Advice needed about Mat leave

[faille]

I posted this in the work section but nobody really knew so I was hoping some of you ladies in here might as a few are trying for baby #2 or 3....

Where do you stand with being entitled for maternity leave for the next baby? I'm due to go back in Jan but what if I'm pregnant again by then or shortly after, will I be entitled to another lot of maternity leave so soon?

My OH thinks I have to go back for a full year before I can go on mat leave again.

Does anyone know? Thanks I'd really appreciate it as I'd have to take this into consideration for when we start TTC for #2 x

 

[nessajane]

As far as i know they have to give you maternity pay hun

 

[HippyMumma23]

There must be some rule though, otherwise women would have the option of getting pregnant again straight away, going back to work for a month having the full mat leave and doing it all over again and again.

The employees would have to draw a line somewhere.

Im not saying this is what you would do, of course, but there will be some 'rule' about it.

 

[hcg]

Hey - I think you can have the leave but you may not be entitled to mat pay as I think its based on your earnings over the past year. ACAS website is usually good at answering qus like that and you can ring them too to find out your rights etc.

xx

 

[tashy100]

Pregnancy during maternity leave
If a woman becomes pregnant again during her maternity leave, she must notify you of this in the normal way - see the page in this guide on notification and confirmation of maternity leave.

Note that it's possible for her subsequent period of maternity leave to begin as soon as the current one ends. In these circumstances, her rights on her eventual return are the same as they would have been had she just taken a single period of maternity leave.
The above was taken from business link. This is maternity LEAVE - not sure about the pay aspect - but it looks as if it would be possible - if the timings were right to be able to get 24 months leave together for 2 babies.

Hope this helps!

 

[Hannah's Mom]

a girl at my work has just done this, she was on mat leave for 12 months came back for 5 weeks and has now left again for another 12 months, with the same pay and benefits as the first lot of leave, with my company you can do this 5 times before you have to take unpaid leave - hope this helps hun
x x x x

 

[Sarahkka]

In Canada, you have to have worked a certain number of hours to qualify for the mat leave payments. I don't know about how long they have to hold your job, though. Good question!

 

[laurawest2580]

In the UK, I'm pretty sure that you are entitled to Mat leave - not sure about situation with regards to pay. Try Citizens advice

https://www.direct.gov.uk/en/Parents/Moneyandworkentitlements/Parentalleaveandpay/DG_10029285

 

[Sparky0207]

Im pretty sure you would only qualify for maternity allowance as opposed to statutory maternity payment. I think your OH is right in that you would have to have been back at work for one whole year after returning in order to qualify.

Pretty sure this is right as thats what I was told when I was going to go back

xx

 

[lollylou1]

i thought u had to be back at work for a minimum of 26 weeks before baby is born to qulaify for maternity pay but maybe thats my companies policy!

Lou
xxx

 

[faille]

This is so confusing lol.. I'd need to know about mat pay - we couldn't afford for me not to get anything!

It's just if I've got to work a full year before getting pregnant with #2, that'd leave a 2 1/2yr age gap if we got lucky first try - I want that gap as maximum.

So it looks possible I might have to go back early just so I can have a smaller age gap

 

[lozzy21]

I dont think its a full year before getting pregnant but say you went back on the 1st of september you would have to start your maternity leave after the 1st of september then following year. So if you were back at work 3m and then got pregnant this should be fine.

 

[Taurustot09]

hi, i was wondering the exact same thing..Lucy is 8 weeks old, i'm on maternity leave until march 2010, hoping to be around 3-4 months pregnant by then. so i would imagine i will go back to work until my next mat leave..unless i get pregnant sooner and will have less time at work. can you really just go back for a few weeks? have visions of a very unhappy boss LOL.

 

[Sparky0207]

Had a look, you have to have been working for at least 26 weeks by your 15th week of pregnancy, thats how its worded (no idea why!).

You wouldnt get nothing even if you didnt qualify for SMP. With SMP you get 90% full pay for the first 6 weeks and £123 for each week thereafter up to one year. With maternity allowance (which is what I got as I was made redundant just before I found out I was pregnant) you get 9 months leave at £123 per week, so tbh it doesnt make a huge amount of difference

 

[kate.m.]

I thought it was that u had to be working for 26 weeks before the qualifying date (which is 15 weeks before u expect the baby to b born)? By my calculations this roughly works out as "so long as ur working for them just before the baby is conceived, ur ok?", but then again, that might just b teachers?

 

[faille]

Thanks Sparky & Kate

I didn't know whether that rule applied to a second lot of mat leave after only just returning from the first!

 

[Blah11]

My work (NHS) says you have to go back to work for 3 months to qualify for your previous mat pay so I assume I could go back to work in Oct already 3 months pregnant, work for 5 months and take a year off if I wished.

 

[Blah11]

This is so confusing lol.. I'd need to know about mat pay - we couldn't afford for me not to get anything!

It's just if I've got to work a full year before getting pregnant with #2, that'd leave a 2 1/2yr age gap if we got lucky first try - I want that gap as maximum.

So it looks possible I might have to go back early just so I can have a smaller age gap

Thats defo not right! You dont need to work a full year

 

[elmaxie]

Oooo Blah how did you find that out? I have been trying to get hold of someone in HR to discuss this

I want to start trying in November...I technically go back 19th December but have 7 weeks of annual leave so go back in February...hopefully 12 ish weeks pregnant.

Emma.xx

 

[alice&bump]

you technically have to go back 1 day before going off again! even tho you're on matleave, you're still considered as being in continuous employment, so you still get SMP and the full amount of leave! obv if your company pays more than SMP then you'll have to checkw ith them on what you'd get. i'm going to be back a grand total of 12 weeks before going off again and get my full entitlement!