Calculating redundancy whilst on maternity leave

phoenix76x

hi all, A friend of mine is midway through her maternity leave and had her first one to one for redundancy(as have I). I understand that her redundancy pay must be calculated on the period before her maternity leave.
Taken from HERE maternityaction.org.uk
Note: If you are on maternity or parental leave, your statutory redundancy pay should be calculated using your normal week’s pay or average week’s pay received before your statutory leave period started. It should not be based on your SMP or contractual maternity pay.

 but I am not sure about notice period if they was to pay her off. She has worked there for 5.5 years so statutory pay would be 5 weeks, but her contractual notice period is 1 week.

From the same website-

Am I entitled to paid notice if I am made redundant while I am on leave?

This a complex issue and the rules are not very clear. The statutory (legal) period of paid notice is one week’s notice for each year of continuous employment with your employer, up to a maximum of 12 weeks. You are entitled to receive paid statutory notice when you are on maternity or parental leave. 

However, if your contract of employment gives you at least one week’s notice more than your statutory notice period above, you have to rely on the notice period in your contract – contractual notice. Contractual notice is usually considered to be ‘remuneration’ which you are not entitled to unless it is stated in your contract or your employer agrees to pay it as part of your redundancy package. For example, if you have worked for your employer for three full years and are entitled to 3 weeks’ statutory notice but your contract gives you one month’s notice – this is a week more than your statutory notice so you are only entitled to your contractual notice. 

Does this mean she would only be entitled to one weeks pay as notice?

hoping somebody can set us straight on this, thanks in advance.

Rodders53

Read and understand the phrase in your original post.

if your contract of employment gives you at least one week’s notice more than your statutory notice period above, 

I read it your friends contractual notice is 1 week.  That is less than the 5.5 weeks of statutory notice...  so statutory trumps contactual.

phoenix76x

Thanks, I did think that after I posted but it's always best to get a bit of clarity.