Do I lose my maternity leave if I am made redundant?

[modo]

I am due to go on annual leave from the 24 March 2010 until 7 April 2010 when I start my maternity leave. Our office is moving from SW London (about 20 mins from my house) to Essex about 42 miles away. This is not doable for me. I don't drive so DH would have to drive me to work and take the baby and drive back home. He would then need to pick me up (again with the baby) and take me home.

I was told verbally that I would be able to work from home but I was told today that this has now been rescinded. My boss said that I can go for my maternity leave and see if the board of directors will change their mind by the time I come back in a years time. Or they can offer me a redundancy package now. He seemed to imply that if I become redundant I would no longer get maternity pay. Is this true? I am only getting the minimum package 6 weeks at 90% of my salary then sat mat pay for 6 months. I thought I earned this by paying my national insurance? Am I misunderstanding?

I asked him to email me a redundancy package but I said that I might not accept it and just go on my mat leave and hope the directors change their mind.

Background info
I have worked for my employer coming up to three years at the end of March. I gave my intent to go on mat leave a week early at when I was 24 weeks pregnant and gave them my MatB1 form. I have received a letter confirming my mat leave which mentioned the package stated above.

 

[Missy86]

I could be wrong hun but I am pretty sure you would still get it as you have worked the set number of weeks to get SMP

Can you phone CAB

 

[modo]

Thanks for the reply hon. I will call CAB. I have been speaking to legal helpline that was provided for me by home insurance. The last guy I spoke to said that that I can't get mat leave if I am no longer an employee.

 

[Missy86]

If you cant get SMP you can deffo still get Mat Allowence which is pretty much the same anyhow just you dont get the 90% of your wages for the first 6 weeks

 

[Cham]

In order to qualify for SMP, you need to be continuously employed for 26 weeks at the 15th week before your EWC, regardless, so if you are due to start your mat leave, you should be entitled to both SMP and your redundancy pay.

You should still be entitled to redundancy pay because the work they have found you isn't suitable due to the location.

 

[modo]

Thanks Cham and Missy! I will try and speak to a lawyer to try and sort this out.

I found this on the ACAS website which seems to make it pretty clear:

You are entitled to Statutory Maternity Pay (SMP) if you have been employed by your employer for a continuous period of at least 26 weeks ending with the 15th week before the expected week of childbirth, and have average weekly earnings at least equal to the lower earnings limit for National Insurance contributions. SMP can be paid for up to 39 weeks; it is payable by the employer but partly (or, for small firms, wholly) reimbursed by the state.

From April 2009 the standard rate of SMP is £123.06 a week (or 90 per cent of your average weekly earnings if this is less than £123.06 a week). For the first six weeks the rate is 90 per cent of average weekly earnings with no maximum limit. The standard rate of SMP is reviewed every April.

 

[aly888]

Surely it depends when you take the redundancy!!if you take redundancy before your mat leave starts then effectively you are no longer employed.if you take your mat leave,then after the 39 or 52 weeks they havent found a suitable solution for you they should then offer you your redundancy (you should get a little bit more that way too coz you would have been employed by them for longer.just coz you are on mat leave,doesnt mean you are 'unemployed' and arent entitled to all the benefits.you also accrue annual leave entitlement whilst on maternity)!!
Good luck.i personally would take my mat leave then wait to see what solution they offer!!

 

[modo]

I have also found this statement in https://www.askbaby.com/maternity-pay.htm The sections in bold were made by me.

Do I still get SMP if my job ends after the 15th week before my baby is due?

You can still get SMP as long as you are employed in the 15th week before your baby is due and you meet the normal qualifying conditions stated above. It doesn't matter if you are off sick or on holiday that week. Once you have qualified for SMP you are entitled to receive it for the full 26 weeks. This is true even if you are made redundant, you leave your job or a fixed term contract comes to an end at any time after the 15th week before your baby is due or during your maternity leave. Remember SMP is not repayable if you are not going back to work and your employer can claim back all or most of it from the Inland Revenue regardless.

Thank you for your advice Ally. I will probably wait until after my maternity leave to see what the situation is but I am trying to arm myself with as much knowledge as possible.

 

[Emmylou27]

I ended up in a similar situation. Basically I was given the option of having redundancy and SMP paid in a lump sum, thus making me redundant at the point I went on mat leave or, going on mat leave as normal then be made redundant at the end. I went for the second option as the time spent on mat leave pushed me over another year at the company and increased my redundancy pay at the end.

Either way you are still entitled to mat leave and holiday pay in the normal way.

Hope this helps.

 

[modo]

Thank you Emmylou! Your plan sounds smart

I spoke to a colleague who deals with the finance and he clearly stated that I would get my maternity pay either way.

OT but your baby is gorgeous!

 

[Cham]

Don't forget you accrue annual leave whilst on mat leave.

 

[Mary HH]

I am in a similar situation but was under the impression that if you take volunartary redundancy would will not get SMP - but may be SMA... I am still trying to look into it and decide what to do as I have already worked my quaifiing week.