how much maternity leave?

[Gruntie2]

I'm not pregnant yet, but i was wondering what are the laws of maternity pay now.... how many months full pay do you usually get? I really want to be an at home mum until my kids go to school but i know now a days its much harder not to bring in some income... My husband makes good money but i don't know if we could afford for me to stop work.. i want to be an at home mum as i never saw my mum when i was growing up and i hate it.. I was always at a childminders or my grandmas.. i probably only saw them for like 1 hr a day and never at the weekends so i just wondered whats the usual pay on maternity leave?

 

[Sabrina]

I'm not pregnant yet, but i was wondering what are the laws of maternity pay now.... how many months full pay do you usually get? I really want to be an at home mum until my kids go to school but i know now a days its much harder not to bring in some income... My husband makes good money but i don't know if we could afford for me to stop work.. i want to be an at home mum as i never saw my mum when i was growing up and i hate it.. I was always at a childminders or my grandmas.. i probably only saw them for like 1 hr a day and never at the weekends so i just wondered whats the usual pay on maternity leave?

I found this site helpful:-

http://www.dti.gov.uk/employment/workan ... index.html

Unfortunately there doesn't seem to be any fixed rule about how long each employer will give you full pay. I consider myself to work for a "good" employer yet I only get full pay for 6 weeks!

It's good to think about the financial side even before you get pregnant. If you put some money aside and are prepared to compromise on luxuries you might be able to do it (of course I don't know your financial situation.. I'm just talking from my own experience).

Over the last few months I've saved over £100 a month on unnecessary outgoings. This is in preparation for my reduced salary over the next year. I've also found I can have a mortgage payment holiday so I am doing that as well.

I'm like you in that I want to be at home as much as possible for my baby. So, I worked out we can get by if I work 3 days a week so I will go back with a request for flexible working after taking about 9/10 months off. I'm fortunate that my sister and mother can look after LO. If I had to pay for nursery/childminder I think it would be a different matter.

Good luck!

 

[tuck]

I am just gonna say regarding the posts people have put about repaying maternity pay, your employer CAN legally ask you to repay any maternity pay that they pay you over and above the rate of SMP, they have to keep your job open for you whilst you are on maternity leave so therefore this is a sort of incentive to make you come back. One way round this is, if you can, to take the equivalent of 4 weeks annual leave at the end of your maternity leave as this counts as 'returning to work'.

 

[eightball]

I have to pay some back if I left work. But they also give me an uplift in my salary for a year when I get back so I'm definitely not planning to quit!

Oh, and I'm planning on 9 months plus whatever holiday I manage not to use.

 

[Tracey S]

I work in the civil service and our maternity leave and pay is very generous. We get 6 months on full pay then you can take a further 13 weeks at smp rate (i think its about £110 per week) and then you can chose a further 13 weeks unpaid taking you up to 52 weeks in total.

You have to go back for 4 weeks to avoid repaying departmental maternity pay.

I am going to take the 6 months and save annual leave so I can get a further month off, so hopefully I will get 7 months off.

After reading this thread I realise how lucky I am!


Tracey xx

 

[trixipaws]

i'm taking the 9 months paid, then we'll see if we can manage (i get 12 months leave but last 3 unpaid)

 

[leckershell]

i'm having 4 weeks annual leave (as my year runs april-april and i wont be back by next april), and then 9 months maternity leave, so i leave 15th june and go back 15th april (ish). that's pretty cool. they're keeping my job open but i have to return to work for at least 3 months when I go back so I don't have to pay back my maternity pay (the part they paid at half rate). not sure whether going back full or part time yet, i'll work that out when the time comes.