Maternity allowance help please!

kirst26

Hi all,

I wondered if anyone may be able to help with a query i have on maternity allowance, its very daunting and i'll keep it as short as i can!

I had my first child in March 2010 and went on maternity leave one week before he was born (working full time before this). I was then made redundant at the end of July 2010. As i was entitled to SMP until the end of Nov 2010 i received all the remaining SMP together with my redundancy at the end of July.

I am now 13 weeks pregnant with my second child and am concerned as to whether i will receive maternity allowance. For MA i am required to have worked 26 weeks out of the 66 weeks prior to their birth (due Sept). Will the fact i was made redundant have an effect on this as since i was made redundant i wouldn't be classed as having worked 26 weeks. If they take into account that although i was laid off i was still on maternity leave the 26 weeks work isn't a problem (especially as i worked for 12 weeks over Christmas)

Any help would be really appreciated, thanks, Kirst

pawpurrs

Reverse back a bit, unless the whole company folded they shouldnt be able to make you redundant whilst pregnant and on maternity leave!

If you are made redundant whilst on Statutory Maternity Leave then you have special rights. You have the right to be offered any suitable alternative job in the company. This is even if there are other employees that might be more suitable for the job. If you are offered a new job, you are still entitled to the four-week trial period, which should start when you return from Statutory Maternity Leave.

But, with regards to the question hmmm complicated one! I would ring the DSS and see if you can get any sense on this one from them.

kirst26

Thanks Pawpurrs, the office relocated so i was able to keep my job if i wanted to relocate. I will give the DSS a call to see where i stand, Kirst

onlyroz

I applied for maternity allowance with my first-born and I do know that you only have to provide pay slips for 13 weeks in the "test period", and you only have to have earned peanuts during that week - I qualified despite only having a part-time job for 3 hours a week. My biggest problem was in finding out where to send the damn form - the form itself didn't say, and nobody at the job centre seemed to know either...

debulition

pawpurrs wrote: »

Reverse back a bit, unless the whole company folded they shouldnt be able to make you redundant whilst pregnant and on maternity leave!

Women on maternity leave aren't immune from redundancy! It's solely that pregnancy / maternity leave cannot be used as a factor in selecting which staff are to be made redundant.

Ama

drutt wrote: »

Women on maternity leave aren't immune from redundancy! It's solely that pregnancy / maternity leave cannot be used as a factor in selecting which staff are to be made redundant.

.....They are not immuned but they do have the right to be offered a suitable alternative!!