advantages - maternity leave at full pay or half pay?

[Lilli]

Just a quick question - I've been hearing about getting maternity leaveat full and half pay - ie 14 weeks full pay or 28 weeks half pay - is there any advantage of choosing one over the other - for example is there a tax benefit?

[*Infinity*]

I took my maternity leave pay over 6 months at half pay (as opposed to 3 months at full pay). Yes there was a tax benefit - I was taxed less each fortnight than if I was to have taken full pay. Plus it also helped stretch out the financial support over a longer period of time for us which made a big difference.

[Kazbah]

It depends on when you're on leave. If you can take it at full-pay in one financial year, and then no income for the next financial year then you can get more govt assistance payments including possible health-care card etc.

[Fuzzywuzzy]

It depends on when you're on leave. If you can take it at full-pay in one financial year, and then no income for the next financial year then you can get more govt assistance payments including possible health-care card etc.

:yeahthat:

I took my leave starting in April at full pay which meant that I had a lower income this financial year and qualified for more payments. I guess that i would only consider taking it at half pay if i was bad a budgeting and needed the income to stretch out further

[AliBaby]

Are you a teacher? There are quite a few benefits if you take it at half pay instead of full pay.

[Lilli]

Alibaby - yes, I am a teacher - I will have to check our agreement though as I work in a non-governement school - I hope mat leave at half pay is available!

[butterfly_warrior]

I'm a teacher in a non-government school. I tried to take my maternity pay at half pay and I was told I wasn't allowed to. There was nothing in the agreement that said one way or the other whether I was allowed to or not, but the school said no. I didn't try contacting head office directly, and now I'm thinking I probably should have.

I did get an extra 7 weeks of pay in the end, though. I managed to work up until the end of the school year (finished at 35 weeks, Sam arrived early at 36 weeks) which meant I got paid for the summer holidays before my maternity pay started.

BW

[AliBaby]

I am not sure abotu the private system but in the public system, if you take half pay, during school holidays that fall during your mat leave you get full pay. So thats at least 2 holidays as your mat leave would fall over 2 terms.

I found it also good to be getting a smaller amount of money spread over a greater time, that combined witht he baby bonus fortnightly payments into my account kept us on a pretty gooo dticket for 6 months.

[AngelPunks]

When I looked into it (govt job), I was advised to take all my leave at half pay, my sick, holiday and then my maternity leave.

Now that I'll be no-longer working for govt (moves being decided between Perth, Mauritius, South Africa or now London), I'm trying to not take leave so that my first few months not working I'll have pay coming in (my holiday pay at half pay) - as I'm taking leave first, then will resign.

[butterfly_warrior]

I'm pretty sure that for holidays that fall during maternity leave in the non-government system that you don't get paid. It was just 14 weeks of pay counted from my first non-working day - holidays didn't count apart from the one that fell in between the school year ending and the next school year starting.

BW

[Lilli]

I have just checked with the "authorities" and I am entitled to half pay if I request it- I've just put in my request form. I think I will be able to better plan and budget over the coming months with half pay.