Working during extended mat leave

[barmaid]

Hi

I don't know if someone may be able to help me...

I am currently on mat leave with an enhanced company pay. Due to the prohibitive costs of childcare vs my current salary with two babies,I would be paying min of £2k for FT childcare within a nursery and more with a childminder.

This doesn't leave me with a huge amount of salary left, so albeit I am a professional with a professional qual, so I am looking at evening and weekend options as we will be quite poor when my 39 weeks pay finishes.

As I will still be receiving £243 childcare vouchers from my comp until the 12'onths are up, can I work for another comp between the 9 and 12 month period?

I am guessing the answer is no?

Does anyone know as an alternative if I could be self employed during this time?

Much appreciated!

barmaid

[PotteringAlong]

You can do your 10 kit days but that's it - if you are caught working they can take your enhanced maternity pay off you.

[barmaid]

Thanks, I was thinking more about working after all money has dried up.

[PotteringAlong]

As far as I know it's the same - you get 10 kit days and you cannot work outside that

[slightlysoupstained]

Pottering what are you basing that on? It's the opposite of what the DWP site says:
www.dwp.gov.uk/publications/specialist-guides/technical-guidance/ni17a-a-guide-to-maternity/statutory-maternity-pay-smp/working-in-your-maternity-pay/

[PotteringAlong]

Then follow the DWP - I was purely basing it on my understanding of the situation - I'll stand corrected if I'm wrong :)

[Northey]

I don't think that that is what the DWP site says, soupstained. It is talking only about the SMP period, and OP is talking about the period after that - month 9-12.

[slightlysoupstained]

Northey I understood Pottering to be implying that they could backdate removal of pay in her first reply: "You can do your 10 kit days but that's it - if you are caught working they can take your enhanced maternity pay off you." The DWP site seems pretty clear this is not the case - if you start work for another employer, you lose SMP from that date onwards, and if you do more than 10 KIT days, you lose SMP during that week - i.e. there is no suggestion at all of backdating.

I considered doing self-employed work during mat leave, and everything I read suggested that it should not be a problem at all. (In the end I didn't do it, just agreed to return part-time).

I did find this question on MN itself - from the Which Legal Q&A:
www.mumsnet.com/qanda/which-legal#Maternity_leave

Can't link directly but scroll down to Sillysow's question. If this is still valid then it looks good, depends on OP's contract I guess.

[slightlysoupstained]

Oh poo, that sounds a bit snotty reading it back. Sorry Pottering wasn't having a go! It isn't all that clear about the unpaid bit anywhere, annoyingly.

[Northey]

Ah, I thought she was referring to the loss of the childcare vouchers she was continuing to receive.

[Northey]

I mean, I thought that was the point of your link, not replying to pottering.

[barmaid]

Thanks for the link.

I am thinking I can do a bit of self employed work in months 9-12 as to whether I am still entitled to the child are vouchers, I don't know!