My Ex wife has become pregnant,

She has been working for her employers for just over 22 months,

will she be entitled to maternity pay?

Thanks in advance

Leakie

Sorry forgot to say she is on a Zero hours contract

Statutory maternity pay is not available for workers, only for employees. On a zero hours contract she is a worker. It is possible that she may qualify for maternity allowance if she meets the conditions.

Thanks for the quick reply

where would she find this out, I assume at the job centre?

https://www.gov.uk/maternity-pay-leave/eligibility

Your employer must give you form SMP1 explaining why you can’t get SMP within 7 days of making their decision. You could get Maternity allowance instead.

Scroll down to the bottom of the link above and then follow the link to Maternity Allowance. Your wife will need to ask her 'employer' for form SMP1 and explain why she is not entitled to SMP.

Thank you Citizen B

She has not informed the company she works for at the moment,

because she is worried that as soon as she tells them she will lose the job,

as she is on a Zero hours contract,

She has had continuous work with them for the last 22 months,

The initial date they have said for the birth, is about 23rd September so early days,

I think she was going to inform them after her first scan.

She is my ex wife, by the way , we are just on good terms because of our children,

this is why I was prepared to ask the question on her behalf.

Leakie

Awful situation to be in. I hope all goes well for your ex and that she is entitled to something.

so, keeping quiet for the next two months to get past the 2 year's employment threshold? A good idea. She can then look very carefully at how her work is allocated and done to determine if she really is a worker and not an employee. The differences can be small so look into whether she has the right to refuse work, work for another employer etc.

Thanks again

She is defenatley a worker, rather than an employee

I think her problem will be to hit the qualifying times,

if they decided not to giver any more work because of the Pregnancy, they would be silly to say so.

it is a shame that there is not more protection for her, she is as good as an employee, does exactly the same hours.

Does your ex-wife have her contract of employment - it isn't always clear cut that a ZHC means 'worker' status, nor does a 'worker' status mean that there is no entitlement to SMP - eligibility is subject to qualifying criteria, not determined by whether on a ZHC or not

Her contract may specify that she is an 'employee' albeit one with no guaranteed hours of work, and the nature of the work and how it is allocated may also determine her status as an 'employee' even if the contract is silent on the matter. Is there an expectation for example that she will do the job or jobs that are sent to her or is she free to say no without detriment?

As for facing possible dismissal, or even suffering a detriment due to pregnancy, the company would be on very dodgy ground as it would be a relatively simple matter if (as you say) she has a long history of working the same or similar hours - even if the employer was to reduce the work to nothing, it would be hard to argue that this was not due to the pregnancy and the act would be one of discrimination - actionable even without 2 years service - although it would be costly to take to a Tribunal

Thank you all for your input

CitizenB Thank you for the link interesting reading,

Sidewinder She signed something, where she works, she had spoken to her line manager

and he said she was definatley on Zero hours and does not have a contract as an employee.

She basically works the same hours as employees. and is expected to be there everyday.

if she is off sick she does not get any sick pay,

I think she may be worry too much, but she will need to inform them soon for Health and Safety reasons

The company she works for is part of the company who are quite famous for selling Jam from a village in Essex.

They did have a good name for looking after there employees, Cheap rent for employees and even opened a retirment home for former employees. So I hope this part of the company wil have the same ethos.

expected to be there every day? That is leaning towards being an employee (but employed under ulawful contractual conditions). However the comapny way well wish it to be otherwise and it will take a long hard battle to determine whether they are breraking the law or not. For this reason I would be keeping quite until the 2 years service have been met and the she will have more options on what action to take if they tell her to leave (or fail to give her work). Pregnancy is not an illness nor a H&S matter except in certain circumstances such as working with radiation. If she has problems with the pregnancy then she will ahve to tell them if they impinge upon her normal work but otherwise nowt to do with them until the period of confinement.

Thanks again

Yes they get annoyed if they do not turn up,

I rang in for her when she had a bout of flu, the manager was quite stroppy about it.

I only mentioned about H & S with regards to her lifting heavy Boxes which she has to at some point during the day,

As they have a duty of care I thought it only fair it should be mentioned.

People are not obliged to lift heavy boxes, read the "six pack" booklet on the manual handling regs. I would suggest that instead of finding reasons to side with the employers treatment of its staff you start reading up on the law and help your ex-wife if that is your true intent. Everything you have said so far doesnt clarify her situation as far as employment goes so either do a bit or homework or leave her to it rather than give her bad advice

If it can be shown she is an employee rather than a worker she has far more rights so look toward the positive aspects of this- she works for just one employer, she is expected to be there every day and appears to have to make arrangments regarding illness. There really arent that many jobs that are for "workers" rather than "employees" but employers do tend to take the michael in this respect because people are too afraid to question it. She is in an excellent position to do so as to put it bluntly in a couple of months time she will have nothing to lose. Having said this you dotn want to chagre in at full tilt until all the facts are known.

Thanks again

As She is my Ex I can not prey to much where work is concerned, as the company possibly

would not divulge the info anyway.

She is a foreign National this is why I am asking as gets mixed up sometimes.

From what I understand is she only gets paid for the hours worked,

So there is no minimum 8 hrs per day,

but she has to work longer until orders are finished.or less if small orders

Her hours have varied from 30 hrs per week to 45 hrs per week depending on the time of year.

I agree if she can last a couple of months she has nothing to lose.

No Sick pay but she is paid holiday.

you are still completely missing the point about the difference between a worker and an employee.It has nothing to do with the hours worked, nothing to do with a variation in hours, it is abouther right to say no whenever she wants to and how her work is assigned to her.

If you want to be helpful ask her for a copy of her employment contract and then dont bother with the bit about it being a zero hours contract but read the other detail about availability to work, working for other employers etc. That is what determines the difference. Also, what do the employers provide as fara s equipment/tools etc?

Ericsbrother

Yes It is my true intention to help her,

No I am not siding with the company over H & S rule

I have asked to see her contract,

She stated she signed something at the start of working for the company,

But does not have a copy.

She is going to ask for a copy today, to clarify where she stands,

the company supply the hair nets and aprons in the food prep area where she works.

I can only go on the info I have been given, the reason for asking

is to try and help her, as her reading and writing of English is not very good.

small things can make the difference hence asking about all sorts of everything.Many companies use zero hours contracts improperly.

I have one for part time teaching and are happy with it as I can decide not to work at a certain location or on certain days should I wish. I dont do this at the drop of a hat but it does mean I can watch the tennis rather than look at the same error on a problem sheet made by 50% of the class who never would plagiarise each others work.

I have found time to look at the link CitizenB provided

This part I found if you got the job through an agency,

You are usually an employee if the following arrangements exist at your work:

your employer deducts tax and National Insurance from your pay

your employer controls the work you do, when and how you do it

your employer provides all the equipment for your work.

So it looks like she may tick all the correct boxes

I hope to have a copy of her contract sometime next week as the lady who deals with this is away until next week.

we are getting there. If she works via an agency then she is entitled to certain protections but not others so ask if you can see a pay slip and see who it is issued by and the employers tax district code. That will identify the employer but not necessarily determine the contractual rights but it all helps piece the puzzle together.

Hi all

I gave up asking for sight of contract.

I do have sight of her pay slip/sheet

She is paid directly by the company she is working for.

no Tax district code on there.

I had been reading through the link citizen B supplied,

She will be seeing the mid wife for a check up and hopefully she will get the certificate of the due date for her employer.

She is now 15 weeks gone ,

the company are starting to ask questions as she has had time off for the Midwife/scan etc

She must inform them sooner rather than later - for health and safety reasons as much as anything else as there are certain protections once her pregnancy is notified to the employer

Health overrides any other considerations

Thank you Sidewinder

She intended to inform them next week once she had the certificate from the midwife with the official due date,

this is how I interpreted, the advise on the link Citizen B provided.

I will type up a letter for her so she can let them know.( she can not read and write English properly yet)

She is concerned that they will force her out once she has informed them.

Just a bit of an update

I composed a letter for he,informing the company,

This was due to Sidewinders comments and the mount of appointments she has had.

The company seem to be supportive, and she is waiting on HR t have a chat on the way forward,

Unfortunately there may be a problem with the pregnancy she will have had 4 different appointments this week alone.

Thank you for your input,

If anything else arises I will get back to you.

Leakie