NHS Maternity pay questions?

gt568

Thanks to everybody who replied. I thought it was full pay (or near to) in the NHS, it was just the wording that was a bit confusing. It made me wonder if it was full pay minus £400 SMP. However it seems likely that is not the case, so cheers.

ameliesmommy

Hi
Im on matty leave with the NHS at the mo. I am under A4c terms and they are as follows.
I had full pay for 8 weeks (no SMP on top)
Half pay for 18 weeks with SMP on top.
13 weeks at just SMP
13 weeks at no pay.
I have taken the full 12 months off but you can return whenever (after a few weeks) as long as you give 2 months notice.
If it helps I split my payments into 12 monthly payments and it works out just under half pay throughout if you take into account your benifits and tax credits.

Savvy_Sue

I've not read all the posts properly, but I am remembering back to a colleague's payslips when she was on Mat Leave, and I think they showed her SMP as a distinct element, but not the whole of what she was getting in her bank account, IYSWIM.

The employer claims the SMP back, but pays it up front to the employee. AFAIK there is no need to claim separately for SMP.

Does that make sense?

Sarahlouz_2

Out of interest to qualify for the half pay I assume you have to go back to work after the maternity leave. At my work (county council) I always thought the maternity scheme was supposed to be really good but I believe we only get 90% pay for first six weeks (don't get any 100%)and then go down to half pay for I think 13 weeks and then SMP for the rest. If for any reason you don't return to work at the end of maternity you have to pay the half pay back. Is this the same everywhere and if you previously worked full time and only go back part time do you still have to pay some of the half pay back and are you entitled to it simply by returning to work.

caleo

Sarahlouz wrote: »

Out of interest to qualify for the half pay I assume you have to go back to work after the maternity leave. At my work (county council) I always thought the maternity scheme was supposed to be really good but I believe we only get 90% pay for first six weeks (don't get any 100%)and then go down to half pay for I think 13 weeks and then SMP for the rest. If for any reason you don't return to work at the end of maternity you have to pay the half pay back. Is this the same everywhere and if you previously worked full time and only go back part time do you still have to pay some of the half pay back and are you entitled to it simply by returning to work.

I work for the NHS, and after mat leave, you can return part time and there is no penalty. If you don't return, you have to pay back any extra pay you received except for the SMP which is £112 per week.

Has you mat policy been changed since the changes in the length of mat leave? Ours changed to increase the half pay to take you up to 6 months in 2005. We used to get 90% pay for 6 weeks then half pay plus smp for the next 13 weeks approx, so would be worth checking with your personnel dept.

HTH

karenritchie

Hi,
i'm about to go on maternity leave. Can you tell me if the statutory maternity leave take home pay is £117.00/wk, or is this taxed etc and therefore less than this. (I work for the NHS).
If I decide to have longer than 39 weeks off, ie.52 weeks do I get any benefits at all to help me through the last 3 months.

tirednewdad

as i have said on another thread. i was in similar situation. the best thing that was done was ringing her union who explained everything and told her her rights something hospitals seem to ignore.

caleo

karenritchie wrote: »

Hi,
i'm about to go on maternity leave. Can you tell me if the statutory maternity leave take home pay is £117.00/wk, or is this taxed etc and therefore less than this. (I work for the NHS).
If I decide to have longer than 39 weeks off, ie.52 weeks do I get any benefits at all to help me through the last 3 months.

I took the 39 week option, and for the last 3 months only received £112, although this is now £117 pw. I received about £500 per month and did not seem to pay any tax during this time.

If you take the 52 weeks, you will not accrue holiday during this time, and you will also not be able to claim any benefits. You can always work bank shifts if they are available for you. When I had DD1 (nearly 12 years ago), the maternity pay was awful, and once my SMP stopped, I did the odd night shift to bring in extra money. You can only do this when you are not in receipt of your SMP, so only after the 39 weeks.

HTH

clairec79

One extra thing to save money slightly if she is in a union then check if she has to pay subs for maernity leave - I'm in the RCM and we get free membership during matenity leave, which does add up, the RCN/Unison may do the same thing

kitty123

I am considering leaving the NHS and my prospective non-NHS employer says they follow the guidelines for statutory maternity pay. Could anyone tell me whether I would be losing out if I were to leave the NHS? I am not planning on starting a family in the near uture but would like to know for the future.