Maternity leave and end of work contract

[GingerGiraffe]

I’m in a situation where my maternity leave will cross over with my contract expiring. Has anyone been in a similar situation? I’m worried about having no job to return to so added stress of finding a new job!

[GM99]

Yes I was first time round and will be second time around because of the kind of job I have. Luckily first time around my contract got extended while I was on maternity, but it was very down to the wire so know how stressful it can be! You will be still entitled to you SMP even after your contract ends and you may also get some redundancy money (depending on how long you’ve been there etc). Good luck! xx

[GingerGiraffe in reply to GM99]

Thank you! I know they won’t want to extend the contract but good to know about the pay etc! X

[ToniaB123]

The same happened to me, my contract ended a month after I left for maternity. Luckily the project I work on was extended so my contract was as well. You’ll still be entitled to any company maternity benefits and SMP. You’re entitled to redundancy if you’ve been there more than 2 years. Maternity is a protected characteristic so if there’s still a need for your role I think any employer would find it hard to not keep you in that role. Try not to worry mummy and enjoy your pregnancy and maternity xxx

[GingerGiraffe in reply to ToniaB123]

Awh thank you! Where I work at the moment doesn’t have anyone in HR so my line manager is trying his best to get the legal side of it sorted (he’s a volunteer so it’s quite a bit of extra work for him!) thanks for the encouragement! Xx

[ToniaB123 in reply to GingerGiraffe]

Oh that is a difficult situation! There’s loads of useful info on the acas website so maybe take a look on there too! They may be able to help out. Good luck Xxx

[Toffeelady123]

Hello, I’m in the same position. Baby due in Feb and my contract comes to an end in July with very little chance of an extension. It’s so frustrating as the last thing I want to be thinking about it trying to find a new job especially in today’s climate.

I’m trying not to worry and focus on baby, hoping that things just work out. Once baby is 6 months old I’ll start properly looking and hopefully all will work out.

Trying to save as much money at present and at least there’s statutory pay.

Sure things will work out for you, I’m sure this is more common than we think! Xx

[GingerGiraffe in reply to Toffeelady123]

Oh dear! Hope you are able to find a new job quickly after you’ve spent some quality time with the baby! Xx

[gillyl]

I was in a similar position. I was on a fixed term contract which was shortly to end but then my department was undergoing a restructure. I was lucky in that my contract was extended by a couple of months to cover the restructure period (which up to that point had taken a year) and I did end up with a permanent job, but I only found that out a few days before I gave birth. It was really stressful.

I hope you're OK, and manage to sort something out x