Pregnant women are being wrongly denied maternity pay to the tune of millions of pounds, a report has warned – with the number surging since the start of the pandemic.
Charity Maternity Action said many expectant and new mothers are losing out on income, with the charity recovering more than £1million for women subjected to pay discrimination in the past year alone.
It said many more expectant and new parents are losing out on support they are legally entitled to.
Campaigners blamed the rising number on the government's inability to introduce adequate guidance for pregnant women and employers during the Covid emergency.
Maternity Action said its helpline alone received 28% more enquiries about pay rights between August 2020 and October this year.
Rebekah, a trainee nurse who fell pregnant during the pandemic, said her employer incorrectly informed her she would not meet the requirements for occupational maternity pay.
Speaking to The Independent, she said: "Work told me they were not going to pay me and didn't give a reason.
"I had a newborn and a chronic illness and it was extremely stressful. I felt like I lost the first three months of my maternity leave. I felt like I was at work, checking my emails several times a day."
Rebekah said the financial strain of being denied maternity pay had "immense" repercussions after she was forced to shield due to suffering from severe autoimmune disease.
"I was so emotionally exhausted by the whole thing I thought about stopping the case because I was struggling to cope," she added.”
Maternity Action, which launched its legal support service in August last year, only has the resources to help one in eight callers to its helpline.
That means thousands of employers could be getting away with breaking the law.
Ros Bragg, Maternity Action's director, said women should not need a professional lawyer in order to simply be paid what the law stipulates they are owed.
Have you been unfairly denied maternity leave? Get in touch: emma.munbodh@mirror.co.uk
" Pregnancy should be a time when women can focus on their family and their new baby," Ms Bragg said.
"However, the financial problems caused by difficulties resolving maternity pay can leave women focusing on their very difficult financial circumstances.
“The pandemic was already difficult. This was an additional stressful, wholly unnecessary, burden."
Ms Bragg said cited processing delays at the Department for Work and Pensions, employer confusion about rules and uncertainty among women about which public agency could help them amongst reasons mothers are losing out.
These issues were compounded by Covid, the campaigner said, once furlough came into play.
"Government guidance for pregnant women and their employers was woeful," Ms Bragg said. "We waited nine months for any government guidance for pregnant employees, but no guidance was ever issued for employers in managing pregnant women."
"The dearth of guidance meant the government never told employers how to tackle furlough entitlements for pregnant women or how to approach paid maternity suspension - when you suspend pregnant women on full pay because you can't provide safe working conditions.
"The government's earliest announcement advised pregnant women to self-isolate, so thousands of women were placed on statutory sick pay instead of receiving furlough or paid maternity suspension.
"Which means they lost a lot of money, which will amount to hundreds of thousands of pounds across the country. Every day I'm astounded at how many calls we take from women struggling to access even their most basic rights and entitlements at work."
A spokesperson for the Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy said: "Protecting and enhancing workers' rights is an absolute priority for the government, which is why we increased our support for expectant parents during the pandemic, and have committed to establishing a single enforcement body to protect vulnerable workers - including pregnant women -across the UK.
"We have taken a range of significant action to protect workers' rights since last year, including taking steps to protect the earnings of furloughed workers receiving maternity pay during the pandemic."
Maternity pay and leave - your rights
Pregnant women are entitled to a year of Statutory Maternity Leave by law.
But while you’re entitled to 52 weeks off work, you’ll only get maternity pay for 39 of them if you’re eligible.
Your leave can start eleven weeks before your baby is due or the day after they are born if they arrive early.
You don’t have to take the 52 weeks you’re entitled to, but you must take at least two weeks off work following the birth.
Your maternity leave is made up of two different parts. Your paid holiday, protection from unfair dismissal and pension rights are protected, regardless of how much leave you take.
- Ordinary Maternity Leave : this is the first six months. If you return to work during this period, you have the right to return to exactly the same job that you had before you took maternity leave.
- Additional Maternity Leave : this is the second six months and affects what rights you have when you go back to work. If you take more than six months’ leave, you have the right to return to the same job unless it’s no longer available. In this case, you must be given a similar job with the same pay and conditions.
Statutory Maternity Pay is the legal minimum your employer normally has to pay you while you’re on maternity leave.
You’ll get Statutory Maternity Pay if you earn at least £120 a week on average and have worked for your employer for 26 weeks when you reach the 15th week before your due date.
If you’re self-employed – or don’t qualify for Statutory Maternity Pay – you might be able to get Maternity Allowance.
You can use this Maternity Pay Calculator to work out how much you get.
To claim Statutory Maternity Leave and Pay, you must tell your employer you’re going on maternity leave at least 15 weeks before the baby’s due date.
You must give your employer proof of your pregnancy to get maternity pay.
This can be your MATB1 certificate or a letter from your doctor or midwife.
You have the right to change your mind about the end of your maternity leave.
But you must give your employer eight weeks’ notice if you want to return later or earlier.
