Statutory Maternity Pay 2013 - 2014

To help you take time off work with your baby, if you are an employee, you may be entitled to Statutory Maternity Pay (SMP) which is a payment from the government and is paid to you via your employer. 

(You may also be lucky enough to have this enhanced by a Company maternity scheme).

Do I qualify for Statutory Maternity Pay (SMP)?

To qualify for SMP you must meet the following criteria:

Have been in your current employment continuously for at least 26 weeks prior to the 15th week before the week your baby is due (the qualifying week). In plain terms, you should have started the job before you fell pregnant and still be in the same employment at approximately week 26 of your pregnancy. 
If you are made redundant or resign from your job after the qualifying week but before your maternity leave was due to start, your employer will still be obliged to pay your maternity pay if you are eligible.

You must be earning on average an amount which at least equals the lower earnings limit (LEL). The LEL for 2013/2014 is £109 per week or £473 per month.
This must be the case on the Saturday at the end of your qualifying week.

You must give your employer evidence that you are pregnant. This is the form MATB1 that you will receive from your midwife around week 21 of your pregnancy.

You must give your employer notice of your intention to take maternity leave in writing on or before the qualifying week (ie by week 26 of your pregnancy.) 

For help working out your qualifying dates and weeks, visit:    
www.gov.uk/calculate-your-maternity-pay

How is SMP calculated?

SMP is calculated over an average of 8 week’s (if you are paid weekly) or 2 month’s (if you are paid monthly) worth of gross earnings before the Saturday at the end of your qualifying week. 

The more eligible pay you receive during these periods, the more SMP you will receive for the first 6 weeks of your payments. 

The payments used must be eligible for national insurance deductions.

Examples of these are:

Salary or basic pay/hours

Overtime

Bonus payments

Sick pay

Holiday pay

Commission

The qualifying payments are added together and multiplied by 6 to get an annual average. 

This is then divided by 52 to find an average weekly amount.

How much SMP will I get?

SMP is paid as follows:

EITHER:

6 weeks at 90% of the average weekly amount

followed by 33 weeks at the statutory amount

(for the 2012/2013 tax year this is £136.78 per week)

OR:

39 weeks at 90% of your average weekly amount if your average weekly amount is less than £136.78

Some companies offer additional occupational maternity pay, so please check your contract.

(SMP is subject to tax and national insurance.)

NB    If you are due a pay rise while you are on your maternity leave, your average weekly amount will need to be re-calculated to include it.

Keeping in Touch (K.I.T.) Days

You are allowed 10 K.I.T. Days during you maternity pay period (while you receive your SMP).  These are days when you can go into work to stay in touch with what’s going on or for training.  It could just be for half an hour or a full day.

You are not usually paid extra for these days, but you do not lose any of your SMP for that week.  (Some employers may offer additional payment on top of the week’s SMP so please check your contract.)

Don’t exceed the 10 days though as you will lose the whole week’s worth of SMP, and don’t do a K.I.T. day in the same week (seven day period) as you go back to work as you will also lose the SMP for that week.

I don’t qualify for SMP – what can I do?

If you do not qualify for SMP from your employer or you are self employed, you may be entitled to Maternity Allowance or Employment and Support Allowance which is paid to you directly by the government. 

For more information visit: www.gov.uk/maternity-allowance

For further help and information, I recommend the following websites:

www.workingfamilies.org.uk

www.maternityaction.org.uk/index.html
www.acas.org.uk

If you have a question, please do leave a comment or contact me via email if it is of a more personal nature.

Contact Pennies 4 Parents

Benefits and Entitlements for Expectant and New Parents

Having a baby is expensive – there’s no getting around that!  Thankfully there is help available to expectant and new parents. 

Here’s a quick guide. 

Sure Start Maternity Grant

A grant of £500 is available to parents-to-be on low incomes to help with preparing all those baby essentials.  To see if you qualify for the grant, please visit:   http://bit.ly/8nHu7E

Healthy Start Scheme

Healthy Start is a government scheme that provides vouchers for free milk, fresh fruit and vegetables, infant formula and vitamins to certain pregnant women and children in families on low incomes.  Visit: www.healthystart.nhs.uk/ to find out if you are eligible.

You can get an application form from your midwife or health visitor or complete it online.

Lots of shops except the vouchers – look out for the Healthy Start sticker or ask in store.

Free prescriptions and dental care

All mums-to-be qualify for a prescription exemption certificate once their pregnancy has been certified by a doctor or midwife.  You need to complete form FW8 and they will need to sign it.  You’ll be sent a handy little credit card type certificate that you can keep in your wallet. 

Just remember to mention it at the chemist or dentist when you visit!

It entitles you to free prescritions and dental care so get one as soon as possible.  They last until a year after the day your baby is expected.  For more info visit: www.nhsbsa.nhs.uk/1644.aspx

 

Statutory Maternity Pay (SMP)

To help you take time off work with your baby, you may be entitled to Statutory Maternity Pay (SMP) which is a payment from the government and is paid to you via your employer. 

(You may also be lucky enough to have this enhanced by an employer’s maternity scheme).

For more details on SMP and to find out if you qualify please visit the Pennies 4 Parents Blog:

www.pennies4parents.blogspot.com/2011/06/statutory-maternity-pay-smp-20112012.html

Maternity Allowance

Mums-to-be who do not qualify for SMP may still be entitled to Maternity Allowance.

This is also paid by the Government but direct to your bank account for 39 weeks.

For more information please visit:

www.pennies4parents.blogspot.com/2011/06/help-i-dont-qualify-for-statutory.html

Statutory Paternity Pay (SPP)

Most working Fathers are entitled to Statutory Paternity Pay for 2 weeks after the birth of their baby.

The current rate is £128.73 per week.

New Dads are now also eligible to take Additional Paternity Leave and Pay if the Mother returns to work before the end of her Statutory 39 weeks of Maternity Pay.

For more information on Paternity Pay please see:

  www.pennies4parents.blogspot.com/2011/06/paternity-pay-and-leave.html

Tax Credits

Tax Credits are payments from the Government.  Your entitlement depends on your household income. Visit: www.hmrc.gov.uk/taxcredits/index.htm to see if you qualify – you may be pleasantly surprised!

More information can be found here too:

www.pennies4parents.blogspot.com/2011/07/quick-guide-to-tax-credits.html

Child Benefit

You normally qualify for Child Benefit if you have children under 16 (or under 20 if in certain types of education or training), but you do have to apply for it.

You should receive an application in the useful Bounty Pack you are given in hospital when your baby is born (or your midwife will pass you one). 

You can also print off a form here: www.hmrc.gov.uk/forms/ch2-online-stubb.htm

The current weekly rates for Child Benefit are: £20.30 for your first/oldest child and £13.40 for other children.

Help! I don’t qualify for Statutory Maternity Pay (SMP)

Perhaps you don’t qualify for SMP from your employer as you haven’t worked there long enough or you don’t earn enough. 

Perhaps you are unemployed or maybe you are your own boss and SMP doesn’t apply to you. 

Don’t worry – there is other help available!

Maternity Allowance

For Employees

Your employer should give you a form called SMP1.  This explains why they can not pay you SMP.  Call Jobcentre Plus on 0800 055 6688 and ask for a MA1 claim form or download one from:  

http://www.dwp.gov.uk/advisers/claimforms/ma1_print.pdf

This is a form to apply for Maternity Allowance.  You will need to send in the SMP1 form, MA1 form and proof of earnings in the form of original payslips.

You must have worked at least 26 weeks of the previous 66 week period before the week your baby is due.  In 13 of those weeks, you must have earned at least £30 per week.  When you are collecting your payslips, choose the 13 weeks where you earned the most. If you are paid monthly, send 4 months worth of payslips in with your highest earnings.

The standard weekly rate of Maternity Allowance is £128.73.  If your average weekly amount is less than this, you will receive 90% of that average amount.

Maternity Allowance is paid for 39 weeks.

For the recently unemployed

Mums to be who have recently become unemployed may also qualify for Maternity Allowance.  If you have worked for 26 weeks during the 66 weeks before your baby is due and have earned more than £30 in 13 of those weeks, you can apply as above.

For Self Employed Mums-to-be

Call Jobcentre Plus on 0800 055 6688 and ask for a MA1 claim form or download one from:

http://www.dwp.gov.uk/advisers/claimforms/ma1_print.pdf

HMRC will be asked if your Class 2 National Insurance Contributions are up to date.  If they are, you are entitled to the full weekly rate of Maternity Allowance of £128.73 for 39 weeks.

If you have a Small Earnings Certificate, your maternity allowance will be treated as if you earn £30 per week and so will receive only £27 per week (90%) for 39 weeks. 

Perhaps consider cancelling your Small Earnings Certificate as soon as you know you are pregnant and start to pay the full Class 2 NI Contributions (currently £2.50 per week).

For more information on Maternity Allowance, please refer to the claim form or

www.direct.gov.uk/en/Parents/Moneyandworkentitlements/index.htm

If you do not qualify for Maternity Allowance

You my qualify for 8 week’s worth of Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) instead.  You need to be on a low income but also have paid some National Insurance over the past few years.

ESA replaced Incapacity Benefit.  Mothers are considered as having  “limited capability to work” due to pregnancy from 6 weeks before the baby is due until 2 weeks after.

You can fill in the MA1 form for Maternity Allowance as above.  Some of the question will not apply to you so leave them blank and in Part 9 “Other Information” state that you would like your claim to be considered for ESA.

The rates are £53.45 per week for mothers aged 24 or under and £67.50 per week for those aged 25 or over. 

For more information, visit:

http://www.direct.gov.uk/

                        

www.zestpayroll.co.uk