# Maternity leave and Furlough



## PuffAdder (3 Jun 2020)

Hi everyone,

Does anyone know what the status is regards an employee in the hotel business who was on maternity leave since Dec. They were due back to work this week but obviously this wont happen, maternity statutory pay is finished.  There seems to have been no provision made for furlough payment in this case with the employer stating they were not an employee and not entitled to it now. The forms require you to have been an employee between certain dates. Thank you in advance.


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## RedOnion (3 Jun 2020)

There was a change made in the last week or 2 to cover this.






						COVID-19 Pandemic Unemployment Payment (PUP)
					

The COVID-19 Pandemic Unemployment Payment is available to employees and self-employed people who have lost employment due to the COVID-19 public health emergency.




					www.citizensinformation.ie
				




"
*Returning to work after maternity leave*
If you are due to finish your statutory maternity leave (paid or unpaid) but cannot return to your employment due to the COVID-19 public health emergency, you can get the COVID-19 Pandemic Unemployment Payment from when you are due to return to work (your maternity leave end date). The ‘date last worked’ on your application form for the COVID-19 Pandemic Unemployment Payment is the date that you were due to return to work"


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## PuffAdder (3 Jun 2020)

Thank you kindly RO.


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## lughildanach (4 Jun 2020)

PuffAdder said:


> Hi everyone,
> 
> Does anyone know what the status is regards an employee in the hotel business who was on maternity leave since Dec. They were due back to work this week but obviously this wont happen, maternity statutory pay is finished.  There seems to have been no provision made for furlough payment in this case with the employer stating they were not an employee and not entitled to it now. The forms require you to have been an employee between certain dates. Thank you in advance.



There are two possibilities, depending on what your employer is doing.  But please do remember that if you were on Maternity Leave you were an employee on the relevant date.  Maternity Protection legislation states that for all purposes (except pay) that you continue to have all rights of your employment during your Maternity Leave.  The problem is that you were not being paid, and this has led to the problems.

If your employer keeps you on payroll, they can pay you through the Wage Subsidy Scheme.  This had been excluded for those returning from Maternity Leave, but that has now been resolved, as it was clearly discriminatory  The Wage Subsidy Scheme pays you a percentage of your average wage calculated over January/February, so it also meant that those returning from Maternity Leave could get a reduced entitlement.  This problem has also been resolved, although it will require a manual input by Revenue, so expect some teething problems as they start to implement the new rules.

If your employer doesn't want to use the wage subsidy scheme, the Pandemic Unemployment Payment should be available.  There was a similar problem with not being on payroll at a certain date, but this should also have been resolved.  Anyone submitting an application for PUP coming off Maternity Leave should probably contact the Department when they submit their application, to make sure they don't get an automatic refusal.  If you are submitting your application online, then you could send an email to info@welfare.ie to flag the issue.  Or if you are submitting a paper application, then write a cover letter or insert the details of your Maternity Leave on the application form to ensure the issue is spotted.  If they do refuse you, then email the above email address and they should be able to resolve it for you.


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## lughildanach (4 Jun 2020)

The issue for those applying for the PUP was resolved much earlier than the Wage Subsidy Scheme.  The problem with the Wage Subsidy Scheme is now supposed to be resolved.  

However, I suspect that there will be a small group of people who spotted the problem before it was resolved and who opted for the PUP instead of TWSS and came off payroll.  It seems that anyone who came off payroll will not be able to access the TWSS now that it has been opened up again, so this group of people will still be prejudiced if they were entitled to more on the TWSS than the PUP.


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## PuffAdder (4 Jun 2020)

Thanks guys.


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## Purple (5 Jun 2020)

Great info and posts from lughildanach.


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