Maternity pay

Georgeb1971

My wife has been furloughed since April which worked out well for us in the end as our 2 children (6 & 9) needed looking after at home due to school closure.  I work for NHS ambulance so been working throughout.  Her employer has now said they want her back in August but we still have an issue with child care over the summer holidays.  Normally grandparents would help to look after the kids but obviously can't do that at the moment,  So if my wife asked for unpaid leave for August until schools went back would that affect any of her employment rights?  In particular....maternity pay eligibility (she has just found out she is pregnant!)  
So we are a bit concerned that having not been at work since April and now maybe taking August off as well, will this mean she isn't eligible for maternity pay ??
I've tried to read up on this but it's quite a unique circumstance and not sure where to ask the question.

Jonesy1977

You need to look at the calculation period based on the planned maternity - if this includes August then it is likely that this will bring down the average earnings used to calculate maternity pay.  Has your wife informed her employer at this stage?  They may be able to provide the calculation for her.

Jeremy535897

See https://www.gov.uk/guidance/statutory-maternity-pay-manually-calculate-your-employees-payments