Maternity leave - returning to work early

dfw123

Hi,

I am due to have a baby at the end of January and me & my partner both work full time at the moment.

We are really worried about losing a vast majority of my salary when I go on maternity leave with SMP next year (nearly £300 loss a week!) and wondered whether if I go back to work say after 8 weeks I could still get the SMP for those 8 weeks or do I have to take the entire 39 weeks off to qualify for any SMP?

I've tried to google this but I cannot seem to find any clarity!

Thank you all in advance xxxx

japmis

From what I understand, SMP means that your company pays you 90% for 6 weeks and then you drop to the ~£140 a week for 33 weeks. You should also qualify for child benefit which is ~£80/month.

Don't forget to factor in child care costs when returning to work.

Have you done a statement of affairs to work out exactly what's coming in and going out? Doing a budget really stopped me freaking out about SMP!

http://www.stoozing.com/calculator/soa.php

You can phone ACAS for advice http://www.acas.org.uk/maternity

GwylimT

You will get SMP for the eight weeks.

dfw123

Childcare cost isn't an issue as my mum will have the baby and I can go back to work just 3 longer days rather than the 5 9am-5pm days!

Thanks for your replies!! xxx

Kynthia

Depending on how things go you may not feel well enough to work after just 8 weeks, never mind work longer days. Even if the labour is fine and you bounce back quickly most babies are still feeding every 3-4 hours, including through the night, at 8 weeks so you'll be exhausted. As the months go on you don't get a chance to catchup on sleep so you'll become more exhausted than thought was possible. There's a reason most people take months off and although you can return early you won't be able to change your mind and get SMP again.

Do you definitely only get SMP from your employer and no enhanced package? Have you factored in that you'll get child benefit? Your spending is likely to decrease as you'll be going out less and won't be paying your commuting costs? Could you save now in order to subsidise a longer time off? It might be best to plan the full maternity leave and give your employer the required notice if you want to return early (2 months I think).

sweetilemon

How far along are you just now? It's a scary prospect! You can get up to 39 weeks (so can recieve just 8 if you chose) SMP and you must take at least 2. Remember you are able to work 10 KIT (keeping in touch days) and would get paid for 10 full days on top of maternity.