scoobyangel

i am 30 weeks prenant and have been signed off sick from work by my doctor for a month, which takes me up to the start of my maternity leave period....
i am not entitled to maternity pay as i have not worked for the company long enough, but.... i am entitled to sick pay.
i have found out today, though not official yet, that insted of putting me as sick, my company has started my maternity leave one month early so that they do not have to pay me sick pay..

can they do this??? is it legal??? and what about my return to work.. do they now expect me to return one month earlier???
i am not now going to have any money come in at all until my maternity allowance starts, and i assume that is not going to start for at least another month if then as i have yet to hear back from the government on that one!

any advice would be helpfull

thanx
x x x

fast bloke

They should not be able to put you on maternity leave until you submit the right form. (Can't remember the name, but your doc will know.) They are really taking the **** and can NOT legally do this.

marty_t3

They can't do that. If your doctor has signed you off sick then your employer cannot do anything about it.

My old boss and a friend of mine were both in similar situations and only started thier maternity leave once their sick line had run its course.

Try ther CAB, they'll at least be able to point you in the direction to get some proper 'legal' advice.

fast bloke

BTW - They can do it from 34 weeks if they want, but not at 30. The form might be called MAT B1?

scoobyangel

they have had my MATB1 form and returned it to me along with the form for the DSS that states they wont pay statutory maternity benefit, which i then took to the DSS to claim matermity benefit... on this form they state that my maternity starts as from the 15th dec...... hence the reason i wont have any money whatsoever

apparently they are sending me a letter to confirm this is what they have actually done because at the mo it is only "what i have been told by a friend"... but if it is illegal, and they are breaking any sort of law i dont see why they should get away with it... i could lose my home due to having no money coming in... and what with xmas and all... not the ideal time to get this stressed is it... and 30weeks pregnant makes me an hormonal monster!!!!


by the way.. i work for a VERY large supermarket chain... surely they should know better!!!!!

Maddriver

A quick examination of the Inland Revenues emplorers CD-ROM found this:-

From which I infer that if you are suffering from a illness related to your pregnancy which started less than six weeks before the start of your Maternity Pay Period (MPP) then they can start the MPP early. Which should mean that if the MPP is being paid by the DSS then they also should start the MPP early.

If the illness is not related to your pregnancy then normal SSP rules should apply I think.

Note tho that I'm taking this info from a brief review of the Inland revenue info provided to employers (I deal with Payroll as pat of my job, but I've only dealt with a SMP claim twice in 5 years). If you work for a large company then theres every chance that a) they deal with SMP claims a lot more often than I do, and b) They'll have had much more training than I've had, because it costs an employer a lot less to obey the law than to be fined for not doing so.



[Edited by Maddriver - 11/23/2002 8:17:49 PM]

Maddriver

Few more points to make -

1) If the employer is not paying Sick Pay the they should be sending you SSP1 which you can use to claim Sick Pay from the DSS

2) If the employer has elected to start your MPP early then the DSS should start paying it early also, therefore your MPP starts and ends early.

the DSS should be able to tell you if they can start paying your Maternity Allowance early in this case.

fast bloke

Maddriver - that quote above is the jargon way to say that they can only do it if you are 34 weeks or more. Scoobyangel - If it is a big firm it is more than likely a clerical mistake. Go back to your doc post haste and claim depression caused by employer failing to comply with the law. That way you can stay on sick leave up to the day the baby is born.

scoobyangel

so... basically they are in the wrong by doing this then??


note: i am entitled to sick pay, which is why they have done this, so they dont have to pay me anything.

Maddriver

Fast Bloke the quote is taken from the Inland Revenue advice to employers in calculating SMP.

It says that if a period of sickness that relates to the pregnancy starts less than 6 weeks before the start of the Maternity Pay Period then the employer can start the MPP early.

Scoobyangel has said that her Maternity, by which I assume she means maternity leave or Maternity Pay Period, starts on the 15 December. The 15 December is less than 6 weeks away.

If the Inland revenue is wrong I'd be quite suprised.

My advice to Scoobyangel is: 1) wait for the letter to arrive, that will tell you exactly why your employer thinks they are entitled to do this.
2) When you get the letter consult the DSS if the employer is in the wrong they should be able to tell you, if not I'd think they can start the Maternity pay early.
3) if the reason for sick leave is not pregnancy related, consult your doctor and get a letter to say so. This can be used as proof if your employer needs it.
4) If you feel your employer has dealt unfairly with you complain to them first, they should put it right because it's cheaper for them to pay what they should pay instead of defending an employment tribunal.

And as for the advice about signing of on depression - if you feel that you have depression because of this incident then by all means take them for what it's worth, but don't ever consider faking it. If they manage to proove it your out of a job.

HTH