Agency workers, ‘Bank’ nurses, supply teachers, casual workers and zero hours workers who are paid through PAYE, with tax and National Insurance deducted by their employer, are entitled to SMP if you meet the normal qualifying conditions.
Access essential accompanying documents and information for this legislation item from this tab. SMP can be offset against contractual remuneration such as contractual maternity pay but it cannot be offset against other benefits that you are entitled to during your maternity leave. For information on other benefits you may be able to claim and how maternity pay and lump sum payments are taken into account when you are claiming benefits, see: Money for Parents and Babies. Our journalists strive for accuracy but on occasion we make mistakes. If your baby is born early, your maternity leave and SMP or MA will start on the day after the birth. Can I still get SMP if I am dismissed, made redundant or my fixed-term contract ends?
If you are refused MA because you registered your self-employment late but have been self-employed for long enough to qualify for MA you can get further advice from Maternity Action. You are still entitled to your SMP for 39 weeks (once you have qualified for it) even if your employment ends. The same applies if one or both of your jobs is agency work, casual work, ‘Bank’ nursing or supply teaching.
Where this paragraph applies, the person’s normal weekly earnings are to be calculated as if, during the parts of the relevant period when the person was a furloughed employee, they were paid the amount which they would have derived from their employment had they not been a furloughed employee. For more information on Universal Credit, see: www.gov.uk/universal-credit, For an online benefits calculator, see www.betteroffcalculator.co.uk. The maternity pay you are entitled to will depend on your employment status. I have two jobs but only get SMP from one job. Estonia was ranked the best with 84 weeks full rate equivalent - 166 weeks total - and the US was placed the worst with zero weeks FRE. You should register as soon as possible but HMRC can accept late registration: www.gov.uk/log-in-file-self-assessment-tax-return/register-if-youre-self-employed. For more information, see Pregnancy Discrimination. If your employer refuses to issue form SMP1, you should contact the HMRC Employee’s helpline, see Where to go for more help. Statutory maternity pay 2020: How much is statutory maternity pay?
If you have not yet submitted your Self-Assessment tax return and paid Class 2 NICs and you wish to make a claim for Maternity Allowance, you should contact Jobcentre Plus and make your claim for MA as soon as possible after the 15th week before your baby is due.
If this isn't possible, so in cases where you don't realise you're pregnant, you have to tell them as soon as possible. The only exception to this is where you received furlough pay during the calculation period. To see all content on The Sun, please use the Site Map. The Employment Appeal Tribunal decided that as childcare vouchers are normally provided by salary-sacrifice they form part of an employee’s pay and an employee is not entitled to them during maternity leave. If you need to make an early payment of Class 2 NICs the Jobcentre Plus will be notified by HMRC once you have paid your NICs and you will be entitled to the standard rate. “Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme” means any scheme to provide for payments to be made to employers on a claim made in respect of them incurring costs of employment in respect of furloughed employees arising from the health, social and economic emergency in the United Kingdom resulting from coronavirus and coronavirus disease and contained in such Directions as may be issued from time to time pursuant to section 76 of the Coronavirus Act 2020; “coronavirus” and “coronavirus disease” have the meanings given in section 1 of that Act; “furloughed employee” has the meaning given for the purposes of the Scheme.”. See the section below for more frequently asked questions about maternity pay. This applies to each employer that is providing you with maternity leave and pay.
(6C) For the purposes of paragraphs (6A) and (6B)—. Dependent on the legislation item being viewed this may include: Use this menu to access essential accompanying documents and information for this legislation item. You can get help and advice on calculating and recouping your SMP from the HMRC Employers Helpline on 0300 200 3200. Remember, you do not have to repay your SMP if you are not going back to work – all employers can claim your SMP from HMRC. Mums are still expected to take maternity leave up until the birth, at which point she can opt to cancel the maternity leave and start SPL. If you do not qualify for SMP they will give you form SMP1 to explain why and you should claim Maternity Allowance instead. 1986/1960), the Social Security (Maternity Allowance) (Earnings) Regulations 2000 (S.I. HMRC will let them know how to make an early payment of Class 2 NICs. For information on maternity and parental rights at work and benefits, see: www.maternityaction.org.uk, Nationwide (except London) – 0808 802 0029, For opening hours see: https://maternityaction.org.uk/advice-line/, For advice on employment rights or for Early Conciliation if you are thinking of making a tribunal claim www.acas.org.uk, Helpline: 0300 123 11 00 (offers telephone interpreting service), For information about your rights see: www.citizensadvice.org.uk, You can telephone the national Citizens Advice phone service on 03444 111 444, You can get help with Universal Credit claims through the free national Help to Claim service: England: 0800 144 8444, Wales: 0800 024 1220, Scotland: 0800 023 2581. And parents can claim £2,000 a year free childcare for kids under 11. You may be able to claim other family benefits during your maternity pay period, see below. Agency and other workers are not entitled to maternity leave, unless it is stated in your contract, but you may be able to agree some time off with your agency or employer. You will need to check the terms and conditions of your employer’s maternity policy e.g. What can I do? If you were registered with the agency in the 15th week before your baby was due you are entitled to take on agency work both before and after the birth and it will not affect your SMP from your main job. If you are not entitled to SMP, your employer must give you form SMP1 stating why you do not qualify for SMP. For further details of our complaints policy and to make a complaint please click here. If you are getting SMP from one job – employer A, you can work for up to ten KIT days for employer A who is paying you SMP without losing your SMP. You do not need to prove your earnings if you are claiming MA as a self-employed women as the JobCentre Plus will check your National Insurance contributions record. But workers do have the right to be offered any suitable alternative job (where one is available) if they’re selected for redundancy (even if other colleagues are more suitable for the role) while on maternity, adoption or shared parental leave. I do agency work as well as my main job. Any settlement agreement that you are asked to sign must state: If the settlement agreement does not specify the amount of SMP payable, you would be entitled to ask your employer to pay any outstanding SMP. In regulation 32 of the Statutory Shared Parental Pay (General) Regulations 2014(1) (normal weekly earnings of a claimant for statutory shared parental pay), after paragraph (6) insert—, “(6A) Paragraph (6B) applies where for all or part of the relevant period—, (b)the person’s employer has claimed and is in receipt of financial support in respect of the person’s earnings under the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme; and. We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. This guide is for information purposes only and should not be treated as legal advice. Can I do self-employed work if I am receiving SMP? There are good business reasons for employers to provide occupational maternity pay, for example, to recruit and retain skilled and experienced staff and your employer may be willing to extend any new benefits to parents who are already on leave. If you take any unpaid maternity leave you can get class 3 NI credits if you are claiming Child Benefit. You can include employed and self-employed work in order to meet the qualifying conditions. I have just started maternity leave and am getting SMP, am I eligible for the extra maternity pay? They deduct any tax and National Insurance contributions. Therefore, your earnings can include holiday pay, overtime, commission, bonuses arrears of pay or other sums paid during the SMP calculation period on which National Insurance contributions are paid. You should get advice before making a new claim for Universal Credit as you cannot go back onto tax credits and you may be worse off on Universal Credit.