Statutory Maternity Pay 2017 - 2018

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 pay 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 2017/2018 is £113 per week or £490 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/pay-leave-for-parents

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

If you are paid monthly, the 2 payments are multiplied by 6 to give an annual average.

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

If you are paid weekly, an average of the 8 weeks is used to find the 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 2017/2018 tax year this is £140.98 per week)

OR:

39 weeks at 90% of your average weekly amount if your average weekly amount is less than £140.98

Some companies offer additional occupational maternity pay, so please check your contract and speak to your HR Department.

(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.

Workplace Pension

If you are in a workplace pension scheme, your Employer must continue their pension contributions at their normal rate for the period you are receiving Statutory Maternity Pay.  Your contributions will reduce based on the amount of SMP you receive. Please remember, if you opt out of the pension scheme at this time, your Employer will stop contributing to the scheme too.

Holiday Entitlement

Your holiday entitlement continues to accrue as if you were at work while you are on Maternity Leave.  This is worth remembering should you wish to stagger your return to work or go back on reduced hours.  If your holiday is in credit before you take your Maternity Leave, you could request to take the holiday accrued to date before your Maternity Leave starts.

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

You are allowed 10 K.I.T. Days during your 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.

It is important to be aware of all of your Employee rights when you are on Maternity Leave.  There is a useful guide here: 

https://www.workingfamilies.org.uk/articles/a-mothers-rights-during-maternity-leave/

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 or see our post "Help! I don't qualify for SMP"

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

www.workingfamilies.org.uk

www.maternityaction.org.uk
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

© Pennies 4 Parents November 2017

Help! I Don't Qualify for Statutory Maternity Pay (SMP)

Perhaps you don’t qualify for Statutory Maternity Pay (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

If you are an Employee

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 HERE.

This is a form to apply for Maternity Allowance.  You will need to send in the SMP1 form, MATB1 form from your Midwife 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 £139.58.  

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:

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 £139.58 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 £2.75 per week).

Please read our guest post Self Employed? Protect your right to Maternity Allowance 

Recent changes could mean that new Mums who are not employed or self employed but have helped out in their self-employed Husband's or Civil Partner's business on an unpaid basis, are entitled to 14 weeks of Maternity Allowance.

For more information on this and a full guide to the Maternity Allowance, please refer to the claim form or: www.gov.uk/maternity-allowance/eligibility

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.

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

Quick Guide to Tax Credits

Tax Credits are payments from the government that you could be entitled to if you have children.  There are 3 different types of tax credits:

Child Tax Credits: if you are responsible for children, you may qualify for Child Tax Credits. You don’t have to be working to claim Child Tax Credits.

Working Tax Credits: these are available for people who do or don't have children and who work 16 hours or more a week, but are on a low income.

Child Care element of Working Tax Credit: help with your childcare costs. 

You may qualify for these even if you don’t qualify for Working Tax Credits.

Your entitlement will depend on your household income.

Visit: www.gov.uk/qualify-tax-credits-quick-questionnaire to see if you qualify – you may be pleasantly surprised! 

Unfortunately you can not claim online so you will need to get a claim pack by phoning the Tax Credit Helpline:

0345 300 3900

It’s REALLY important to keep the Tax Credit office up to date with ANY changes in your personal circumstances and income as soon as they happen.  That way, you are more likely to avoid being in an overpayment situation and face having to pay large sums of money back, and you can ensure you are receiving the right amount.

For more information visit: www.gov.uk/child-tax-credit

Other help for families

To see if you qualify for any other help, use a benefits checker such as:

www.moneysavingexpert.com/family/benefits-check

or

www.turn2us.org.uk/benefits_search.aspx