Voluntary redundancy - Maternity Pay

boat_girl

I wonder if someone can help, thanks in advance.

Ths is all very new but we had a meeting at work this morning and have been asked to fill in a preference form i.e I would like my hours to stay the same, go for redundancy, reduce hours etc. I am 23 weeks pregnant and due to leave for maternity on the 1st of Oct. If i put myself forward for voluntary redundancy would I still be entitled to any SMP. In an ideal world I would take redundancy or ask to be made part time on my return, could i ask for some of my hours to be made redundant? This is a local authority if that helps.

boat_girl

sorry to ask again but was wondering if anyone had any idea about the difference between forced and voluntary redundancy and entitlement to SMP thanks.

SarEl

Your employer can explain to you how any of these options would impact on your SMP - it all depends on dates, and since we are discussing an unspecified future date then they are best placed to explain it to you. Especially since local authorities usually have better terms than other employers. And no - you can't ask for some of your hours to be made redundant - your post will either be redundant or not.

boat_girl

thanks for that. It is very early days with regard to redundancy and just trying to get an idea.

It has been suggested that we could reduce our hours and we would be given an "ex gratia" payment. Do you know how that differs to redundancy?

Thanks again and i will get on to HR and ask the various questions re SMP

SarEl

Yes - redundancy is a right. And only gets paid if you are redundant. An ex gratia payment is a sum relating to nothing which does not have to be given - it's a "gift" for making the agreement to reduce your hours. When talking to HR remember to ask them the impact on your SMP or other maternity payments that reducing your wage might have!