Help! If I take a job on a 12-month contract, what would happen if I got p/g?

[edam]

Been sort of accidentally offered a job. Well, I knew it was going to happen but has all moved a bit fast and not sure if I want it, tbh. Anyway, turns out they want someone on a fixed-term contract. Am vaguely planning dc no. 2 in the medium term future. What would happen if I took a fixed term 12 month contract and if I got p/g?

Any guidance gratefully received...

[edam]

Please help, someone!

[bossykate]

at the end of the contract it would be "good-bye, edam, thanks for all your hard work". at that point you would need to either look for another job or go on benefits - either jsa or maternity allowance, depending on the stage of your pg.

[flowerybeanbag]

Hi edam
It depends when you get pg really.

Qualifying for SMP is based on whether you were employed at the crucial time, which is for the 26 weeks leading into the 15th week before your baby is due. If you are employed for those 26 weeks, you are entitled to SMP, regardless of the fact that you are on a fixed term contract.
If your employment ends after the 15th week before your due date, you will still get SMP, although it can't start until the 11th week before.

Following me so far?!

As far as maternity leave is concerned, you get 52 weeks maternity leave, but you can be made redundant at any point during maternity leave, at which point your contract stops and all contractual obligations on either side stop. So your contract can still be ended.
You still get SMP as mentioned above, but no other employment rights.

Only other thing is if your contract ends, i.e. you are redundant, while you are on maternity leave, if there is a suitable alternative position, it must be offered to you, regardless of whether you are able to take it up immediately or not, you get preference over anyone else as you are on maternity leave. Otherwise it's unfair dismissal and could also be sex discrimination.
Only trouble is if that happens before you have a year's service, you don't have any right to claim unfair dismissal, but it could still be sex discrimination.

As you can see much of this depends on when you get pg and when your contract would be ended, and whether there is another post you could take.

Hope that makes sense anyway, please say if not!

[bossykate]

fbb has assumed (i think) that you will be employed by this company during the contract as opposed to self-employed.

[edam]

Thanks for the answers!

Flowery, by: 'redundant' do you mean 'the contract ending'? Only it's supposed to end after 12 months so I'm a bit confused!

Maternity leave would only be an issue if I was due to have a baby in that year that the contract exists, wouldn't it?

I'm mainly worried about getting pregnant during the contract and employers saying: 'Oh, we'll end the contract early, then'. Or getting p/g and having to go early, say after ten months, presumably losing two month's money.

Oh, what to do, what to do!

[bossykate]

edam will you be employed by them or self-employed and if the latter will you be a sole trader or set up your own company?

[edam]

I think I would be employed, bk, am self-employed atm but this contract would be full-time at their offices using their equipment. (I don't think Revenue would allow them to pay me gross as a freelancer.)

[bossykate]

what does your accountant say? the job sounds like it might fall within the scope of IR35 but then it would be incumbent on you to pay the tax, not necessarily your employer.

i think it makes a difference as (i think)fbb's advice would only apply if you were an employee - albeit a temporary one - of the company.

anyway, fbb is the expert so perhaps she will be back shortly.

[bossykate]

aargh - i didn't mean employer in that first para, i meant the company! it's important to be precise - they might not actually be your employer, you might be your own employer

[flowerybeanbag]

For the purposes of employment rights, a fixed term 12 month contract would always count as employed, edam's previous/current status is irrelevant.

Edam your position would be redundant, i.e. the contract ends, whether it ends at 12 months, before or after.

Your employer can't end it early because of your pg, that would be sex discrimination, and wouldn't be a genuine redundancy if the work was still there.

Maternity leave only applies for as long as you are employed, that's right, so maternity leave can end early. But SMP is not affected, so essentially you don't lose out much as long as you are employed for those crucial 26 weeks.

You are right obviously about losing out on the contract if you have to leave early. But if you are employed long enough to get SMP, you may well end up financially better off in the long run.

[bossykate]

eh? i'm on a 12m contract and i am definitely not employed by that company, i'm employed by my own company.

[flowerybeanbag]

Actually that 'fixed term contract always counts as employed' is a bit simplistic, depending on what the working arrangements are, but edam's definition - full-time at their offices, using their equipment etc means it is certainly employment.

[flowerybeanbag]

x-post!

[bossykate]

and i work f/t at their office using their equipment!

[bossykate]

f/t in office using co's equipment may be an indicator that the contract falls within ir35 which relates to taxation as an employee. but i am astonished to think that employment rights might accrue. blimey.

[bossykate]

does that mean statutory employment rights only? what if they are more generous would those rights also accrue?

[flowerybeanbag]

bk happy to start another thread about your employment status if you like

I'm sure you've seen this IR guide to defining employment status - you can see whether your relationship with the company you work for fits.

edam sorry for hijack

[flowerybeanbag]

bk - you get employment rights and employed status, so if, say, a policy of the company says 'employees with 2 years' service get x benefit', and you qualify, then you get x benefit.

[bossykate]

fbb, i regret that i must respectfully say that what you've said is only true if the "self-employment" to be considered is as a sole trader. if you are self-employed via your own company, the rules are different which is why ir35 applies to close the tax loophole.

[bossykate]

anyway, this may well be irrelevant to edam, so apologies for the hi-jack.

[edam]

Ah, I see where the dispute lies.

I'm a sole trader so 12 months full-time contract at their offices using their equipment definitely counts as employment. I think.

[flowerybeanbag]

Where does it say the rules are different? Tax rules may be different, I don't know, but employment rights aren't unless I've missed something..

As I understand it, you can apply the questions in that link to help define your status to see whether you would count as employed by the company you are actually working for.

Obviously if there is no company for which the criteria apply, then you may be self-employed.

But I would say if you are working in what would be considered an 'employed' relationship with a company, whether you are paid by them on a sole trader/self employed or through your own company basis, your 'employed' relationship is with the company you work for, and you would get employment rights accordingly.


If you can point me in the direction of something which corrects me, v happy for you to do so, I don't want to be giving wrong advice!

[flowerybeanbag]

I really am serious, if it confirms somewhere that if you use an intermediary company to supply your services the company you are working for is not liable to provide you with employment protection I really really would like to know, genuinely

[bossykate]

fbb, you may be right, my knowledge/interest in this is really around the tax issues rather than the employment rights issues.

[flowerybeanbag]

And my knowledge of tax issues is v hazy...

I am intrigued now though, I am feeling the need to find more detail about this!

edam apologies for all this, v interesting issue but I think the original advice stands for you, so it's all about timing your pg right!