Maternity leave deductions

iNeecex

Hi,

Hopefully someone can help with this am I'm a bit confused!

I started maternity leave on the 25th of September, my payday at work is the 27th of each month and is accrued from day to day and payable monthly in arrears. I have just (belatedly) gone through my September payslip and noticed a large deduction for 'absence'. Since I haven't been absent since June, I emailed enquiring about this and was informed that the deduction is due to me starting my maternity leave on the 25th.

I am entitled to smp at the basic rate and due to my pay being in arrears, would not have expected a deduction until Octobers pay. The deduction also total just over 2 days worth of pay, so quite a fair bit. I have queried this with them but was just wondering if I'm missing something or if they have made  a mistake in my pay. It looks like they haven't noted my entitlement to smp (which I have in writing) and I'm panicking a fair bit.

Thank you!

HampshireH

Did you give your employer enough notice that you would start on 25th for payroll to make any amendments? Have you spoken to them (explaining the above not just pointing it out - ask them when they believe they are paying SMP from)

This may help.

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

iNeecex

HampshireH said:

Did you give your employer enough notice that you would start on 25th for payroll to make any amendments? Have you spoken to them (explaining the above not just pointing it out - ask them when they believe they are paying SMP from)

This may help.

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

Yes, told them in early July that I intended to go on maternity leave from the 25th and had confirmation email after the meeting that all was set up. I've popped them an email and just awaiting a response now, I also noticed the pay deducted is just under a weeks worth (pay varies each month, no idea why, so the the amount with the deductions wasn't a red flag) so their response doesn't make any sense.

JCS1

SMP is paid in whole weeks, which I suspect is why.

iNeecex

JCS1 said:

SMP is paid in whole weeks, which I suspect is why.

Yes all sorted now! I wish they’d have explain a bit more beforehand as I would’ve held out a few days more to make sure I get the full months pay but oh well!

Now awaiting a response as they’ve said I’m entitled to 80% for the first 6 weeks as apposed to the 90% I should be getting.

chrisbur

iNeecex said:

JCS1 said:

SMP is paid in whole weeks, which I suspect is why.

Yes all sorted now! I wish they’d have explain a bit more beforehand as I would’ve held out a few days more to make sure I get the full months pay but oh well!

Now awaiting a response as they’ve said I’m entitled to 80% for the first 6 weeks as apposed to the 90% I should be getting.

Have you been given any explanation for this reduction?
I see  from your first post you say " I haven't been absent since June" which suggests you have had some absence which might have reduced your average earnings for the relevant period so your SMP could be less than 90% of your normal earnings.  Though for that to work out as exactly 80% would be a bit of a coincidence.

iNeecex

chrisbur said:

iNeecex said:

JCS1 said:

SMP is paid in whole weeks, which I suspect is why.

Yes all sorted now! I wish they’d have explain a bit more beforehand as I would’ve held out a few days more to make sure I get the full months pay but oh well!

Now awaiting a response as they’ve said I’m entitled to 80% for the first 6 weeks as apposed to the 90% I should be getting.

Have you been given any explanation for this reduction?
I see  from your first post you say " I haven't been absent since June" which suggests you have had some absence which might have reduced your average earnings for the relevant period so your SMP could be less than 90% of your normal earnings.  Though for that to work out as exactly 80% would be a bit of a coincidence.

They said this

‘Statutory pay is paid over Calendar days per month , this is a HMRC rule, so the system is set up to process in this way so if you started your maternity on the 25th of September that means you have 6 days absences’?

My June absence was deducted from my June pay correctly, apart from that there has been no time off. I’m hoping it’s just an error on their part because otherwise I have no idea where they’ve got the 80% figure from.

chrisbur

iNeecex said:

chrisbur said:

iNeecex said:

JCS1 said:

SMP is paid in whole weeks, which I suspect is why.

Yes all sorted now! I wish they’d have explain a bit more beforehand as I would’ve held out a few days more to make sure I get the full months pay but oh well!

Now awaiting a response as they’ve said I’m entitled to 80% for the first 6 weeks as apposed to the 90% I should be getting.

Have you been given any explanation for this reduction?
I see  from your first post you say " I haven't been absent since June" which suggests you have had some absence which might have reduced your average earnings for the relevant period so your SMP could be less than 90% of your normal earnings.  Though for that to work out as exactly 80% would be a bit of a coincidence.

They said this

‘Statutory pay is paid over Calendar days per month , this is a HMRC rule, so the system is set up to process in this way so if you started your maternity on the 25th of September that means you have 6 days absences’?

My June absence was deducted from my June pay correctly, apart from that there has been no time off. I’m hoping it’s just an error on their part because otherwise I have no idea where they’ve got the 80% figure from.

Not strictly an HMRC rule but rather an option to pay this way.  Each day of the payment should be paid at the equivalent of 1/7 of the weekly amount so that you should eventually receive the full amount.  So for Sept you get 6/7 and the 1/7 should be included in the next month adding up to the weekly amount due.
As you have the figures your SMP can be checked if you wish to give the details, or you can check it yourself at ....
https://www.gov.uk/maternity-paternity-calculator