Maternity Benefit - a different query

E

ebi

Guest
Hi All,

I have read the previous responses to similar queries but I am still a bit fuzzy headed about this scenario:

Worked fulltime up until birth of child in late 2006, if having another child and seeking to claim MB in 2008 I understand that the taxable year of relevance is 2006. Ref the following info re eligibility:

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.

Based on the third bullet point, I believe I would be eligible for MB, having made (I think) at least 26 paid PRSI contributions in 2006 and certainly in 2005, however, I am not currently in employment and I am aware that MB is only available to those in employment prior to going on Matenity Leave, would it therefore be possible to work for a short period, e.g. a couple of months, towards the end of pregnancy and still be eligible for MB? Or is there a minimum amount of weeks you must be in employment in advance of availing of MB?

Apologies if this is obvious and I have missed it - fuzzy head on this one I'm afraid.

Thanks.
 
Ebi

You have to be working (employed or self-employed) before you start Maternity Leave. You have to be eligible for Maternity Leave before you qualify for Maternity Benefit. The PRSI contribution conditions are for Maternity Benefit.

To qualify for Maternity Benefit as an employee you must:
  • be in insurable employment that is covered by the Maternity Protection Act, 1994 immediately before the first day of maternity leave. The last day of insurable employment may be within 16 weeks of the end of the week your baby is due. If you cease employment your maternity leave must start from the following day,
    and
  • satisfy certain PRSI contribution conditions.
To qualify for Maternity Benefit as a self-employed person you must:
  • be in insurable self-employment,
    and
  • satisfy certain PRSI contribution conditions.
This is taken from http://www.welfare.ie/publications/sw11.html#2

Hope this helps.
 
If you work for a couple of months then as long as the last day of work is after you're 24 weeks then you're eligible. But just remember that the benefit is paid based on your earnings so if you wanted to get a decent amount you'd probably need to do more than just get a parttime min wage job.
 
Thanks for the replies, much appreciated, just to clarify on your point Trish, is it the case that you would be paid the MB rate based on your earnings in the most recent job? I wasn't sure if they took into account your earnings at the time of the 'relevant' tax year and calculated to amount of MB on this?

Many Thanks.
 
The benefit is to compensate for the lack of salary from job you're on maternity leave from, so the amount you get is based on your current salary and past salaries are irrelevant.
 


5. How do you work out my payment?

Employees
We work out your weekly rate of Maternity Benefit by dividing your gross income in the relevant tax year by the number of weeks you actually worked in that year.
You may get 80% of this amount, subject to a minimum payment of €207.80 and a maximum payment of €280.00 a week. These rates are from 1 January 2007.

The amount of MB is based on your earnings in the relevant tax year (the 12-month period before the first day of your maternity leave) not based on the job you are in when you go on maternity leave.
 
Hands up, that is something that I was not aware of.
However, if "the 12-month period before the first day of your maternity leave" starts in 2007 for the OP (since baby due 2008) then surely it would be based on salary for the proposed job as she states she has not been in employment since late 2006? So previous salaries would not matter in this case.

But I also didn't realise the minimum figure was so close to the maximum so it's still a decent amount of money, especially if you haven't been used to getting a full salary for the past year. Looks like it may be good news, ebi. Congrats on the pregnancy, I myself am due late November but will have almost 2 years between mine, so I think you may be a bit busier than I'll be. And apologies if I've misled you, wasn't aware that the minimum was so high.
 

Your right Trish, i didnt read all of her first post. Also bear in mind you get €160 a month child benefit and another €1000 a year for first 6 years so if you are entitled to max MB you get in total about €340 a week in benefits, not bad really.
 
Thanks all, this is a very useful website, this whole area can be a little confusing. As Thrify1 says, it's a fairly decent amount when you combine the MB, Child Benefit and Early Childcare allowance, nice to see the tax you pay for so many years does come back to you in some way!

Congrats to you Trish, Baby number 2 is just in the planning stages for us at the moment ;-) hoping for a 2 year gap like yourself. All the best.
 
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