maternity leave and pay

[bambisoloved]

hello
my daughter is on maternity leave and yesterday when she got her pay slip it showed she had`nt got her cost of living increase. everybody else did
this means her pay is below the minimin wage
i dont think this right
she should be treated like she is still employed and get a cost of living increase regardless of being on maternity leave
when she pointed out to her manager she had not got an increase
he blamed the goverment
how should she deal with this
has anybody got any advice?

[enaid]

Re: maternity leave and pay

If you get a pay rise
If your employer awards a pay rise which is effective at any time from the start of the set period used to work out your SMP and the end of your maternity leave, your employer must work out your SMP again and pay you any balance due to you.

Taken form here Statutory Maternity Pay - how it is worked out : Directgov - Money, tax and benefits


Enaid x

[bambisoloved]

Re: maternity leave and pay

thanks enaid
thats really helpful
my daughter feels more confidence challenging her employer now

[WendyB]

Re: maternity leave and pay

If her pay is below the minimum wage now, was it not below the minimum wage before the pay rise? Is she on the minimum hourly rate for her age, bearing in mind this has just increased.

Contrary to what most people believe, an employer is not obliged to give a pay rise every year, not even a cost of living rise. Unless, of course, it is written into the contract of employment.They are, however, legally obliged to pay the minimum wage. Also, they do not have to give pay rises across the board, they can give one employee but not another, it would depend on factors such as agreed rates, individual agreements, union agreements etc. But also, an employer cannot discriminate purely because she is on maternity leave.