Benefits and Taxes

When you become pregnant and go on to have your baby, you are entitled to certain rights and benefits whatever your employment status or income, so make sure you know what they are!

Letting your employer know you are pregnant by the 15th week before your baby is due will stop you from missing out on your entitled benefits. Named the 'notification week', it ensures that your employer has time to plan ahead for the time you'll be off, and at the same time, allowing you to make the most of all the benefits of being a pregnant employee.

Important Update: The Government has introduced a 'Health in Pregnancy Grant' available from April 2009.

Maternity Leave and Pay

When you are pregnant your employer must allow you to take fully-paid leave to attend all your medical checks and any relaxation, ante-natal or parenting classes you have been advised to go to by your doctor, midwife or health visitor. Your employer also has a duty of care to carry out a full health and safety inspection to make sure you do not do any work which may put you or your baby in danger. If you want to know your rights at work as a new or expectant mum, click here for the Health & Safety Executives consummate guide.

Some employers may ask to see appointment cards to prove your attendance at medical centres.

If you get sick whilst pregnant, either from the usual nausea or something more serious that requires a hospital visit, the usual sickness rules and regulations apply. If you are off work for over a week, your employer has a right to ask to see a written confirmation note from your doctor or midwife. However, it's worth remembering that if your doctor prescribes medicine during pregnancy, you're entitled to it free of charge until your baby turns one.

Maternity Leave

If you are employed, you have a statutory right to a minimum amount of Maternity Leave which has recently been increased to 52 weeks, as long as your baby is due on or after 1st April 2007

If your baby is due before 1st April 2007, you are entitled to 26 weeks Maternity Leave no matter how long you have worked for the company. If you've worked for your employer for more than 26 weeks into the 15th week of your pregnancy, you are entitled to a further 26 weeks (equalling one year) of Additional Maternity Leave. (Your employer is under no obligation to pay you for this additional period.)

Statutory Maternity Pay (SMP)

SMP is paid for 39 weeks. For the first six weeks, you receive 90% of your usual wage. After that, you receive a standard rate for 33 weeks, which is £117.18 per week for 2008-9 (or 90% of your average earnings if you are on a low income). Some employers exist who are more generous than this and will give 90% of your income for longer or full pay for a few months. Contact your Human Resources Manager to find out exactly what you're entitled to.

If you are employed, you will receive Statutory Maternity Pay (SMP) from your employer. To qualify for SMP you must have worked continuously for the same employer into the 15th week before your baby is due and earn at least £84 per week on average.

You are entitled to SMP if:

You have worked for at least 26 weeks by the end of the qualifying week (i.e. by the end of the 15th week before the week the baby is due)

You have been paid at least the Lower Earning Limit (£90 per week) on average in the 8 weeks (if you are paid weekly) or the two months (if you are paid monthly) up to the last payday before the end of the qualifying week.

You provide a MATB1 certificate to your employer and give them eight weeks notice before you want SMP to start

Maternity Allowance

Maternity Allowance (MA) is for women who either are self-employed, have recently been employed or self/employed or women who are unable to qualify for SMP.

Maternity Allowance pays a standard weekly rate of £112.75 or 90 per cent of your average weekly earnings (before tax), whichever is the smaller, and is paid either weekly or monthly by direct debit into your bank or savings account. MA is paid for a maximum of 39 weeks.

You can claim MA as soon as you've been pregnant for 26 weeks. You can ask your local Jobcentre Plus for a claim form (Form MA1) or go to the Jobcentre Plus website and download one.

You'll also need to send in your Maternity Certificate MATB1 with the Form MA1, which your doctor or midwife will give you aournd your 21st week of pregnancy as evidence of when your baby is due.

You'll need to give proof of your earnings or a Small Earnings Exception certificate. If you're self-employed and paying Class 2 NICs, HM Revenue & Customs will be asked to confirm your payments are up to date.

The earliest you can get Maternity Allowance is from the 11th week before the week your baby's due. The latest you can get it is from the day following your child's birth.

New Developments

The government is planning to increase maternity pay to 52 weeks by 2010 and to introduce Additional Paternity Leave (APL) and Additional Statutory Paternity Pay - both of which can be taken in the second six months of your baby's life. Some of the APL could be paid if the mother has returned to work and has some of her entitlement to SMP or MA left at the time of her return.

Fathers

Fathers are now entitled to one or two consecutive weeks paid paternity leave. This has to be taken in one go, not on odd days. Statutory Paternity Pay is paid by an employer in the same way as a salary and is £112.75 per week. However, some firms will continue to pay the full salary while the father is on paternity leave.

To claim Statutory Paternity Pay you must tell your employer when you intend to take leave by the 15th week before your baby is due. If you change your mind you must give 28 days notice.

Your employer might ask you for self-certificate form SC3 becoming a parent that confirms you're entitled to the pay.

Child Benefit

Child benefit is available to any parent or carer bringing up a child, regardless or income or savings. For the first child this amount is £18.10 a week for the first child and £12.10 for each additional child.

It is normally paid monthly and by direct debit into the account of one parent or the main carer.

It's important that you claim child benefit as soon as your baby is born or as soon as a child comes into your care.

You'll find the child benefit claim form in the bounty pack you received in the hospital when your baby was born.

Otherwise, you can download one here

or call the Child Benefit Office:

Tel: 0845 302 1444 for Great Britain

Tel: 0845 603 2000 for Northern Ireland

Don't forget to send in the birth or adoption certificate with the Child Benefit Form.

Tax Credits

Tax credits needn't be a taxing! And, in fact, tax credits actually pay out money rather than taking it away. It may seem like another complicated bit of bureaucracy to sort out but it will probably be worth your while, so the sooner you look into it the better.Child Tax Credits
9 out of 10 families will qualify for tax credits.

All families with children can claim Child Tax Credit if their income is no more than £58,175 a year (up to £66,350 if you have a child under one).

How much you get depends on your income and circumstances. In total, Child Tax Credits can exceed £2,000 per year.

To order a claim pack call the Tax Credits helpline on 0845 300 3900

Lines are open every day (except Christmas Day, Boxing Day, New Year's Day and Easter Sunday) from 8.00 am to 8.00 pm.

Or you can pick up a claim pack from your nearest HMRC Enquiry Centre or Jobcentre Plus.

Contact your local Jobcentre Plus office (opens new window)

Contact your nearest HMRC Enquiry Centre (opens new window)

Working Tax Credits
Designed for employed and self-employed people on low incomes working more than 16 hours per week. Up to 80 percent of childcare costs may be met through the scheme.

To see if you are eligible call the Tax Credits helpline above.

Child Trust Fund

Every eligible child born after 1st September 2001 is given a voucher worth £250 to be placed in a savings and investment account. It's impossible for the child to access the money until they are 18 years old, by which time it will hopefully have accumulated into a tidy sum. There are three main types of accounts: savings, share accounts and stakeholder accounts.

You can't guarantee which one will give a better rate of return so it's up to you as a parent to make a calculated decision about where it will be best invested. You might want to put it in an ethical account and there are other factors to consider. However, whatever initial decision you make, if you feel that the account isn't performing as you like, you can move the funds at any time to a different provider.

For the best guide to Child Trust Funds go to childtrustfund.gov.uk which should give you all the advice and information you need.

Or call The Child Trust Fund helpline on 0845 302 1470

www.workingfamilies.org.uk

www.hmrc.gov.uk

www.direct.gov.uk