# Maternity Benefit claim denied



## steamboat (11 Jan 2013)

First time poster but frequent visitor to AAM. My wife was recently let go from the company she worked for (the work was just no longer there). As she is pregnant the employer agreed to keep her on for a few extra weeks until she was within 16 weeks of the end of the week she is due so that she would at least qualify for Maternity Benefit.
Her last day of work was just within the 16 weeks and this is the date shown as the end date on her P45. However the Maternity Benefit claim has now been denied – the records for PRSI contributions show the final class A contribution was made for the week prior to this (17 weeks before due week). The precise wording from the letter…


“One of the qualifying conditions for Maternity benefit is that your employer must certify that you are entitled to maternity leave under the Maternity Protection Act, 1994.”
“As you are not in insurable employment within 16 weeks of the end of the week in which your baby is due your maternity benefit cannot be certified”


She contacted the SW Maternity Benefit office about this who in fairness were sympathetic but maintain that from the information they have the 16 week condition is not met so the claim cannot be granted. They did say that if she can forward a letter from the employer stating that she actually was in insurable employment within the 16 weeks that the claim would be reviewed.
On top of losing her job this is all quite stressful for my wife which is not good in her condition! It is frustrating that it is down to just a matter of a few days and it seems there is no leeway.
It was always the intention of the employer to keep her employed until she was eligible and I suspect that the mix-up occurred due to the way the payroll was handled for her final partial week’s work. Is this something that generally can be rectified after the fact? If not is there another course of action anyone can recommend?


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## elcato (11 Jan 2013)

Her first port of call should be to her employer asking for that letter. Has she been refused this ?


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## steamboat (11 Jan 2013)

elcato said:


> Her first port of call should be to her employer asking for that letter. Has she been refused this ?



 She plans to contact the employer on Monday and I’m sure they will provide a letter stating the correct end date (matching the P45). Perhaps that will be enough but my concern is that no PRSI contribution was made for the final partial week (2 days) which brings her over the 16 week threshold. I’m not sure if it is possible for an employer to correct something like this after the fact.


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## Black Sheep (12 Jan 2013)

If her employer has calculated her PRSI incorrectly he would need to amend that and give her the extra contribution for the 2 extra days worked. I would not rely on a letter from employer, I would want to see the correct record.

BTW are there any holidays due. This type of error usually occurs with holiday pay where 2 weeks wages are paid together, and only 1 PRSI contribution is recorded.

It is vital that every contribution is recorded. That missing one could affect another claim later


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## Berni (12 Jan 2013)

The prsi week isn't the same as the calendar week - it starts from 1st Jan so it changes each year. 

She should check that the date she finished actually was in a new week.
2012 ran Sun - Sat, 2013 runs Tue - Mon

http://www.citizensinformation.ie/e...part_time_work_and_social_insurance_prsi.html


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## steamboat (14 Jan 2013)

Black Sheep said:


> If her employer has calculated her PRSI incorrectly he would need to amend that and give her the extra contribution for the 2 extra days worked. I would not rely on a letter from employer, I would want to see the correct record.



Right, I agree. She will ask the employer to amend the PRSI contributions also. Just wasn't sure if it was possible to do this after the P30 has been submitted etc, but I guess there should be some mechanism to make corrections like this



Black Sheep said:


> BTW are there any holidays due. This type of error usually occurs with holiday pay where 2 weeks wages are paid together, and only 1 PRSI contribution is recorded.



I think it was something similar in this case - rather than give a separate payment for the partial week this was bundled in with the previous week, so just one PRSI contribution



Berni said:


> The prsi week isn't the same as the calendar week - it starts from 1st Jan so it changes each year.
> 
> She should check that the date she finished actually was in a new week.
> 2012 ran Sun - Sat, 2013 runs Tue - Mon



Good point, but not the issue in this case. She did finish in the new week.


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