Occupational Maternity Pay

R_Carpenter

I am entitled to Occupational Materntiy pay, please can someone advise whether they workout your earnings as they would for statutory maternity pay, ie take the 8 weeks pay prior to your qualifying week (15th week before due date) I received full pay during this time period but currently on sick and my pay will reduce before I go into maternity leave
Thanks

R_Carpenter

I have a copy of their policy and it doesn’t say anything really other than I will get the occupational benefit package as I will be employed by them at the 15th week before my due date. The internet states

To calculate your average weekly earnings your employer will average your gross earnings over a period of at least eight weeks up to and including the last payday before the end of your qualifying week. The qualifying week is the 15th week before the week your baby is due.

But I just wonder if that is for SMP. I can’t really ask them as also facing redundancy and the situation isn’t great

Thanks

chrisbur

R_Carpenter wrote: »

I have a copy of their policy and it doesn’t say anything really other than I will get the occupational benefit package as I will be employed by them at the 15th week before my due date. The internet states

To calculate your average weekly earnings your employer will average your gross earnings over a period of at least eight weeks up to and including the last payday before the end of your qualifying week. The qualifying week is the 15th week before the week your baby is due.

But I just wonder if that is for SMP. I can’t really ask them as also facing redundancy and the situation isn’t great

Thanks

Yes that is the system used for calculating the entitlement to SMP and is the figure used to calculate the payment of SSP for the first six weeks (90% of that average earnings figure) This establishes a minimum figure you must receive, your employer is free to offer anything over this figure, and over the standard SMP rate that follows it; and for those employers that do this there will be quite a few different arrangements. If you have nothing in writing about what your employer does you will have to ask or just wait and see i am afraid.

R_Carpenter

I have confirmation of what they pay just not when hey work it out

Thanks

LilElvis

What does the policy say they pay?

R_Carpenter

The confirmation states I will get the following
9weeks full pay
18 weeks half pay
12 weeks SMP

It’s just when they calculate my average weekly pay is it the same as when they calculate the average weekly pay for SMP

R_Carpenter

I’m on a salary

R_Carpenter

So they wouldn’t work it out like they do SMP? Over the 8 week period before the qualifying week?

TELLIT01

R_Carpenter wrote: »

So they wouldn’t work it out like they do SMP? Over the 8 week period before the qualifying week?

Maybe I'm missing something, but if you are salaried you get the same amount every week so the calculation for 'normal' pay and SMP would surely give the same figure.

R_Carpenter

It doesnt really state anything in the policy about it, it purely states what their occupational maternity benefit is and I have had confirmation I will receive that but not actually how much I will get paid just full pay for so many weeks etc. They aren’t being particularly nice to me at the moment and off with stress so I was worried they will just do what they want. I’m currently receiving full pay but this will reduce like I said before I go onto maternity and just worried they would use the weeks I’m on half pay to calculate my occupational maternity pay

Thanks everyone

chrisbur

If they have advised you that you will receive 9 weeks full pay then I would expect them to pay that. Of course you cannot be certain that they will not try something on so make sure you keep their notification of what you will receive.

If they were to use the system used to calculate SMP then this would not be affected by any reduction in earnings coming up as the period used is always based on a period ending with the qualifying week which has now passed.