Info regarding maternity. Told now not getting it

ian_kell

Can anyone help

My wife and i just had our first baby and all is great until this morning her place of work rang to say she wasnt getting paid on OCT 31 due to not filling maternity crtieria correctly. However i think this is wrong

My wife worked for a company since NOV 08 which went defunct in Feb 11. All the staff were made reduntant but my wife and one other were kept on by the parent company and moved onto other sections of the parent company.

I have a letter dated from the HR manager stating that from March 1 2011 my wife will start her new employment (job) and that her continuity of her employment will be preserved

I also have her contract which states she started NOV 2008 (

3.1 Your continuous employment commenced on 10 NOv 2008 and employment under this agreement will beign on 01 March 2011 and shall continue until determind by written notice given by either party to the other

Fast forward to 27 MAY 2011 and we recieve a letter stating that her maternity leave is due to start Oct 15 2011 and is entited to 6 weeks at 90% and then SMP

On 24th Oct we got a phone call saying there was an issue with the tax code and they cant pay SMP. However fill out the form in the ost and all will be ok

Received the paperwork and made a phonecall asking why all this was needed as she is in continous service well out of the 41 week legal side of it

Get told that the head of HR made an error and that she wouldnt get paid 4 weeks of maternity 90% as she has moved companies and that although their fault well that was it

Ive made a call back to speak to the head of HR to be told it will be sorted but i am not to hopeful

With a new bay etc over a grand is a lot of money and i feel i am fully entitled to it as shes broken to no laws we know and the company are claiming she has by moving companies within the same umbrella even though we were told she's in continous employment!!

Can anyone help me what to do next?

Jarndyce

I'm not sure I completely understand your post - for example why the employer is talking about SMP and not contractual maternity pay. But generally...

Your OH may have continuity of employment for various purposes eg qualifying for redundancy payment, protection from unfair dismissal etc., but that does not extend to maternity pay unless her contract specifically states that it does.

The employer is therefore entitled to take into account service with that employer only in determining entitlement to contractual benefits even though it would be her continuous employment they would use for many other purposes.

Not sure if that helps or not..!

ian_kell

Thank you but itsd sorted. The issue they tried to raise regarding her 90% contractual pay was continous employment and the fact they said she didnt have it although her offer letter and contract does

They have apologised after i threatened legal action

Great issue this 4 days after the arrival of my daughter!!!!

RadoJo

Glad it's sorted and congratulations!