NHS maternity pay

A27_2

Hello, I am just wondering if anyone who has experience of NHS maternity leave is able to give me some help!

Myself and my husband are about to start trying for a baby, im looking at our finances and trying to budget for taking maternity leave.

I have worked for the NHS for 5 years and would be entitled to the full maternity package. I earn approx 27k per annum.

I am aware am I am entitled to 8 weeks full pay, 18 weeks half pay plus SMP, SMP only up til 9 months then 3 months at no pay.

I have heard that you can spread the payments over a year if you take the full year .

Obviously I can work out how much I may get paid but presumably you save on Tax and NI if you take the full year and are being paid less?

Also does anyone know if you pay student loan and pension while on mat leave?

Any idea of approximately how much I may end up getting per month would be greatly appreciated!

Thankyou

freebiequennie

I am just about to start nhs maternity pay on monday - have had last 4wks as annual leave as you are entitled to tag annual leave onto beg/end of maternity leave. I earn £29k and am not 100% sure on how much I will get when getting half pay plus stat mat pay - we have made a rough guess but halfing my net monthly pay and adding £400 stat mat pay to it - prob an underestimate but stat mat pay is £125ish I think a week and you will get taxed on it.

I am taking 9mths of maternity leave plus I have had 4kws annual leave at start and will have 1wk tagged on end. I also had annual leave before I went off odd days here and there and actually the last 4wks of work only worked 4 day weeks. I have 10yrs nhs service so get the extra annual leave.

From the day we found out I was pregnant we have saved some money so we can manage for the 3mths where will just get stat mat pay - I am the main earner in our home so this was essential.

I actually think we will find ourselves worse off when I go back to work with childcare costs than when on mat leave.

Remember you have to return for 3mths after mat leave otherwise they will make you pay back anything in addition to statutory maternity pay.

rach

I work for the local authority so similar set up. I've not read that you can spread the payments over the year though. I will get the less good additional pay because I fell pregnant more quickly than expected and miss the qualifying week by 3 weeks!! Oops! DH has worked out the money though and with the stat pay like Freebie says it works out pretty ok.

In terms of student loans, I phoned them and they said once I knew what my entitlement would be to phone back then I can defer payments when under the threshold. Must do that actually. I'm not sure how they will be able to work it out, I presume they will need a copy of my mat entitlement letter and my current payslips or something. I think I will only be able to defer when it goes down to half pay + stat or even just half pay as the threshold is still relatively high. Also depends what kind of loans you have, mine are the old style ones!

clairec79

I printed out the NHS maternity guide Sunday night at work - I don't remember seeing anything in there about being able to split the money over the time.

The only splitting mentioned is in the case of very premature birth where you can take a few weeks off maternity following the birth then go back to work and then restart maternity when the baby comes home from hospital

ethelsmum

I work for the NHS and I am having 9 mths off (in my first mth now), we have the option of spreading the money over the whole period so get an equal amount every month - I haven't done this as I only work part-time and its not a huge drop for me.

I was told I would stilll have to pay pension contributions whilst on maternity leave.

The bit I'm unsure of is when it goes down to half pay + smp - this will exceed my normal wage so what happens in them circumstances?

Glamazon

A27 wrote: »

Hello, I am just wondering if anyone who has experience of NHS maternity leave is able to give me some help!

Myself and my husband are about to start trying for a baby, im looking at our finances and trying to budget for taking maternity leave.

I have worked for the NHS for 5 years and would be entitled to the full maternity package. I earn approx 27k per annum.

I am aware am I am entitled to 8 weeks full pay, 18 weeks half pay plus SMP, SMP only up til 9 months then 3 months at no pay.

I have heard that you can spread the payments over a year if you take the full year .

Obviously I can work out how much I may get paid but presumably you save on Tax and NI if you take the full year and are being paid less?

Also does anyone know if you pay student loan and pension while on mat leave?

Any idea of approximately how much I may end up getting per month would be greatly appreciated!

Thankyou

I am Band 6 so on a similar wage, working for a GP I only got SMP for 39 weeks That's whay I know work for a Trust

You can spread the payments over a year. In my Trust you can contact Pay and Staff Services and they can give you projected earnings for things like that and they don't feedback to your boss :cool:

You still pay pension, but you just pay it on what you earn whilst on Mat Leave. Your employer continues to pay your pension as if you were earning a full wage which is fab.

As for student loan, I think that if your wages aren't more than £15k (which they won't be) then you don't pay it. I didn't when I was off last year.

I did just work it all out for you, take home pay at half pay plus SMP would be just over £1150, SMP works out at roughly £537 per month.

I suppose to work it out spreading the payments, you would take
£2220 x 2 (8 weeks full pay), £1680 x 4 (16 weeks half plus SMP), £750 (2 weeks PLUS SMP), £530 x 3 (12 weeks at SMP only) = £13,750.

You would then work out your deductions - £3292.50
tax £955
ni £1503
pension £825

Should leave you with Approx £850 per month.

My figures are really approx as I've not got time to go through it all properly. I would say budget for £800 and anything extra is a bonus.

*waits to be lynched for her poor maths skills* :o:o:o:o

A27_2

Thankyou everyone for your replies! Thats a great help to have an approximate idea of how much I would get.

Glamazon

ethelsmum wrote: »

I work for the NHS and I am having 9 mths off (in my first mth now), we have the option of spreading the money over the whole period so get an equal amount every month - I haven't done this as I only work part-time and its not a huge drop for me.

I was told I would stilll have to pay pension contributions whilst on maternity leave.

The bit I'm unsure of is when it goes down to half pay + smp - this will exceed my normal wage so what happens in them circumstances?

I don't think they would let you benefit from being on mat leave if it meant earning more than usual

I would think the SMP part would be a percentage rather than the full £124. If you earn less then £124 per week you would get 90% of your pay.

Your finance dept can tell you exactly

kittendothroar

Is there a link for the nhs details? I work for a trust but couldn't find anthing on the intranet...would be very handy as no idea at the moment!

Glamazon

kittendothroar wrote: »

Is there a link for the nhs details? I work for a trust but couldn't find anthing on the intranet...would be very handy as no idea at the moment!

It's not on the public websites and would vary from Trust to Trust but they all tend to offer the same. It will be on your Intranet if it's not you could contact your Working Family Advisor Service for a copy.

Mine is under Policies, HR, Maternity Policy on the Intranet

MX5huggy

Have a read its a little out of date but will at least get you used to the type of things you are reading.

http://www.sath.nhs.uk/Library/Documents/HR/Policies/HR24%20Maternity%20Leave.pdf