Employment advice

[ellstor]

Hi ladies,

Currently on cycle 4 ttc #1.
Really want to get looking for a new job, closer to home with better money.

What are the implications of doing this and then immediately falling pregnant as I start in a new job? I would get stat mat pay where i am but not hugely keen on staying here for another year asi know I can do better as v money/career driven, also holding off baby making is not an option for us.

Just want to know what I can expect in terms of pay if I had only just started - I'm sure this has happened to plenty of people ? Be it by accident or planned.

Thanks in advance.

[jellypi3]

AFAIK most companies don't pay mat pay unless you've been there for 6 months, some longer. They will just pay statutory pay.

[Sarahg1]

Watching with interest - my TTC quest is taking way longer than expected and I'm bored at work but apprehensive about changing jobs whilst TTC.

[ellstor]

How much is stat- £180 a week or something?

[ellstor]

Sarah - frustrating isn't it ? Am so confused . When schools go back I will be leaving home at 7 15 to get to work for 9 and is only 15 miles away. I now live close to a huge town and2 huge industrial estates with big companies on so I should be able togetajob I just don't want to shoot myself in the foot! I would be worried about probation periods etc - beig sacked when pregnant would be awful - that happened to someone where if am now a few months ago.

[CherryPie3]

I think it's risky, because you never know which month is your month...

If you're a high earner, settling for smp would be quite a drop, I copied this from google..

If you qualify for SMP, it is paid: for the first six weeks at 90 per cent of your average gross weekly earnings with no upper limit. For the remaining 33 weeks at the lower of either the standard rate of £136.78, or 90 per cent of your average gross weekly earnings."

[jellypi3]

Yeah stat being £137 a week is shocking for me. I'm not a high earner but I do earn a lot more than that, and I contribute 50% of wages to my household :(

My DP and I are actually doing a month of belt tightening to see if we could cope with me earning a low wage (or none at all) before we actively start TTC!

[Whatamuddleduck]

I was looking into this yesterday. I have a fairly well paid job, very stressful and involves a lot of out of hours work at the moment. A good job on slightly less pay, way less travel and no out of hours has come up. But I'm ttc and interview date not for another 6 weeks. I would only get smp where I am (very big 'family friendly' organisation- my arse it is) but to even get smp in new role need to work there at least 26 weeks in the 14th week before birth, so wouldn't be eligible if pg before started work. I don't know how I would live on under £140 a week let alone £0! It's a really hard choice, I moved to this job having been taken in by the public image of the organisation, I knew I was in for a challenge but not one on this scale. however having made a lot of changes I think that I can get my workload down and still be running a very good system within the next 4 months.
This isn't a job I would want to do with DC though and I'm not sure how employable I will be with very young DC? Maybe better to try to move now and just chance it?
A friend quit her job a few weeks before she was pg- she and partner really struggled, she got a job she hated after birth and has struggled to find a better one. I think that has made me cautious!
Think I'm going to try to save up and once I have enough if I'm not pg I'll make the move.

[addictedtosugar]

If you aren't pregnant when you start your new job, you will get SMP from your new employer (unless they have a very generous policy). That will be 6 weeks at 90% of average earnings, and the aprox £140/week from week 6 to 39.

If you are pregnant when you start your new job, and have got enough paid weeks in the previous ??66?? weeks (if you have been pretty much permanently employed for a year you'll be fine) you should qualify for MA - which is 39 weeks at aprox £140 - so the difference will only be the first 6 weeks.

MuddleDuck Look up Maternity Allowance - you sound like you would qualify.

[Rufus200]

You can't be sacked once you have announced you are pregnant even if you are in your probation period! There was a court case a few weeks ago, the company lost the case.

Big companies normally have good maternity packages but it is often dependent on loyalty/time at the company.

Most small companies only offer statutory as it is a large financial strain on them!

[ToesAndFingers]

If you are only getting stat mat pay where you are now, I'd say go for it. In worst case you'll get mat allowance which is £138/week, so you'll only loose those 6 weeks of 90%.

[kaykayblue]

Rufus200 - yeah...technically they can't sack you for being pregnant, but they can always find "other reasons" to be unhappy with your performance and let you go after the 6 months probation.

whatamuddleduck - did you check out the staff policy before joining? Most of the places I look at have them freely available online, but I don't know if it's the same everywhere.

What you could do - depending on whether you decide to stay or leave - is speak to HR, and explain that their public image is not being upheld with their internal policies. It would help if you brought evidence (from any public ads or messages which claim that they are family friendly, comparing it to their actual policies).

If you decide to leave, you could always see if any of the papers were interested in the reality behind closed doors. Or even a Mums net article - they might have an interest in doing a piece on public image vs reality for big companies.

I can understand why for small or medium businesses it would be nearly impossible to have great maternity packages - there simply isn't enough people or margin to do it. But for big companies? There really is no excuse.

[angeltulips]

Having pondered this with many friends, I have come to the conclusion that if you want to go back to work and build a career, you are better off making a move that suits your career now, even if it at the expense of maternity pay. The long term dividends from being in the right job are worth far more than 6 weeks of 90% of your salary.

Obv there is a point at which it becomes in feasible bc you don't have enough to live on - but I'd be tempted just to save like hell and go for it.

[OneLittleToddleTerror]

This happened to me. I was ttc for 18mo, staying in my old job because it's the right thing to do (ie not start a job and bugger off for maternity). And in addition my old job is with a large company with decent enhanced maternity pay.

Then at the end of last year, I was made redundant. They picked mainly mothers and 30ish females but that's another story. I cannot afford to not work so found another job immediately. We didn't stop ttc because I'm 39 and with 18+ month of trying, you aren't going to stop. Then one month after I started, I felt pregnant. I felt it's a miracle really.

I'm not entitled to enhanced maternity from the company but that is specific to your contract and hr policy. Basically I haven't worked long enough there. I'm entitled to statutory maternity pay because I felt pregnant after I started at the new job. (The specific week you need to be would be on the direct gov website). Statutory maternity pay is 90% of your salary for 6 weeks, then some £130/140 until you are 9mo, follow by 3 months of no pay. If you start your new job after you felt pregnant you will be entitled to maternity allowance (assuming no gap in employemnt).

As for not firing you on probation. Mine was 6mo and it was pretty scary. You have no proven appraisal records and so it's your vs their words if you are doing their job well.

[ToesAndFingers]

Even if they fire you after 6 months probation you would still get mat allowance. Which is less than smp only for the first 6 weeks.

TTC can take months. It's really not worth waiting if you're stuck in a job you don't like. Especially if you're only would get smp anyway. If you are getting an enhanced package then it's trickier. But OP is only getting smp. Worth a shot IMHO.