Maternity Pay

ryan2032

My partner is due in August and is taking her Maternity Pay from the end of June. We have been thinking about moving back to where my family are from which mean's she would have to leave her job. Hopefully before the baby is here.
Could anyone tell me how this would affect her Maternity Pay? Because she was going to take a year off to look after the baby.

RedSoleShoes

I presume she started her job before she was pregnant? If so, she will still be entitled to all SMP but not any employer maternity pay and she would need to give her contracted notice. If she started her job after she got pregnant you will need to check with www.direct.gov.uk as the entitlement is different.

ryan2032

Yeah she started working with this company over a year ago. She has handed her MATB1 form in and her work said she gets 9 months pay then the goverment pay for 3 months, is this correct?

I thought SMP was money from your employer? We are finding this confusing. Just woundered if she left her employer anytime during the maternity leave will she loss it all and have to go back to work?

honeypop

If the company are paying her extra maternity pay (more than SMP) then contracts do normally state that it must be repaid if she doesn't return to work with them, I believe that if she left the company before she started her maternity leave then she wouldn't get that anyway.

SMP is from the government, which she can get for the whole 9 months if she doesn't qualify for the company maternity pay.

When you say you are moving away, where is this to? Is it still in the UK?

And in what week of pregnancy would she be leaving?

Pete111

Maternity leave/pay can usually be started up to 11 weeks in advance of the due date

If the company offers enhanced maternity pay and there is no 'clawback' facility as honeypop mentions above, it could be worthwhile her sticking it out until she is able to formally go on Mat leave. That way she can claim the exta mat pay, and then simply not return.

In addition she will also accrue holiday during Mat leave. Given that companies tend to pay out holiday days accrued but unused on termination, then (assuming she is full time currently) a years mat leave should earn her a big chunk of extra holiday pay in her final paycheck should she choose not to return - the financial rewards for working until a couple of months before the due date could potentially be quite compelling

P

ryan2032

She isn't fulltime, she does 20 hours a week. I think she is leaving 36 weeks gone. She gets around 120 per week. We live in East Sussex now but want to move to Kent. We got to move out of our current place anyway and it was just convient financially to move to Kent due to ready made flat and family.

She has been told by work 9 months pay and she can't take any holiday. So would it just be easier to leave the company when she want's to and then she claim's SMP for 9 months?