Maternity Pay Problem

[Lou7477]

Hi

 

I was made redundant on Friday 5/8 and at the time was 24 weeks and 4 days pregnant. I had no consultation just was taken into the office at 4pm told my job has been given to a lady in Singapore and I was not to work my notice. I was then ushered off the premises!

 

Contractual notice period is 4 weeks for which they are paying me for. I am the only person being made redundant even though my job is being passed to another country and not technically a redundancy situation?!?

 

ACAS told me that as I worked for the company for 3 years continuously before being made redundant, they would have to pay my SMP as I had qualified for it. The lady said it looks like they've done this to get out of paying me any SMP and that it would be up to them to prove otherwise. Something to do with the SMP Regulations Section 1?!?!

 

Does anyone have any knowledge on this issue?

thanks

Lou

[Sidewinder]

Not very good at calculating dates I'm afraid - what is (was) to be your expected week of confinement?

 

The qualifying point for SMP is the 15th week before your baby is due. Looks OK, but can you confirm?

[Lou7477]

Hi

My babies are due 21.11.11.

I was 25 weeks pregnant on Monday 11.08

Am struggling with this one as keep getting conflicting advice from Acas. I am serving a one month notice period that have been told I need not go back to work for so am I therefore still technically employed until that period ends? I suspect they'll pay in lieu of notice and therefore end my contract but not had anything yet from them. I've got to call hm disputes team today to get their take on this but hope you might have some insight into how to handle this. Quite honestly I am stressed out over this, as if having twins is not enough worry. I feel let down after over 3 years loyal service

[honeybee13]

Hello there.

 

I know it's easy for me to say, but try not to take this personally, it's not about you as a person. These are tough economic times and it could happen to anyone. My OH and his colleagues are worried.

 

Being pregnant does weird things to your hormones and emotions, so you may well be extra sensitive.

 

Once this is sorted, I hope you'll have time to look after yourself and the babies you're carrying. You and they are the most important in all this.

 

HB x

[lottieapple]

Hi Lou

 

Working out your SMP entitlement your qualifiying week would have commenced on 7th August 2011 so therefore your SMP entitlement is all dependant on your final date of employment. Have you already submitted your MATB1? if so request that they send it back to you if they confirm your final date of employment was 5th Aug.

 

Have the company written to you confirming your the reasons for your dismissal, your final payment and importantly your final date of employment? If they state that it's a redundancy situation remember that you are not only entitled to Redundancy pay but also as a pregnant woman the employer should give you first refusal on any suitable vacancies within the company so giving your job to someone else in the company isn't on! However it doesn't sound like a true redundancy situation to me.

 

Have you looked into claiming Maternity Allowance? If your final date of employment is 5th August 2011, I think you should be able to claim MA http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/Diol1/DoItOnline/DG_4017811 - you can even claim online.

 

I think the confusion with ACAS is because they are confusing your SMP issue and your dismissal, which is potentially an unfair dismissal situation.

 

I agree with Honeybee, firstly and most importantly look after yourself and your babies.

 

Lottie x

[Lou7477]

Hi

 

I've had my P45 today with final leaving date of 9/8/11!!!!

 

I only got MATB1 on Monday at my 25 weeks midwife appointment and still have it as was told not to go back to work and wasn't quite sure what to do with it as of now.

 

However as you say there are 2 separate issues. The first being my unfair dismissal which is not the issue here, the second being did I qualify for SMP to be paid by my ex boss? If my leaving date was 9/8 then I was 25 weeks plus 1 day pregnant. I was told not to go to work even though I wanted to work my 4 weeks notice so was still employed up to and including 9/8??

 

God this is such a grey area, ACAS, CAb, Internet offers no concrete advice

[Kitten1]

If the qualifying date was 7th Aug and your confirmed leaving date was 9th Aug then you are owed your smp. Simple as that.

 

Now, your former employer can either pay it in a lump sum or on your usual payday each month.

 

The lump sum may sound best but just remember you will pay more tax and ni on it.

 

I was made redundant when my baby was about 5mths old and my maternity pay continued until the 39wks were up.

 

Does your p45 show any maternity pay on it or anything like that?

[lottieapple]

Hi Lou

 

If they have confirmed your final leaving date as the 9th of August then you will qualify for SMP from your former employer.

 

As long as you were continuously employed by the employer between 19th Feb 2011 and 7th August 2011 then you qualify for SMP from your former employer.

 

Lottie x

[Lou7477]

Hi all

 

No Mat Pay showing on final payslip or P45 so they will owe it to me?! They've gone off to seek legal advice from somewhere to probably see if they can get out of it. Can they change a leving date once P45 has been submitted? If they did that it would make them look like they were trying to evade SMP payments even more so! I'll just have to wait and see what happens.

Would be nice in a lump sum as I have twins on the way and 2 boys already and it would mean I can buy a car (I have a punto and a family of 6 plus twin buggy just will not go lol) so would put up with the tax being paid on it but then is my P45 not incorrect?

How does that work as they've already issued a P45 showing my earnings and tax to the date I left on 9/8.

Why do these things have to be so hard, couldn't they have left me doing work until I was ready to start maternity leave and avoided all the redundancy pay etc? Must be a requirement to be a boss you have to have little common sense!

Thx for all the replies so far, you are all so very helpful

[Kitten1]

Ok,

 

by my rough calculations, they owe you 3 weeks wages as redundancy pay, subject to maximum limits.

 

They also owe you 6 weeks maternity pay at 90% of your normal wage, plus 33 weeks at £125ish.

 

What I would do is write them a letter stating this (add the correct figures and total it up.) Send it recorded delivery and give them say a week to respond.

 

If they aren't going to pay your smp, they have to fill in a form stating why they won't pay it. You need this form to claim maternity allowance anyway.

 

Hope this helps x

[lottieapple]

Hi Lou

 

Your employer can not change your P45 after it has been issued - if they have made a mistake they will need to write to you and the tax office informing you of the mistake. An employer should never reissue a P45. If an employer needs to make a payment after they have issued a P45 i.e in your case potentially they may owe you Maternity Pay, then they will need to write to you and the tax office confirming the gross amount, PAYE deducted, NI deducted and that it is a payment after you have left. PAYE should be deducted using a 0T non cumulative code and NI using the weekly tables.

 

I think that your employer will try and come back by saying that they made a mistake on the P45 and the date on there is your final payment date not your leaving date. The date on a P45 is a common mistake not helped by payroll software which throws out errors if you try and put a date in that isn't in the week or month that you are paying. HMRC 's own guidelines state that the leaving date should be entered in accordance with employment law, but I have had many a disagreement with HMRC who have written to tell me that the date I have put on someone's P45 must be incorrect as it does not match the week or month the final payment has been made i.e if you are paid weekly and you get paid on a Friday - you leave on Friday, but you have worked a week in hand so your final payment would be made the Friday after you left, so your leaving date is a week different to your final pay date. Were you paid weekly or monthly? and when was your last payment before your final payment?

 

Have your received a letter confirming your dismissal yet?

 

If you haven't already sent a letter to your employer officially confirming your pregnancy I would send this is now, with your MATB1, without this they may say that they can not pay SMP. If they can not pay it they will issue you with a SMP1 form, as Kitten says this is the form you will need to claim Maternity Allowance.

 

Have you tried contacting Maternity Action? www.maternityaction.org.uk or 0845 600 8533, I have used these in the past and have found them to be very knowledgeable and helpful and can probably offer you more specific advice than ACAS.

 

L x

[Lou7477]

Hi thanks for the reply. I too believe they'll try to alter P45 although they can't say that the 9/8 was a final payment date as not had any money off them yet. Am getting abit concerned about that too as normally people who leave are paid out quite quickly.

 

I was paid monthly and was last paid on 1 August (late believe it or not, should have been in my bank on 29/7 - due to the accountant locking the online banking site!!)

 

Had letter confirming dismissal with my P45 and final payslip. Letter simply said my job had ceased and therefore they had made difficult decision to make me redundant. I know job exists as department still runs, the company still trades and I have all emails between me and the office in Singapore in which I was giving them help to learn my role (believing them to be covering whilst I was on mat leave!!)

 

I sent MATB1 form over weekend to make sure I got it in before end of my 25th week. Had advice from HMR&C disputes team in the end as wasn't sure what to do. They said they would take over this case at 29 weeks pregnant if employer still refused to play ball as they would take 9/8 as the date my contract was terminated therefore making me eligible for full SMP. I know Employer will need to provide SMP1 to say why aren't going to pay but I seriously doubt they'd want HMR&C crawling over them (they are not the most honest people on god's earth!!)

 

I'd never heard of Maternity Action at all so will give them a ring later on today (off to sing on in a bit and then to Citizens Advice.

 

Lou x