Statutory Maternity Pay - 2 jobs

Nps

Hello,

Could anybody advise me about Statutory Maternity Pay for someone who has 2 jobs, both of which are eligible for SMP? I understand that they would be eligible for SMP from both jobs and that the maternity leave for each is independent of the other.

What I find strange, and therefore think I must be wrong about, is the period after the 90% earnings ends, when they go down to the basic SMP (£136.78 per week) for the next 33 weeks. Everything I read seems to suggest that they would be entitled to this from both employers, but why would someone earning say £100,000 per year in one job only be entitled to £136.78 a week, but someone with 2 jobs, earning say, a total of £30,000 be entitled to double this? I can't find anything to suggest that this isn't the case, but it seems so unfair that I'm sure I must be missing something somewhere...............

Any guidance would be appreciated........

jenny3549

I know it seems strange but it is correct. The two jobs are treated completely separately for SMP purposes so, if the lady in question meets all the criteria (length of service, average earnings etc) in both then she will be entitled to two lots of SMP.

I suppose that, in your example of someone earning £100k per annum in one job, the assumption would be that the employer would not be paying just SMP but would probably be rather more generous. Either way it is one of those quirks in the system. So, in this case you're better off with two part time jobs than one full time (as long as both are reasonably well paid/you do enough hours in both!)

Nps

Thanks Jenny,

That's the conclusion we came to, but I just couldn't quite believe it was correct! I was sure I must be misunderstanding something.

Thanks again.

deanshepherd

Funnily enough, my wife qualified both at her day job and also whilst working part-time for my company..