Made redundant & Maternity benefit

K

KAZZA

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Just wondering if anybody could clear this up for me. I was made redundant and am finishing up next week but was due to go on maternity leave the last week of May. Can I claim the dole? I was told I would have to start my maternity leave early so I will have some income as I would not be entitled to any dole as I would not be actively seeking work even though I would still be working if I wasn't made redundant? I would prefer not to start the maternity leave so early if I could help it?
 
If you don't take your maternity leave before the redundancy is effective, then you will lose your entitlement to it. Once you are no longer employed, you have no right to maternity leave, or maternity benefit. You should be able to take your leave (and receive maternity benefit) early if you are within 16 weeks prior to your due date. If you have even one day's gap between the end of your employment, you will not get Maternity Benefit.

If you end up not getting the Maternity Benefit, you can get Jobseekers, they will give you a reasonable amount of time to have the baby and afterwards, although there is no hard and fast rule. You will not have to sign on for the 4 weeks before baby is due and for 8 weeks afterwards. This is what the Department's guidelines say

In the absence of any complications of pregnancy or other illness, a pregnant woman (who may not be entitled to Maternity Benefit) satisfies the condition of being capable of work for the purpose of Jobseeker's Benefit/Allowance throughout her pregnancy and in the period following the birth. You will also satisfy the availability condition unless there are other factors which could call your general availability for work into question. You must, however, continue to look for work throughout your pregnancy and in the period after the birth of your child in order to satisfy the condition of genuinely seeking work. You will not normally be requested to prove that you are genuinely seeking work in the four weeks immediately before the expected date of birth of her child or in the eight week period following the birth. You will not be required to attend at the Local Office for signing during this period provided you tell the Local Office of your pregnancy.
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The rate of Maternity Benefit is higher than Jobseekers, so in all likelihood you would be better going on Maternity Leave early, and then not worrying about Jobseekers until your Mat Benefit ends.
 
I spoke to social welfare and they told me I could sign on no problem and this would not affect my maternity benefit but I spoke to somebody else in the maternity department in Donegal of social welfare and they said I would have to go on maternity benefit as soon as I left work. So really dont know who is right or wrong. If the staff in the department dont know then Im at a loss!
 
I wrote an article on this topic some time ago. I haven't updated it recently, but I don't think anything has changed.

[broken link removed]
 
I was in the same position last year. You have to start your maternity leave the day after you finish up in your job, otherwise you lose your entitlement to it.

You can't go on jobseekers for a few weeks then switch to maternity benefit.
 
Thanks for the information. I am finished up on Wednesday, I haven't sent in my maternity benefit form yet but if I go into the social welfare office on Thursday will that be ok and will I still be able to get the maternity benefit. Does the date on the P45 make the difference in getting paid and not getting paid?
 
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