Maternity Leave

[SarahLou372]

Hi there ladies

Im in the UK and I were wondering if anyone knew anything about maternity leave and how it works???? Do you have to be working somewhere for so long before you can get the leave??

Me and OH want to start ttc May/June this year to try and have spring/summer baby in 2015. And I start a new job on Monday and I will need to keep my job and go back to work at some point.

 

[KrissyC]

If your not already pregnant then you will ne entitled to maternity pay. When you start on Monday ask for a copy of the maternity policy. My work has company maternity pay if you have been there a year. You could fall into that category too. X

 

[magicwhisper]

Even if your not entitled to your works maternity pay you should be entitled to the government maternity pay. You have to be working in the same company for a certain amount of time. But im not sure how long that is you will have to google it sorry!

 

[Pearls18]

You are entitled to maternity leave no matter what, for one year, if you weren't entitled to Statutory Maternity Pay you would get maternity allowance for 9 months and 3 months unpaid, but can go back anytime so long as you have at least 2 weeks off and give your employer 56 days notice *I think*

If you start next week and continue to work up until the 25th week of pregnancy you will be entitled to Statutory Maternity Pay, you only have to have worked somewhere for about a week before falling pregnant to get SMP. This means you can go on maternity leave from 29 weeks pregnant, get 6 weeks at 90% of your wages and then 33 weeks of about £135 a week. Then 3 months unpaid if you desire.

Your company may have their own enhanced maternity leave, how much and when you are entitled depends on the company. For me I needed to be in work about 7 months to be entitled to that (on top of SMP). If your company has enhanced mat leave it is usually worth holding out for it, it is often something like 6-8 weeks of full pay and then 12 weeks of half pay on top of SMP so it works out a lot more than just SMP. So on your first day try and sneakily dig out HR's policies

If you go on the direct gov website it has all the info on maternity allowance and SMP, make sure you read that before making a decision, don't go from what I have said just in case lol!

 

[majorie Lee]

You are entitled to maternity leave no matter what, for one year, if you weren't entitled to Statutory Maternity Pay you would get maternity allowance for 9 months and 3 months unpaid, but can go back anytime so long as you have at least 2 weeks off and give your employer 56 days notice *I think*

If you start next week and continue to work up until the 25th week of pregnancy you will be entitled to Statutory Maternity Pay, you only have to have worked somewhere for about a week before falling pregnant to get SMP. This means you can go on maternity leave from 29 weeks pregnant, get 6 weeks at 90% of your wages and then 33 weeks of about £135 a week. Then 3 months unpaid if you desire.

Your company may have their own enhanced maternity leave, how much and when you are entitled depends on the company. For me I needed to be in work about 7 months to be entitled to that (on top of SMP). If your company has enhanced mat leave it is usually worth holding out for it, it is often something like 6-8 weeks of full pay and then 12 weeks of half pay on top of SMP so it works out a lot more than just SMP. So on your first day try and sneakily dig out HR's policies

If you go on the direct gov website it has all the info on maternity allowance and SMP, make sure you read that before making a decision, don't go from what I have said just in case lol!

Being a freelance interior designer, I don't have to worry about these issues.