maternity pay

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mullingar

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hello. i was looking for some advice please. i recently decided to join the garda after years of working (i am 32) after i accepted the position and just before i started we learned that my wife was pregnant and were delighted. Currently I am on 150 euro per week and my wife earns 550 euros per week after tax She is due to give birth in 4 weeks and her employer has told her that he wont be paying any maternity pay whatsoever because he is not entltled to (she has no contract but has worked there for 4 years)

She has been told that she will get full maternity benefit of 280 euros per week but thats all we will have o live on and pay the mortgage on. Mortgage company wont postpone the mortgage because we did it afew years ago for 6 months.

Does anyone know if we would be entltled to anything else to help us survive at least till July when I finish my garda training.

ANY help appreciated!!!
 
Hi Mullingar,
Congratulations on your happy news.

On maternity pay - this is quite common in private companies, my company does not pay any maternity pay either, if I were to become pregnant I would only get the state maternity benefit (that wouldnt pay my mortgage either). Its nothing to do with contract of employment or how long someone is with the company, a private company is not bound to pay employees off on maternity leave.
 
Congratulations, hope all goes well with the baby.

As maternity benefit is not taxable your wife will be due a tax refund at the end of the year. Ask her employer to give do up her P60 in the first week of January (it's the least he can do) and send that off to your tax office ASAP afterwards to get the refund due to her.

I'd try talking to the mortgage company again, even just to reduce payments for a while. You are going to have a permanent pensionable job very soon, you'd imagine they'd give you some leeway.

If you still have to pay the mortgage, things will be very tight. Would getting a loan be an option? If you get a flexible loan over a long period, say 5 years, the repayments will be low enough and you can repay it early when you are both earning proper money again.

In the meantime, try to go easy on the baby purchases. Family and friends will get you more than you could imagine (particularly if you let them know what you need, when they ask).
 
If your wife could get her employer to put through token wages say €1 each week,this would trigger a tax refund of €70 or more without waiting
 
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