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
[email protected] 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.