Sarah gets Maternity Pay from a rogue boss

Sarah came to us explaining that she was being threatened with redundancy from the cleaning company she worked for. Not only was she worried about how she would find new work or afford to live in the meantime, there was the complication that she was 27 weeks pregnant. Not only that, but her partner, Bill, also worked for the same company and was up for redundancy, meaning there was the chance the whole family would soon be without employment. Sarah’s employer knew that she was pregnant and they had informed her that she would not be eligible for any Statutory Maternity Pay (SMP) as they classified her as an “Agency Worker”.

Working with Sarah, we were able to determine that, in fact, Sarah was an employee, as her contract and payslips indicated. This meant that she had greater rights than a ‘worker’, which something her employer had attempted to persuade her otherwise of. Because she was an employee, we calculated her ‘qualifying weeks’ for SMP, which had already passed by the time she’d contacted us. This meant that Sarah would be eligible for SMP. From here, we provided Sarah with the links to the relevant legislation so that she could raise the matter with her employer.

But that was not all, we also completed a ‘benefit check’, which identified that, after they had their child, Sarah and Bill would be eligible for £1,210 of Universal Credit per month, on top of their earnings. Not confident with reading and writing, we agreed to book a follow-up appointment with them to complete a Universal Credit online application, which reassured them that they wouldn’t have to do this alone.

Following our advice, Sarah’s employer accepted they were required to pay SMP. After the birth of their son in November, the family was in receipt of both SMP and UC (totalling to £1957 per month), and ensuring their financial stability.