Maternity Pay – The Essential Facts

 

We’d like to talk to you about maternity pay. It’s a really confusing subject and it shouldn’t be. So we would like to share with you the simple rules of maternity pay.

How much money will I receive?

At a minimum you will receive Statutory Maternity Pay (SMP). This is funded by the government but your employer pays this into your bank account each month. You will receive 90% of your salary for the first six weeks of your maternity leave. After that you will receive £140 a week for the next 33 weeks. So you will receive money for 39 weeks of your maternity leave, that’s around 9 months.

How do I qualify?

Being employed isn’t a free pass to receive maternity pay. You do have to follow rules:

1. You have to be continuously in work between 41 weeks up to 15 weeks before your due date. In simpler language, you have to working about a week before you conceive up until about 3 months before you give birth.

2. You need to earn at least £113 a week, which is around £500 a month. If you follow these rules, you qualify for Statutory Maternity Pay and your employer can arrange it for you.

Can I get paid more than Statutory Maternity Pay?

You may be thinking that is not much money. You are right, it is a big hit to take for the time you take off work. A lot of employers do top-up statutory maternity pay; the larger and more generous companies will top it up so that you receive at least six months’ full pay and on average many companies will top it up so you get three months’ full pay. If your company choses not to top it up, you will only get statutory.

If you are not sure what your position is at your company, in terms of whether they will top it up and what maternity pay you will get, then make sure you start having those conversations with your manager. Even if it’s a couple of years away until you start trying for a baby, it’s good to get that sorted in your contract early on.

If you have any questions on maternity pay or leave, you can comment below or come to our website and Ask MOXI.