Maternity and Redundancy

leni

I have 2 enquiries

1. I line manage a member of staff currently on Maternity Leave and recieveing SMP. She will be made redundant on 31/3/2011 due to her project funding being cut (end date has always been know so nothing to do with ML) She will have 13 weeks of SMP remaining on 31/3/2011 - will my employer have to pay her a lump sum of the remaining SMP? She doesn't qualify for redundancy payment due to 23 months in employment with us.

2. I'm currently 20 weeks pregnant and on contract until end of the year but the company looks iffy after 31st March 2011 due to funding cuts. They have to give me 8 weeks notice due to length of service. If they gave me notice before the 26th week i.e. tomorrow - my end date will be in the 28th week, so would this mean I'd qualify for SMP still? or does redundancy have to be given after the qualifying week for me to be entitled to SMP?

Hope this makes sense and thank you for reading x

an9i77

Hi - I work in HR hope I can help. If you are employed during your qualifying week, (15 weeks before due ), then you willl qualify for maternity pay - usually paid as a lump sum. So the person you manage should get the 13 weeks paid. As for you, it's not when they give you notice it's when you are still employed with them that counts - so it depends on whether or not you'd be working your notice or paid in lieu for this- check your contract as to what it says regarding this. If you were still employed (but working your notice) in your qualifying week you would get it, but if you were given notice tomorrow and paid your notice period in lieu (unlikely, they'd still need to consult with you if making you redundant but if less than 20 people were going they could in theory rush consultation through in about a week) then you would not be employed during your qualifying week so wouldn't be entitled to it. However this doesn't mean you wouldn't get it although you'd be relying on your employer's generosity - I made someone redundant at 16 weeks pregnant recently and we agreed to give her her maternity pay as a gesture of goodwill, and we're not an employer generally known for doing more than we need to but my boss felt sorry for her!