Work Advice

You don’t have to repay SMP, your work will claim that back from the government. Just make sure you get paid for any holidays owed while you’ve been off

@Emma I thought so, but just wanted to confirm before I screwed myself by handing in my notice as assuming I can also do that without having to actually go back first as I really don’t want to?

Obviously though just hold out on handing your notice until you a) found a new job or b) however long your notice period is before your maternity pay ends if that makes sense!

@Heather-Jayne thank you, that’s hopefully my plan 🤞🏼 x

No, you don’t have to go back… just make sure you give the required notice and ask for payment of owed holidays

The way I understand it is that even though the last three months of your maternity leave are unpaid we are still required to pay tax and pension. That’s the reason why the employer asks whether we are coming back after maternity because we have to pay what we “owe” from our pay after return. If you decide not to come back to work I guess they would tax you extra during those 9 months when we actually get paid. It’s so complicated…

@Jana ? You get taxed on earnings.....if you don't earn you don't get taxed

@Jana Just wanting to advice on this and i just want to say, my job is a management accountant and I deal with our companies payroll. You earn stat maternity pay for the 9 months, and you will be taxed on that accordingly. What you earnt for your year in total before going on maternity leave will depend on how much tax you pay on your maternity leave for example i have earbt roughly 20k, but i have a tax free allowance of 12570, so im paying tax on £7430, tax is 20% i should of paid by now £1486 in tax so far. However because of my earnings before maternity i have paid 2k in tax, so they are not taxing me anything or taxing me very little (depending on the month) so that when the tax year ends it should even out. The payroll system is only so good so unfortunately it goes on the assumption that you will earn that amount up until end of the tax yearn (KITDAYS/Bonus) You have to look at it through the eye of a year in review as it’s easier to understand

@Jana however you do not pay any tax after the 9 months untik you return to work and are being paid. You are only obliged to pay PAYE / Tax when you earn. Hence it being called Pay As You Earn. If you are being paid statutory maternity pay, you will not have to pay anything back to your employer and if they are asking for it it’s definitely illegal, they claim this money back through the government. If you are being paid a top up on your maternity pay then this should of been discussed with your employer, some require you to pay back if you do not return to work and some require you not too

Thank you ladies for all your advice, much appreciated 🤍

@Heather-Jayne Thank you so much for explaining it! I’ve had change of tax code before my maternity and was taxed loads, then I called them to update it and now I’ve had a letter saying I owe them £300. As for my SMP I get different amount every month so not sure what the heck is happening. The way you explain it is very logical but our payroll are totally hopeless. I hope for a tax refund in April to help me cover those last three months. And as for my last post- a colleague of mine told me that. She was computing from stupidly far to do some shifts in order to not pay some money back…. Or something like that….

@Jana she might have been recieving enhanced maternity pay which some employers require you to work a certain amount of time after mat leave or you will owe them any enhanced pay back

@Jana No problem, if you have any questions or concerns im more than happy to give you some advice on private message :) my SMP is calc @ £26.29 over a 7 day period so between my pays i look at how many days are between my last pay day and the next one inc weekends and times that by £26.29 which comes to my gross SMP amount, because i am paid the last working friday of each month it does change month to month depending if there are 28/30/31 days inbetween etc! I think for your colleague perhaps she was either on enhanced or she had not paid enough tax, but maybe she herself did not understand? I know payroll can be very complicated especially when you’re trying to plan ahead with a baby it can be a nightmare not knowing where you stand!