started to think that I was wrong about asking him for SMP.