maternity leave and redundant round same time

ilovefridays

my company announced last week that they are closing up shop and going abroad soon and we will be all made redundant, i will be 7 months pregnant when i get made redundant (my company doesnt know that i'm pregnant, as i hadnt told anyone as its too early), but now i'm worried what way this will work out, will i still be entitled to my maternity leave even though they'll be pulling out of the country? and redundancy at the same time.
someone told me if i go on maternity leave a month before they pull out of the country, that i will not be entitled to the redundancy package
btw, i have a mortage and a husband on low wage

iggy

I too would like to know the answer here.

My wife is being made redundant 31st Dec the same day that she is entitled to go on maternity leave. She is the only person in the company losing her job as her position is going to be done from the UK after December.

Will she be entitled to full company maternity contributions ( which the company does pay in normal situations)?

mullers

think i can answer a few points on this:
State maternity pay is based on your PRSI contributions so you may be entitled to it regardless of whether you are working when you are going on leave or not. check out the following website to see if you will be entitled to it or not:

http://www.welfare.ie/EN/Schemes/BirthChildrenAndFamilies/MaternityBenefit/Pages/mb.aspx

if your company is supposed to pay you while on maternity leave (company maternity pay as opposed to state maternity pay), then you will probably not get this extra payment and will only be entitled to the state maternity payment.

you cannot be made redundant while on maternity leave in ireland. if you are made redundant before you go on maternity, then you have to be entitled to your full redundancy just like everyone else.

to be honest, if you ring citizens information they are very helpful and you can go through everything with them.

iggy, if i were you i would ensure that your wife goes on maternity before she is made redundant. might help with protecting pay and prsi stamps

sue345

As far as I know (stand to be corrected!) they can only make you redundant after your maternity leave has ended....not too sure what it means if you are by contract paid while on maternity leave (I would assume you would be paid as normal practice dictates) but it would def help to find out all the odds and ends and what your legal entitlements are.....

tinnuvial

I know companies who have laid of women on maternity leave. They were paid the full severance package and they were assessed for redundancy on the same criteria as currently working employees. Whether that is legal or not I don't know but it happens.

Newaglish

You can't be made redundant while on maternity leave, however you can be made redundant the day before you go on maternity leave and the day that you return.

It doesn't make a difference really unless the company has an actual maternity benefit package (some companies top up your social welfare with a % of your salary) although for redundancy purposes, the period of maternity leave would be counted as a period of service and therefore would increase your overall maternity package.

If you are worried, you should be able to organise that you take your maternity leave before the redundancies happen, that way you will remain as an employee until the period of maternity leave ends; you'll then be made redundant the day you are supposed to return.