Pregnant and my contract is ending maternity ben?.

C

carlie

Guest
Hi,

I have been working in a contract position for the past 3 and a half years I am 2 months pregnant and have just found out that my contract wiill end in two months time. My problem is that at that stage I will be 4 months pregnant will be looking for employment which I guess is going to to be quite difficult if I am showing. So my worst case scenario is that I cannot get a job. First question would it be more beneficial to give my husband my tax free allowance or go on social welfare. Secondly if I cant get a job up until the day i could take maternity leave am I not entitled to any maternity benefit. Any help much appreciated

Carlie.
 
Maternity benefit is calculated on your last full year working so you should be entitled to it irrespective of your employment situation later in the year. The rules are very relaxed when it comes to granting maternity benefit.

To qualify for Maternity Benefit, you must satisfy one of the following PRSI contribution conditions. You must have:

at least paid 39 PRSI* contributions in the 12-month period before the first day of your maternity leave,
or
at least 39 paid PRSI* contributions since first starting work and at least 39 paid or credited PRSI* contributions in the relevant tax year, or in the year following the relevant tax year,
or
at least 26 paid PRSI* contributions in the relevant tax year and at least 26 paid PRSI* contributions in the tax year before the relevant tax year.

The relevant tax year is the second last complete tax year before the benefit year, in which your maternity leave starts. The benefit year begins each year on the first Monday in January and ends on the Sunday immediately before the first Monday in January the following year.

http://www.welfare.ie/publications/sw11.html
 
[
quote=davidoco;348830]Maternity benefit is calculated on your last full year working so you should be entitled to it irrespective of your employment situation later in the year. The rules are very relaxed when it comes to granting maternity benefit.

To qualify for Maternity Benefit, you must satisfy one of the following PRSI contribution conditions. You must have:

at least paid 39 PRSI* contributions in the 12-month period before the first day of your maternity leave,
or
at least 39 paid PRSI* contributions since first starting work and at least 39 paid or credited PRSI* contributions in the relevant tax year, or in the year following the relevant tax year,
or
at least 26 paid PRSI* contributions in the relevant tax year and at least 26 paid PRSI* contributions in the tax year before the relevant tax year.

The relevant tax year is the second last complete tax year before the benefit year, in which your maternity leave starts. The benefit year begins each year on the first Monday in January and ends on the Sunday immediately before the first Monday in January the following year.

http://www.welfare.ie/publications/sw11.html
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[/QUOTE]

That means when i was pregnant with my first i was entitled to maternity benefit and i didnt get anything!:(
 
While your entitlement to maternity benefit is calculated on PRSI contributions, the maternity benefit is calculated as a percentage of your current wages. As such, if you aren't employed, then you aren't entitled to maternity benefit. I think that if you are on unemployment benefit you are entitled to maternity benefit however.
 
terrysgirl33 said:
While your entitlement to maternity benefit is calculated on PRSI contributions, the maternity benefit is calculated as a percentage of your current wages. As such, if you aren't employed, then you aren't entitled to maternity benefit. I think that if you are on unemployment benefit you are entitled to maternity benefit however.
Click to expand...

correct, and when OPs contract is finished in two months there is a chance she will be on UB for the following 4 to 5 months which would then entitle her to the MB.
 
Are you sure about this? My wife is in the same boat and therefore I've been looking at the welfare website to see where she stands. As far as I can see, see meets the PRSI contributions criteria as she was in full time employment for 52 weeks in the relevant tax year ie 2005. However, You are supposed to be in insurable employment up until the day before your maternity benefit starts.
I rang the maternity benefits department in donegal and they seemed to suggest that she would have to be in insurable employment within 16 weeks of the due date and therefore she would be eligible.
That to me would suggest that she needs to have a job within 16 weeks of the due date and then when that job ends her maternity benefit would commence from the next day.
It seems very unfair that someone who is 'actively looking for employment' would be turned down maternity benefit. Lets be honest, I don't know many businesses who going to employ my wife in the next few weeks knowing that she will be heading off for six months on maternity leave.
 
FewEuro said:
It seems very unfair that someone who is 'actively looking for employment' would be turned down maternity benefit.
Click to expand...

Perhaps you are correct from reading this

be in employment which is covered by the Maternity Protection Act, 1994, immediately before the first day of her maternity leave. The last day of insurable employment may be within 16 weeks of the end of the week in which her baby is due. (If she ceases employment, her Maternity Leave must commence from the following day) and

My knowledge of it relates to someone who was out of work on Disablity Benefit and they got the Maternity so it should be checked out. So following on from that you get to keep the UB of €180

from http://www.welfare.ie/foi/jb_jobseekben.html

(c) Maternity Leave
Pregnancy, including confinement, is not considered to be an incapacity for the purposes of Illness Benefit, or Jobseeker's Benefit/Allowance. A person who is pregnant but who does not satisfy the contribution conditions for Maternity Benefit or Illness Benefit, and is not in receipt of wages from her employer, may be considered to satisfy the conditions of being available for and genuinely seeking work during pregnancy, including confinement in hospital or at home, unless there are other factors which could call her general availability for work into question. Such persons may be paid JB.

Budget 2002 provided for an extension of Maternity Benefit from 14 consecutive weeks to 18 consecutive weeks. Budget 2006 provided for a further extension of Maternity Benefit from 18 weeks to 22 weeks. The special signing and payment arrangements which apply to JB customers are now for a period of 22 weeks in all cases.
 
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