Please help me with mat allowance!! so stressed

[catty]

Hello,

I posted about this before but basically -- I am on maternity leave from my work and i am 14 weeks pregnant with my second child. i am due back to work at the end of February and due my 2nd child on the 16th of June.

What i would like to do is quit my job and get maternity allowance ( i hate it there and they will make a big fuss of this and make it hell for me)

The only problem is i have phoned literally every helpline possible and noone can guarantee i will be entitled to maternity allowance.
The guidelines state i need to have worked 26 weeks in the past 66 weeks before the baby is born. I will only have worked 13 weeks but have been employed for 2 years. Noone can answer this, they dont no if it means employed or physically working.

Im so stressed if i dont get the money were screwed, but i really dont want to have to go back to that job to receive smp

 

[chezababy]

When you're on maternity leave you are still considered to be working and are entitled to any benefits that come from that so I would assume that you don't need to be physically working.

 

[Louppey]

Why not just take second maternity leave? You may have to go back for a month however you will accrue holiday whilst on maternity which should be law be 5.6 weeks per annum. I'm sure your employer will allow you to use your holiday to cover that month so you don't need to return. Actually you are probably just entitled to do that anyway. Check with acas

 

[MindUtopia]

I was on maternity allowance (because I'm self-employed, which is a slightly difference application process but it's similar). My understanding is that yes, you have to be working not just on SMP from a previous birth. But if you were working and you qualified for SMP for your last birth, you'd probably still qualify for SMP this time rather than maternity allowance. If you don't want to go back to work at all before baby arrives, then from what I understand, you wouldn't be eligible for anything because you still have to get in those 26 weeks of working (and paying national insurance, that's really the main thing) and at least 13 of those you have to make 30 quid a week or more for MA.

 

[catty]

To qualify, they must have been employed or self-employed for 26 weeks out of the 66 weeks before the expected week of childbirth.


This is the part everyone is having trouble with - i have been empoyed but iv not been at work?

 

[catty]

I need to tell my work this week as they close for christmas and i have people from work on my facebook so i feel i cant tell anyone about my pregnancy until i get this cleared up.

I am too nervous to phone, do you think an email would be ok?

what would you write, if i was to go back to work it would be from february until the very latest may

 

[lily24]

I know that Mat allowance is not considered an income (taxable) so maybe this is why you are having trouble?
Why not just fill out an application and see what happens?

 

[baileybubs]

Will you be 25 weeks pregnant by the end of February? Because if you are (and by my calculations I think you will be) then you don't have to go back and just go straight into secon maternity leave, but I think you have to tell your employer now as you need to tell them by 15 weeks pregnant (someone correct me if I'm wrong on that one). Plus you will have been accruing holiday pay so you could just take all your holiday entitlement then go straight into mat leave again and then a month before your second mat leave is up just hand in your notice at the job.

Just don't forget that you may pay or mat allowance will only be 90% of your earnings 11 weeks prior to getting the mat pay rather than the standard £136 a week. For example, I'm now part time and earn £130 a week so when I go on second mat leave I will only get 90% of £130 rather than the £136 I got in last mat leave.

Hope that makes sense!

 

[ickle pand]

That is wrong baileybubs, you only need to tell them about a pregnancy, 15 weeks before your due date

 

[Dani_Ldn]

That is wrong baileybubs, you only need to tell them about a pregnancy, 15 weeks before your due date

15 weeks before the week of your due date.

I am pretty certain that you only need be employed in order to claim, not physically working. This is what it states on direct gov, you must have -

- been employed or self-employed for at least 26 weeks in the 66 weeks before the week your baby is due
- been earning at least £30 a week over any 13 week period

Have you done the mat allowance calculator? https://www.gov.uk/calculate-your-maternity-pay/y

 

[HPmum2B]

I think I may be able to help you....

DD was born September 2012, I fell pregnant with DC number 2 while on maternity leave. Due date is beginning of February 2014 (16 month age gap).

I had accrued about 6 weeks annual leave while I was on my first maternity leave. I stacked that on to the end of my maternity leave, which meant I was due back at the end of October. The earliest I could take my second set of maternity leave was the end of November, so i asked to take unpaid parental leave for 3 or 4 weeks. This took me to 29 weeks pregnant. When I started my second set of maternity leave.
By luck, I was paid the rest of my annual leave during the 'maternity pay calculation period' so I am actually being paid statutory maternity pay for a second time (and not maternity allowance).

However, if I had not had this was not the case, and as it was just luck of the timing, I would have been paid maternity allowance from the government instead.

If you are being paid statutory maternity pay, this counts as earnings and is as good as a salary in the eyes of the law. If you have been getting maternity pay, you will qualify for maternity allowance.

I also had the same trouble getting anyone to confirm I was entitled to it. My company did all the leg work for me in the end.

When did you go on maternity leave with your first child, and what is the due date of your second child?

 

[baileybubs]

I thought I'd got that but wrong, but as Pp above says I'm sure you could jut go from first maternity pay to second with some holiday pay in between perhaps.

 

[catty]

Thanks everyone, very helpful. I think thats what il do.

Im just scared to tell my work I dont know why, I guess these things happen to lots of people.
Il need to email my boss today or tomorrow (there never at the phone) and i dont want to just walk in and tell them.
Anyone have any advice on what to write in thw email im useless at these things.
Im technically entitled to my maternity leave until the 31st of may and due 16th of june but the paid mat leave finishes in feb

 

[baileybubs]

You should be able to ask for your holidays then in your email and ask for your second mat leave to start once your holidays have been paid.
How friendly are you with your boss? I'm quite informal with mine so I just told her and asked her if she could work out what holiday pay I had.

Maybe just write an email stating you are pregnant and that you wish to take any holidays you have accrued from the end of February, then ask to begin your mat leave for this baby following the end of those holidays. Or request a meeting with your boss or HR about it maybe? Depends how formal your company is on these issues.

 

[HPmum2B]

Based on the dates you have said, the earliest you can start your next set of maternity leave is 30th March (the 11th week before the week you are due).

You may find you are actually paid maternity pay by your company (and not maternity allowance by the government) for a second year, because you will still be being paid maternity pay by your company during Jan & Feb. I believe this to be your calculation period for working out maternity pay.

I have sent you a PM with what the email I sent to my company (would rather not post it on the internet).

 

[catty]

Based on the dates you have said, the earliest you can start your next set of maternity leave is 30th March (the 11th week before the week you are due).

You may find you are actually paid maternity pay by your company (and not maternity allowance by the government) for a second year, because you will still be being paid maternity pay by your company during Jan & Feb. I believe this to be your calculation period for working out maternity pay.

I have sent you a PM with what the email I sent to my company (would rather not post it on the internet).

Thank you so much!! was a big help!! im just going to email it today and not let myself carry on past xmas. Even if they are annoyed i dont think i will actually have to see them.