redundancy underpayment and maternity

newmummy1_2

Hi all,

I am looking for some advice please...

I am currently on month 9 of my maternity leave. In the early months of being a mum, voluntary redundancy was offered to all staff. I looked into this with personnel, as since being on maternity my job role had varied significantly due to shifts in legislation. I was told I would get a redundancy payment, a holiday payment and an early termination of employment payment (ETEP); alongside my statutory maternity pay (SMP). I enquired as to what an ETEP was, as all other amounts were specific in letters i had received and was told this would be 3 months full pay as i would not be working my notice; i questioned this with personnel as i was on SMP but they checked and said i would get it. As I was happy with this information and had been with the company seven years I waived my right to a formal meeting. I agreed to a leave date of my last day of SMP and enjoyed life with our new baby.

However, on receipt of my payments i was missing the ETEP! I contacted personnel and eventually spoke to the person who i had been dealing with. I was told that she had not said the above and was read a statement to me about me being on payroll due to my SMP and therefore employed through my notice period which meant they did not have to give me ETEP, and also my contract had not been terminated early as i was not fixed term?! I was basically told that my letter stating i would receive ETEP was a typo and she could not remember the conversation as i did?!

Is this right and should I seek legal advice, perhaps send them a solicitors letter? I am aware Maternity Law states I can change my mind around maternity leave dates but I am not sure where i stand now; we are not talking a small amount of money, I received less than half i was expecting!

I look forward to any information and advice you are able to offer.

tara66_2

Bumping this up, can anyone help? Otherwise if you aren't a trade union member I would suggest that you seek some legal advice asap, particularly if you have any paperwork, admin error or not!! that supports your position x

newmummy1_2

Thanks Tara66, how long have I got to seek legal advice?!

SarEl

If an error has been made then an error has been made. This is treated no differently from any other error - the employer has a right to correct it and they have. I cannot see a legal case here unless others have recieved the termination bonus whilst on maternity pay (or not - it would apply equally if others got an additional payment on top of their normal wages) and you haven't.