Employment Maternity Issues

[Perks30]

Hello all

 

A dear friend of mine has been working for a major pub chain for over 2 years and recently been granted an in-house transfer to another establishment within the same company.

 

After consulting her new manager about the unexpected news that she is pregnant, she has been informed that her transfer is invalid due to her previous manager terminating her contract instead of transferring her contract to her new place of employment.

 

As she is now technically classed as a 'new employer',what are her maternity pay / leave rights?

 

Thanks in advance

[honeybee13]

Hello there.

 

Sorry to be picky, do you mean 'new employee' in your third paragraph? I'm not one of the experts, hopefully they'll be along later, but it sounds odd that she would start a new contract. Has she signed anything?

 

HB

[Perks30]

Hi Honeybee,

 

Her employment has been terminated instead of being transferred to her new job. She hasn't signed anything since (supposedly) being transferred.

 

I hope this clarifies

[Sidewinder]

Whoa! She needs to go straight back to her original manager and find out what on earth has happened. She should NOT simply roll over and accept that she has had her employment effectively terminated. Could you tell us more about the circumstances? How long had she worked there prior to the transfer? What type of business is it? Did she not receive a P45 or any other indication that somebody had put her down as a leaver? If she accepts this she could lose some very important rights!

 

With regard to the pregnancy and maternity leave, when is the due date? To qualify for SMP she will have had to have worked for the same employer for at least 26 weeks as at the 'qualifying date' (which is 15 weeks before the due date), so would need 40 weeks service before the due date - another reason why she may need to get this sorted with her employer.

 

If she does not qualify for SMP then she will have to claim Maternity Allowance instead. She would be eligible for Maternity Leave regardless of length of service.

 

SMP (if she were to get the contract resolved and qualifies) is 90% of average weekly earnings for the first 6 weeks, then 90% of average weekly earnings, or £138.18 (whichever is lower) for a maximum of a further 33 weeks - if she were to take the full 39 weeks that SMP is payable for.

 

If she is ineligible through length of service for SMP then Maternity Allowance is £138.18 for up to 39 weeks, then £27 for a further 14 weeks.

 

There is a calculator here which may be useful https://www.gov.uk/calculate-your-maternity-pay

[ericsbrother]

On what grounds was the supposed termination of employment and how long waqs the gap in service.

It sounds like someone is hioping thet she believes this "new employee" rubbish and will go along with any old nonsense. they just dont like the fact she is pregnant and now they have something to worry over.

[mariefab]

Unless there was a gap of at least a week between the 2 jobs; it doesn't matter whether the previous manager recorded it as a termination or a transfer.

 

She will have continuous service of 2 years (with all the maternity and other employment rights) because she works for an associated employer.

 

See s.218(6) & s.231 of the Employments Rights Act 1996 below:

 

http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1996/18/section/218

 

http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1996/18/section/231