Being Made Redundant - Pregnant

[countrykid]

My company is making a large number of redundancies, my friend is included. She works full time and has been employed there 12 years. She has made the HR department aware that she is 10 weeks pregnant. Aside from getting basic statutory redundancy, she wonders if she is entitled to maternity pay - even though of course there will be no chance of returning to work.

The company is not ceasing trading, just closing down a part of it.

Any help appreciated.

[Dogsbody2]

Making pregnant women redundant is fraught with difficulties from an employers point of view because the employer has to be especially careful that the reason for redundancy is not in any way linked to the condition itself. In this case it is pretty clear that the employer can clear that hurdle, because the whole place is under consideration.

There are specific rules about paying maternity benefits to redundant pregnant employees and they are these:

"If a pregnant employee qualifies for statutory maternity pay and is made
redundant before going on maternity leave but after the beginning of the
15th week before the baby is due, you will need to pay her statutory
maternity pay (SMP) as well as any redundancy payment. Remember you
are reimbursed by the government for the SMP.
If your company has a maternity policy which offers additional contractual
maternity pay this would end when the contract ends unless you agree
otherwise."

The above comes directly from the ACAS guidance.

[Dogsbody2]

Sorry, if it isn't blindingly obvious what the last bit of the ACAS guidance means, if the employee goes on maternity leave before the contract terminates due to redundancy AND there is a contractual term to say that an employee is entitled to maternity pay during that period, then the maternity pay must be paid. This is in addition to statutory payments, of course.

[Jaheen100]

From what i read you would need to be with the company more than a year for maternity leave and any pay they would have given you would be counted with sick hours and vaction hours, as well as whatever the company offers. You can lawfully take up to 12 weeks off with out pay. and since you haven't been at the company long enough i don't think you would have qualifed for payed time off after having your baby. and I believe for short term disability you have to have insurance.Yes your company put in between a hard place and a rock. good luck

[hc4361]

She is 10 weeks pregnant. To qualify for maternity pay she must be made redundant before going on maternity but AFTER 15 weeks before due date - ie, after the 25th week of pregnancy

[Dogsbody2]

What are you talking about? - she's been there 12 years.

I stand by my answer.

[Dogsbody2]

Correct hc. But since she's been there 12 years, her contractual notice will be at least 12 weeks (it could be longer) and this will automatically run her over the 15th week. So she will qualify.

[TWR]

I was under the impression if there's redundancies, the firm, business will cease!

[Dogsbody2]

We are discussing how much money she can expect from the scenario, rather than whether business will cease (though you might want to read the last line of the question).

The reason I say she should qualify (for SMP and maybe more contractually) is because there are large numbers of redundancies occurring - though unquantified in number. There will be a consultation process to be followed before any decisions can be made, and all of this, plus the minimum 12 weeks of notice will run here over the 25th week of pregnancy. If the employer tries to rush her out early to avoid SMP, it would be an unfair dismissal. It's tight but do-able.

[countrykid]

Thanks Dogsbody in particular, but all responses appreciated. I have passed the info on to my friend. With regards the number of people being made redundant, within the division it is over 100 - spread across 8 locations.