Redundancy at 28wks Pregnant

Letsgetorganised

Hi all
I'm currently going through the consultation period for my role which has been deemed "at risk of redundancy". The next meeting is Monday, when I expect my employer to confirm they are proceeding with redundancy. I have researched lots, spoken to a solicitor and contacted various advice bodies including LRA, CAB and HMRC. In all honesty most have been useless due to the complexity of my redundancy.. At 28 weeks pregnant I am due Statutory Maternity Pay and was due to leave for maternity leave in 8 weeks anyhow, so why my employer thinks my role is where the huge savings lie is beyond me. Basically I want to know whether my employer can pay my SMP as a lump sum or can I ask for it to be paid weekly/monthly as would have been the case had they not started this process. If they pay it as a lump sum its taxable income and the tax man is going to take a huge cut.. From my very rough calculations I reckon I'll lose about 10 weeks of the full 39 due to me. This is because of the timing (coming up to the end of the 1718 tax year). By paying my SMP as a lump sum my employer also assumes I will take the full 39 weeks I'm entitled to.. But ironically in doing so I will lose so many weeks SMP that I won't be able to afford taking that long off, so I'll have to find a new job sooner than I would have liked after the baby is born, and then I'll have to repay my employer the "overpaid" amount of SMP despite me never receiving it, thus further reducing how much I have available to spend during my mat leave. Is there anyone who can advise or who has experience of this?!

silvercar

It was many years ago, but I was made redundant while on Maternity leave. My employer (very large company) continued to pay SMP throughout and issued the P45 at the end of the SMP.

sangie595

I think you might be better on the tax boards! I'm not an expert on tax and our members have occupational maternity pay so I'm used to dealing with that - but it was my belief that they cannot pay it as a lump sum if you want it paying as normal. But you do remain on the books as an employee until the last payment. But I may be wrong - tax isn't my area. But I'm sure that if they continue to pay you you remain an employee - and gain other rights as well, when your maternity leaves starts.

daisy23169

The official advice is that employers should 'agree' with the employee whether the SMP will be paid in a lump sum or paid monthly throughout what would have been the mat leave.

In practice however, there is no requirement for the employer to gain the employee's official agreement with the method they choose, so it's effectively up to the employer to decide.

I would suggest taking all of your calculations along to your meeting and explaining exactly how much you will be out of pocket by if they pay your SMP in a lump sum. It's worth pleading your case to have the payments spread, and if they're determined to get you off the books immediately (rather than keeping you on the payroll for an extra 39 weeks) you could always request that they make up the difference by way of an ex gratia payment alongside your redundancy.

Depends on your employer - mine would probably pay the ex gratia (private sector, keen to support exiting employees, likes a quiet life) but my previous employer wouldn't have (public sector, very strict about keeping to the letter of entitlements). Worth asking though!