Relocation while on maternity (military spouse)
Just wondering if anyone has been able to keep their *enhanced* maternity pay, even though they’ve not returned to work due to their partner being relocated? Obviously I’ll keep my statutory pay, but wondering whether there’s any chance of me keeping my enhanced? I worked in a school, so technically employed by the council. I’ve seen people quote the armed forces covenant, but I can’t really see anything relating to it on the council website.
Basically my husband got a promotion that meant us moving while on maternity leave. During that time I received enhanced maternity pay from my work (i’d originally intended to return to work following my maternity leave). My contract states that you should return to work for 13 weeks to keep the enhanced pay, but we’ve obviously moved so that’s not possible.
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@Katie thank you! I guess that’s one reason to try and get a job in the civil service again 😅. I’m constantly checking for emails from HR to see if there’s any mention of it 😂. I’m hoping I’ll be able to keep some of it (though that’s possibly false hope!). Fortunately having to repay it wouldn’t put us in financial hardship, but it would make us a lot more comfortable in being able to sort and pay for childcare while I look for a new job in this area 😩. I see you’re in shrivenham - that’s where we moved from! I absolutely loved the area - hope you’re all enjoying it ☺️
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I was quite lucky in that I was able to transfer (Probation Service) so I was able to keep my OMP. I think the issue with the armed forces covenant is it’s never clear who actually enforces anything in it. I think you’d very much be relying on the goodwill of your employer. In theory if your employer has signed up they class themselves as a forces friendly employer, they should be more accommodating of the posting, not penalise you etc. but what that looks like in practice is anyone’s guess. A friend of mine did manage to get some sort of reimbursement (it was arranged through RAF welfare) by explaining moving and the repayments of her OMP would place her in financial hardship. I think they compensated most of what she needed to pay back. It may be worth asking?