Job seekers and maternity allowance - help?

fairihell

Hi just after some advice really.if ...

I am pregnant and just been given notice at my job, so will finish on 4th jan - I was planning on going on maternity leave on 4th April (baby due on 30/4, but prob come early due to history) - I will be getting maternity allowance (as not entitled to stat mat pay, but am entitled to allowance as have been in work (bar about 4 months) for the last 8 years). I was wondering if I was able to get job seekers (not sure how the contribution version works? do i need all pay slips etc as not sure i know where they all are...)? And if I was able to get job seekers would they force me to stop it and start my maternity allowance at the earliest oportunity (11weeks before babies due date)?

Also how soon can i claim job seekers?

thanks so much

fairihell

anyone know anything about this??

fresian_cow

Hi, you should be able to put in for JSA while you are unemployed. You can put your claim for MA from 26 weeks but it cannot be payable until 29 weeks (I think). I think it can then be paid for up to 39 weeks.

DX2

fairihell wrote: »

Hi just after some advice really.if ...

I am pregnant and just been given notice at my job, so will finish on 4th jan - I was planning on going on maternity leave on 4th April (baby due on 30/4, but prob come early due to history) - I will be getting maternity allowance (as not entitled to stat mat pay, but am entitled to allowance as have been in work (bar about 4 months) for the last 8 years). I was wondering if I was able to get job seekers (not sure how the contribution version works? do i need all pay slips etc as not sure i know where they all are...)? And if I was able to get job seekers would they force me to stop it and start my maternity allowance at the earliest oportunity (11weeks before babies due date)?

Also how soon can i claim job seekers?

thanks so much

Contribution-based Jobseeker's Allowance
Jobcentre Plus can pay this for up to 182 days. It’s based on how much National Insurance you have paid in the last two tax years. Generally, self-employed contributions will not help you qualify for contribution-based Jobseeker’s Allowance.


To get Jobseeker's Allowance you must be:

• available for and actively seeking work
• between 18 and State Pension age
• working less than 16 hours per week on average

Maternity Allowance

You might get Maternity Allowance if:

• you're employed, but not eligible for Statutory Maternity Pay
• you're registered self-employed and paying Class 2 National Insurance Contributions (NICs), or hold a Small Earnings Exception certificate
• you have very recently been employed or self-employed

You may be eligible if:

• you've been employed and/or self-employed for at least 26 weeks in your 'test period' (66 weeks up to and including the week before the week your baby is due). Part weeks count as full weeks; and
• you earned £30 a week averaged over any 13 weeks in your test period

Maternity Allowance

If you're unemployed

If you're unemployed in the 11th week before the week your baby is due and you're eligible to get Maternity Allowance, your payments will start then. If your baby is born earlier than this, your MA will start the day after the birth.

If you're employed or self-employed

If your baby arrives before the start of the 11th week before the week your baby is due or before the date your Maternity Allowance was planned to begin, the allowance will start from the day following your child's birth.
If, in the four weeks before the week your baby is due, you're absent from work for a pregnancy-related reason, Maternity Allowance will start the day after the first complete day you were absent from work because of your pregnancy.
If you continue to be employed or self-employed into the 11 weeks before the week your baby is due, you can choose when to start getting Maternity Allowance. The date you choose will match the date that you start your maternity leave from work.

fairihell

Thanks so much for replies

I know I am entitled to MA and will find out about the JSA - but mostly what I want to know is if I HAVE to start my MA at 29 weeks OR if I can choose to start it at 40 weeks and keep claiming JSA until that point?
thanks again

karenx

Will you be activly seeking work at 40 weeks? I doubt it!!

alwaysonthego_2

I think that they will make you start your MA at 29 weeks from what I can recall.

fairihell

Thanks
Karen - I work as a nanny and take my daughter with me, if I can find a suitable job I plan to go back to work asap if worth while, with childcare for my toddler!

I suspected they would 'force' you to take MA as soon as it is available to you!

thanks again

dookar

Circumstances in which a person is not to be regarded as available
15.

if she is in receipt of maternity allowance or maternity pay in accordance with section 35 or sections 164-171 respectively of the Benefits Act.

The key words are 'in receipt'. I was once told by a teacher never to read a footnote in a book because you will never get back to where you were, SS legislation is the same. The benefits act tells us who is entitled to MA, the claims and payments regulations tells us which for which benefits a claim is not necessary - MA is not one of them.

So, to be treated as not available you must be in receipt of MA, to be in receipt of MA you must make a claim.

Don't make the claim. Simples.

The guys in the jobcentre will tell you you must end your JSA as soon as you get within 11 weeks of the sunday on which the week of your due date falls, they are wrong.

fairihell

Thanks Dookar that makes sense... not sure if I even 'have' to tell them I am pregnant, let alone how pregnant!

Last question can I apply for JSA even though my contract doesn't end until 4th Jan (not required to work my notice...)?
thanks again