Maternity Pay and Leave

[Guest]

Hello everyone, I need some advice regarding maternity leave. I am starting to lose sleep of this :-(

I understand the general gist of how much an employee is entitled to etc but the problem I am having is:

 

• An employee is due in August which is in the half term holiday and wants to take her maternity leave from the day after the baby is born.
  What I do not understand is when then does her Maternity pay start? from that day in August? or from September when we are due back to work as we do not work in August?? Surely it would start in September? :huh:
  
  

and

• Whilst said member of staff is on Maternity leave, she will not receive her holiday pay but when she returns do I have to pay all the holiday pay she has accumulated in her first wage?

 

We work 38 weeks of the year, term time only.

We receive holiday pay in an monthly wage and it is shown as holiday pay.

 

Now the chair has written a letter for me go over and print but she has stated in the letter that the said member of staffs maternity leave starts on the last day of term, 23rd July 2013, which is not the case or does she have to start then?? Its all getting to confusing and starting to worry me as I do not want her to lose out of money or time she may is entitled to but I just cant get my head around it

 

I have spoken to ACAS but they said that I need to speak to HMRC but HMRC just keep saying she is entitled to maternity pay, which I am not disputing, just very confused as to when it should be started as we do not work in August!!

 

Sorry to blabber on.... I hope I have explained myself and not confused everyone. Any help and guidance would be greatly appreciated.

[Lucie]

Havng just had maternity leave (although I'm a teacher so may be slightly different), the employee is entitled to start Maternity leave on the day (or day after, not sure) the baby is born, or on their estimated due date, it doesn't matter when that is. E.g as a teacher if you are due in the summer holidays you put your expected due date as the start of your maternity leave, then if baby is early you start it then. I dont think you can start ML after your expected due date. Also your employee decides when their maternity leave starts - not the comittee. She is entitled to the same pay as everyone else from the end of term until she starts her maternity leave.

I hope I'm right (this is how I understand it anyway!)

[Guest]

Thank you for your reply Lucie.

 

So even though we don't work through holidays her maternity will start if she so wishes in the holiday. So her 52 weeks of maternity leave will also be through the school holidays and she will paid for every week, even though we do not work in the half term breaks?

 

Sorry if I sound dumb, just need to get my head around it.

[Stargrower]

She decides when her maternity leave starts. If she worked all year, she would give you a date when she thinks she would finish work - for most people it's a couple of weeks before the baby is due (but might be earlier depending on how well they are and how they are coping with work and being heavily pregnant) Most of my girls finish 2 -3 weeks before due date. I'm not sure how it works if you don't work in August - it will depend on how you are paid. If you are paid normally for August, then she will just have to let you know when she would like her SMP to begin. The date when her SMP begins will determine how much she gets paid each month and when she will be due to return to work.

She will accrue her normal holiday entitlement while she is on Maternity leave. You can either pay her some holiday pay each month, or she will be entitled to it all when she returns, or she could add her holiday time on to the end of her maternity leave to get some extra time off.

[lynned55]

I think I know what you are saying toddlermadness.

You only get paid for the weeks you work, as you are open for 38 weeks you get paid for 38 weeks only plus your holiday pay.

This money is added together and then split over 12 months. So although you dont get paid when you are not working/open- your staff still have a wage coming in. SO you are asking in this case would she still be due maternity leave if this is a period you do not work normally ?

If I'm right, then I'm sorry I still cant help as I haven't the faintest idea- you really need HMRC to give you a clearer answer

[SueJ]

The link below is the ACAS information about maternity pay if it helps

 

http://www.acas.org.uk/index.aspx?articleid=1753

 

 

For term time workers they must be on a continuous contract in order to have been employed for a continuous period of 26 weeks. If they are on a term time only contract (e.g., renewed each term and there is no work during the holidays and they are not expected to work then it is unlikely that a term time worker will work for a continuous period of 26 weeks). The ACAS helpline staff are a good point of contact to help you with any queries.