12 to 24 week pregnancy thread

VICSH

Lannie Duck

You are still eligible for childcare vouchers throughout your maternity and when on SMP the company are not able to deduct from that and you dont have to pay them back so they are bascially free. I looked into this and the bank holidays loads so I know I am right, I printed off all the government guidelines and articles from CIPD and gave them to HJR along with my letter outlining my maternity leave plans.

twigpig

VICSH wrote: »

Lannie Duck

You are still eligible for childcare vouchers throughout your maternity and when on SMP the company are not able to deduct from that and you dont have to pay them back so they are bascially free. I looked into this and the bank holidays loads so I know I am right, I printed off all the government guidelines and articles from CIPD and gave them to HJR along with my letter outlining my maternity leave plans.

Just sticking my head in the from <12w thread

In my company, if you are earning enough to pay for them, they will deduct this from your pay as usual. If you are on SMP or no pay, the company will fund the cost until the end of your maternity leave. I'd be very surprised if they're effectvely free - has anyone had any experience of actually getting them free?

Katie1977

Hi Mum's to be! Just wondered if any of you had a look at the maternity jeans at Mama Jeanius. I wore them for my pregnancy recently and they were great! Difficult to find maternity jeans that lokk great annore importantly do their job:)

VICSH

Yes 100%, basically if say my company offered enhanced maternity pay i would have to pay for them then however SMP is NOT DEDUCTABLE for anything apart from pension and union costs but they still have to provide them due to the 2011 legislation, the company CANNOT ask for you to pay them back.

If you are interested have a look at maternity action website and 'discrimination during mat leave ' also I have the guidelines surrounding the introduction of childcare vouchers in the work place which also states it is a risk that this could happen.

In fact I think there was a thread on this forum not long ago about how a company has to provide them.

mincepiemonster

Re: maternity pay and childcare vouchers - everyone I have spoken to has the childcare vouchers PLUS SMP because the vouchers are classed as a benefit rather than salary. The only thing is, it slightly reduces what you receive for your 90% pay (which you get for 6 weeks on SMP) as if you are rec'ing childcare vouchers while at work your salary is slightly lower that it would usually be. Hope I've explained that clearly.

TeamLowe

I do feel a bit sorry for my boss as he won't get permission to fill my post whilst i'm off and with one of us on maternity already and another on indefinite secondment, he'll only have 2 officers of my grade instead of 5. but then again i'm sure soon they'll be telling us they want rid of a few of us (local government).

I always feel like a right outsider around here because i'm not going back to work for various reasons that i won't go into as i don't want it to seem like i'm judging others for their choices.

DH earns enough that I dont *have* to work but I'm planning to get evening work if needed for either extra pennies or to save my sanity lol and that way there'll always be one of us at home, which is how my parents did it when i was younger

Sml thank you for sharing that story, I've shared it with my DH as well who's now dilligently googling PND signs so he knows what to look out for.
I don't know if they do it in every area but in mine the midwives go through a check list of 'risk factors' for both ante and post natal depression- anyone can get it but certain situations can lead to a higher risk- and so far I'm 'low risk'

twigpig

..... thanks ladies....

So, I'll be taking 6 months enhanced pay (fully paid leave) and would pay for my childcare vouchers in those 6 months, but then taking 3 months SMP - so I'll get the 3 months of childcare vouchers for virtually nothing? Just a little reduction in the actual amount of pay. What if the company asks me to pay them back by taking them out of my salary when I go back to work?

fran-o

thanks for sharing the PND story SML and so sorry to hear something so sad happened to your friends. Inquests often take over a year to happen, really difficult for the family. I worry about PND myself having had mild depression in the past (never diagnosed but a bit of a black dog after triggers that make me wary of PND). I talked to the midwife about this at my booking in and she was great.

I'm planning a year's mat leave (I have about two weeks before I have to put in my formal request) finishing just before Christmas at around 7.5 months pregnant. I might have considered working later but I have a long London commute and Christmas just seems a good time. I'm lucky in that i work for a big organisation with very clear guidelines on mat leave. Hubby works for a small company with no HR dept so will be interesting to see what response he gets about paternity leave...

I think I'd like to go back 3 days a week, but not done much research/ planning yet. My Mum has offered to have baby one day a week. Hubbys Mum and Dad are local too, but I worry about relying on them for childcare as hubby's sister has special needs and although she's in a good set up living independently with visiting carers, his Mum and Dad are effectively on call 24-7 to her and her situation can be fragile. I haven't mentioned child care at all to them... I live in outer London so expecting nurseries to be pricey but perhaps it will just be two days a week. TeamLowe - I would love to finish work altogether and imagine this might happen if baby number two arrives if we've got ourselves out of our flat into a house by that point.

Quick question for the Mums - is there any point in a proper expensive changing bag or will a big wipeable carry all do? I have my eye on something like this: http://uk.accessorize.com/view/product/uk_catalog/acc_1,acc_1.1/4890979000

twigpig

fran-o wrote: »

Quick question for the Mums - is there any point in a proper expensive changing bag or will a big wipeable carry all do? I have my eye on something like this: http://uk.accessorize.com/view/product/uk_catalog/acc_1,acc_1.1/4890979000

I used my changing bag pretty much constantly for the year until I went to work - never carried a handbag as already had too much to lug around :rotfl: You want something that's easy to clean down and with plenty of space. Ideally a few isolated areas of pockets to tuck away things like your cash and phone and stuff as you'll be in and out of it all the time but will want a few things to be secure. Somewhere for a bottle/bottles is good too if you're not BF'ing. I don't think it needs to be expensive but think about what you'd want in there and how practical it will be. Ideally a nice thick strap as they get heavy when they're full, especially in those early days when you seem to carry around a bit more. Not sure if that helps. I ended up with a radley one that was a xmas present from some family and I'll be using that one again this time around.

Birdie85

That's a really cute bag Fran! My Mum's getting me a posh changing bag from America next month when she goes (mainly because she loves handbags and the ones we've seen are a gorgeous mix of practical and pretty) but mostly they just look like big bags with extra pockets so I'd imagine that bag would be fine although it may be good to get a little handbag organiser thingy to go inside to keep things like your keys, phone and purse in so they don't get lost all the time!

I'd love to be able to give up work but it just isn't going to happen, I won't even have a long maternity leave as we can't really afford to live on SMP for so long. Wish my OH earned 3 times as much as he does but I fear he's expecting me to get the high paying job one day and support him!