illness benefit to maternity

j timber

hi all just looking for some information please...my wife is pregnant but is out of work due to hyperemisis since last oct. She is in full time employement. The baby is due in May and she is unsure if she will be fit to return to work before this as she is still sick. My question is can you go from illness benefit to maternity benefit. She does not get any payment from work while on maternity leave so it would be the state maternity benefit. We have heard she will not be entitled to any maternity benefit as she is on illness benefit now since last october and are hpoing this is not true. Thanks in advance.

Lisha

As far as I know mat benefit is calc using previous yr p60 so she should still qualify
You can go from illness to mat leave

If I was you I would either read citizens advice website or ring them to clarify the issue

Congrats and best of luck
It's a pity she has been so sick hope she feels better soon

j timber

Thanks for your reply. Will ring citizens info tomorrow to see what story is. That would be great if it was calculated on prevoius year.

Thanks for your best wishes, really pity anyone with hyperemisis, its been a long few months.

cyning

I was in this exact situation last year: was out for 8 of the 9 months on illness benefit for hyperemesis and went straight to maternity pay then.

Hope your wife feels better soon its really really awful. Also even though I was out sick for all of it it did lessen after awhile: I hope hers does too

cch

As long as she is still employed for even one day after 24 weeks (along with the 2011 credits requirement) and can get someone in her company to sign the MB10 form then she'll get maternity benefit.

cyning

I wasn't back in work at all after 24 weeks, I just got the form filled out from work and got my maternity from July-Dec.

j timber

hi guys we rang the citizens information today and they said she would b entitled to the maternity as its based on 2011 tax year.they said nothing about working for one day.

cch

j timber wrote: »

hi guys we rang the citizens information today and they said she would b entitled to the maternity as its based on 2011 tax year.they said nothing about working for one day.

You definitely also need to be employed to get maternity benefit, this is going to be even more obvious when they start taxing maternity benefit in July this year as the most likely way to administer this is via the employers payroll.

cyning

cch wrote: »

You definitely also need to be employed to get maternity benefit, this is going to be even more obvious when they start taxing maternity benefit in July this year as the most likely way to administer this is via the employers payroll.

Being employed is different to working for one day though? I still had my job to go back to but I didn't work from the time I was 4.5 weeks pregnant, and I got my maternity pay with absolutely no issues. So I was on illness benefit because I wasn't fit to work because I was too sick and then went straight onto maternity benefit.

MurdyWurdy

cch wrote: »

You definitely also need to be employed to get maternity benefit, this is going to be even more obvious when they start taxing maternity benefit in July this year as the most likely way to administer this is via the employers payroll.

This isn't correct, you don't have to be employed to get the maternity benefit. I finish a contract the day I'm due to take maternity leave and then will be technically unemployed.

I spoke to the maternity benefit people in Donegal and they said that was no problem, to send my P45 in with the other documentation as I am still entitled to the benefit, due to previous work history. Obviously I won't also receive a top-up from an employer but I'm still entitled to the state benefit.

cch

To elaborate, if you're on illness benefit then you're still in employment. You need this employer to sign the MB10 form some time after 24 weeks and before your maternity leave starts. You could get the form signed at 24+1 and be made redundant or have your contract end at any time after this and still get maternity benefit, hence my "one day" comment.

This will become more obvious when maternity benefit is taxed and has to be processed through an employers payroll (this has not been confirmed but is the most likely way it will happen)

j timber

she is still employed and has a job to go back to, just cant make it back at d moment and not sure if she will before baby arrives.

agazie

Hi all, i am on an illness benefit from 15 months now. I got pregnant last October and i am expecting my baby to arrive in July. I have had also a little boy in Oct 2010. I am not sure if i am able to work at all as i do not feel i am. is there any possibility i will get maternity benefit? or maybe i should quit my job? what would happen then? anyone could give me advice what would be the best option for me
?