Retention payment on maternity leave

rebecca096 · 25 March 2020 at 8:35PM

Hello people. I am currently employed on maternity leave. My last maternity payment was on the 28th February, so I am now classed as being on extended maternity which is unpaid. I was looking to go back to work around the beginning of may I have spoke to my boss about this however due to covid 19 my boss asked I contacted her in a few weeks to sort it out. Today I have been made aware that all staff at my company have been furloughed and they will be paying them 80% of their wages as part of the retention scheme from the government. However they have told me because I am on ‘extended maternity’ I am not entitled to any money. This could be going on a while and I can not live without money. Can I please have some advise on where I stand with this? Thanks

Jeremy535897 · 25 March 2020 at 8:42PM

Employers can choose who to furlough and who to leave out of the scheme. If I were you I would ask why you have been left out of it, as extended maternity leave doesn't seem to be a barrier (although it might make it harder to work out what to base the 80% on).