What is my daughter entitled too as pregnant

wannaberich41

Hi
My daughter is currently expecting and due in 5 1/2 weeks.  Was looking to work another 4 weeks due to financial reasons but is now beginning to struggle.  working as a rep and travels all over the midlands and southern areas. 

She has only been in the new job 8 months.  Her and her husband had beenTrying for sometime and was being investigated on the fertility side of things.  As she has not been in the job that long she will not get full maternity pay.   She is also the bigger earner out of the 2 of them.  She is looking to possibly go on leave sooner as exhausted from the travelling etc.  she also has gestational diabetes and gallstones.  Which can cause discomfort and issues.  Anyway she is possible thinking now leaving in 2 weeks time but husband is not keen due to financial reasons. 

What other benefits would they be entitled too or could try and claim please ?
universal credit, tax credits or are these the same thing? 

Any helpful advice would be greatly appreciated and would like to thank you in advance. 

elsien

As universal Credit is income related she would need to put her maternity pay figures,  her husband’s income and any savings that they have between them into a benefits calculator. 

itsthelittlethings

She would get maternity pay from the government, I can’t remember the exact name of it but I knew someone in exactly this situation who had not been at their job for long enough and they got maternity pay from DWP.

itsthelittlethings

Look into maternity allowance I think it’s called.

LightFlare

possibly look at shared parental leave especially if finances are tight and she is the higher earner

pmlindyloo

This is a good guide to start you off:

Maternity pay and leave: Overview - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

Follow each page through and it will direct you to some good information.

Flugelhorn

flip - just tell her to quit in 2 weeks, she must be exhausted and with DM and gallstones needs to look after herself. Also does she really want to go into prem labour a long way from home? 

sorry - not much help over the money - but a few extra weeks income many not be worth it in the long run

chrisbur

The dates you have given would appear to be close to or past the qualifying date for SMP; might be worth giving it a check....
https://www.gov.uk/maternity-paternity-calculator

Has she received the SMP1 form from her employer advising that SMP is not payable,....
https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/5a802497e5274a2e8ab4e6ea/smp1.pdf

This form gives details about applying for mat allowance.

SMP and mat allowance are similar but do have differences, SMP is usually more money but it is taxable while MA is a tax free allowance so which is better can vary.   

Penguin_

Yes her employer should give her a SMP1 form at the earliest possible opportunity.

Exodi

chrisbur said:

The dates you have given would appear to be close to or past the qualifying date for SMP; might be worth giving it a check....
https://www.gov.uk/maternity-paternity-calculator

Has she received the SMP1 form from her employer advising that SMP is not payable,....
https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/5a802497e5274a2e8ab4e6ea/smp1.pdf

This form gives details about applying for mat allowance.

SMP and mat allowance are similar but do have differences, SMP is usually more money but it is taxable while MA is a tax free allowance so which is better can vary.   

This is very important as the dates are extremely close.

Based on what the OP said we conclude the due date is around 19/10/24 (in 5.5 weeks), meaning the conception date would have been stated as around 13/01/24 (working back 40 weeks). The OP suggests that the daughter has been at the job for 8 months, which strictly would be 10/01/24 meaning they'd be entitled to SMP.

If this is true, this would be fantastic for your daughter, as the test is that you were already in employment when you got pregnant (as opposed to gaining employment while already pregnant) - the dates above could suggest this. Obviously I'd imagine an employer might not be thrilled about paying SMP for an employee who got pregnant almost immediately after being hired, but that's their problem.

But, as @chrisbur says, the devil is in the detail - you have to check and double check these dates as they are very close and she could lose out over only a few days.

Penguin_

What was her exact start date with her employer?