Pregnant and at risk of redundancy - please help!

KirstyG82

Hello,

I wonder if anyone can advise me, i'm a little desperate and it's a bit complex so I will try and break down the key facts.
- I am pregnant with my first child (due 5th March - 22 weeks pregnant)
- I have been with my company just shy of 10 years
- We are at risk and will find out if we are redundant on 25th November
- My role has the potential of being consolidated so it's me versus another colleague (fun!)
- The company pays statutory redundancy (9 weeks) and has added an extra week to the statutory notice (to make it 10 weeks) as a 'concession'.
- It's likely we will be are paid in lieu of notice
- Company will need to pay me whole 39 weeks of Statutory Maternity Pay from 20th November
- I know the department is very busy and would probably need associates/contracts to help them meet their commitments which they intend to honour
- My husband works but I am the main breadwinner

Ok, so here we go...I want to stay in my role so will fight for my position, but if the worst comes to the worst I want to make sure I have the best deal for my family and I. So my main questions are as I will be paid the full 39 weeks SMP this means I cant work for them (as a contractor) or another company without paying back some of the money, does this mean essentially I am a bit 'bound' by the company and can ague that I would be due what would have been my accrued holiday pay and 10 back to work days in this period?

The 39 weeks would essentially finish around mid December assuming my 'maternity leave' would have started around mid February. BUT legally I believe I could have taken maternity leave from 11 weeks before the baby's due date (mid-December) so this would mean that the 39 weeks would be up in mid-September. In an ideal world I would be looking to go back to work in August/September at least in some capacity and I'm terrified that if I don't have a job to go back to then we will struggle hugely next year as flexible working is incredibly difficult to find and I am paid a solid wage due to my skills and experience. I'm trying not to get stressed because of the baby but it is hard to think straight with so many things going over in my head.

I am also worried about payment schedule with any redundancy plus SMP payment due to tax, NI and still having some outstanding Student Loan and I know they get a little grab happy in scenarios where you are paid a chunk of money in one go.

I don't think I could even apply for any tax benefits etc due to essentially being on SMP? - Is this correct?

Sorry, I have my first individual consultation this afternoon and i'm pretty terrified as this is my first child and my first experience of redundancy

I'd appreciate any help - thank you in advance.

sangie595

I'm not up on maternity, so I'll leave the majority of this post alone as I may make a mistake. But the legal bits I can do. If you are made redundant, you are redundant! So you can work anywhere, any time, after that. It's up to you! Getting the SMP doesn't affect it. Some employers have pictures that prevent them re-employing people, but I doubt yours does as these usually apply to contractual redundancy that is greater than statutory.