Employment terminating while on maternity leave

[giuliagiulia]

Hi,

A couple of situations I need to handle but cannot find the right information yet.

1. My contract (and consequently the CoS) expires 2 month after baby is due;
My employer will not extend my contract further due to the absence of funds.
I am entitled to enhanced maternity leave until the last day of my contract and then to SMP as per law. However, what should I then do with my documents (I plan to deliver the baby in the UK and to live in the UK afterwards), since my visa and CoS will not be valid anymore.

2. Since my contract expires 2 months after the baby is due, I am looking for a new job that could provide me with a new CoS before the baby delivery and before the expiry of my contract.
If I had not had the constraint of the CoS my choice would have been to stay with the baby for the first year (that is take 52 weeks of maternity leave) and then start with a new job. Can I still do this in my situation ?
The new employer that might sponsor me will certainly not grant me any such a long maternity leave and I have no doubt that none of this if allowed will be paid, since to have some maternity pay I should have been working with the employer from before getting pregnant.
The old employer (now current employer but supposedly old when I get the new employer) will stop any maternity pay as soon as I resign or the contract expires whichever happens first and even in the case if I start working for a new employer after the contract expires but while receiving SMP from the old employer.

3. Considering point 2, I need to find a balance between maternity leave, CoS and old/new employer.
Considering such balance, would it be possible to be covered by a CoS and have continuous residence in the UK if I manage to find a job that would sponsor me and that would lets say employ me 3 months after the baby is due. I would in this last case have 1 month not covered by any CoS ... how can I make things compatible?

Thank you to anyone with such experience that can give me some insights related to these issues.

[giuliagiulia]

I forgot to indicate another issue here.

4. What documents should I prepare for the baby, and once the baby is born should -a. - The employer that has issued my CoS add the baby's name among the dependents...
b. - The new employer if they apply for a CoS for me, should they take the baby into consideration? If they apply after the baby is born then they will have a name but if they apply before the baby is born they certainly won't ...

[giuliagiulia]

ps I am on a Tier 2 general visa if that makes any difference in the context.

[CR001]

What is the expiry date of your visa (not the CoS)?

[giuliagiulia]

Hello CR001 thanks for answering. The visa expiry is 2 weeks after my contract of employment terminates.

[CR001]

Once your visa expires, you/baby/partner will not be eligible for free NHS and will be charged at 150%. Your only option is to find a new sponsor or speak to your current sponsor.

Unlikely that any new sponsor will employ you if you are almost due to deliver or have just had a baby.

Do you currently work directly for an employer or is it an umbrella company?

You are not able to stay in the UK for your 'maternity period' if you do not have a valid visa. You will be an overstayer.

Can your partner not apply for a Tier 2 General?

[giuliagiulia]

I work for an employer not an umbrella company.

My husband is dependent on my visa, he might be looking for a Tier 2 general sponsor but it is not guaranteed that he will find one. And in that case we would lose the continuous years that we have accumulated towards ILR - is that right?

Provided that I find a new sponsor:
1. If they provide me the new CoS after the current CoS expires but before the current visa expires, can I still apply for the new visa within that range of time from inside the UK without losing the residency continuity towards ILR.
2. If they provide me the new CoS before my CoS/visa expire and I make an application to extend my current Tier 2 general status, but receive the new visa after my current visa has expired what happens?
3. If I agree with my new employer for a new job starting date that is 1 month (or more) after my current visa has expired and they provide me with a new CoS accordingly is there any risk here of being an overstayer or losing the residency continuity towards ILR.
4. If I have a valid visa - or a new one that is just being issued, what should I do for the baby's documents ... should I apply for a visa for him as well ... and how much time do I have to do this before the baby might be considered as illegal ...

And then my main question is this:
5. In order not to lose the currently accumulated residency continuity of my family towards ILR and considering my current situation would the only option be to start a new job before the baby is due or do I have any other alternatives ...

[giuliagiulia]

ps. And is there any number at HO or similar to call and ask these questions ...

Thanks for the help!

[iworker]

who do you work for and how big is the company. (you dont need to name them).
do you know what their policy is on maternity, i.e., how long they give you the maternity leave for.
Big employers like nhs etc, generally extend your contract if you are going on maternity before your current contract expires. I would suggest that you should talk to your employer and persuade them to issue u another cos (potentially for 10 months if they have a 1 year maternity leave policy). You will have to explain them that this will cover you for the maternity leave that you are entitled for, and that they will not need to pay u anything more than what is paid to employees on maternity leave.
However, the catch for u is , you will have to spend money on visa application, nhs etc for you and your partner for a short visa (10 months if they agree).
in meantime, you can look for another employer with potentially starting sometime before the end of 1 year of maternity leave.

[giuliagiulia]

Hi iworker, thanks for the answer.

It is a big company (thousands of employees but not NHS). They have a 52 weeks maternity policy of which the first 26 weeks I would be entitled to enhanced payment. Hence they will only pay the enhanced maternity pay for the first 9 weeks (up to the current termination of my contract) and then SMP for the following 30 weeks. If they extend my contract then they would have to pay me the enhanced payment for the first 26 weeks (therefore they would have to pay more ...) and then SMP for the next 13 weeks.

I have not discussed a new CoS with them though. When it comes to CoS they always look confused ... but I will take this into consideration.

In the case they refuse to provide me a CoS and I find a new sponsor (I have a certain probability of finding a new sponsor) how should I agree on things with the new employer (questions 1-5 of my Wed Jan 27, 2016 4:20 pm answer)..

Thanks a lot for the help!

[iworker]

I personally think that being a bigger company and being confused about cos is all good news.
first of all, can you put some dates. like when you are planning to start maternity, edd, current date of expiry of cos, current visa expiry date.
I think first course of action should be to make sure current employer is ready to issue you a cos. this is just your back-up plan.
Then if you do find a new employer who is ready to issue u a cos, you need to make sure he has cos allocation, and issues u a cos as close to your current expiry as possible (say 1 week before expiry of current visa). He can only issue u a cos with start date of 3 months in future. U then apply the visa before your current leave expires. so in conclusion, you are looking to go back to work within 5 months of having a baby.
However, although not covered by the rules (explicitly) , i personally once u have a visa, your future employer can delay the start date of your commencement of work.
Just thinking everything through, the future emplyer will need to very flexible and very cooperating, as they will need to make sure they do the rlmt, have a cos allocation in place, issue u cos at a very certain time and then expect u to start work at least 3 months later (potentially more) which in turn would mean, good 4 5 months after they have agreed to hire you. It may seem a little difficult, hence why my advise that you should make sure current employer agrees to issue you a new cos to cover your maternity.
PS:getting paid less, or not getting paid at all during maternity is covered under the ukvi rules, and hence nor u or the employer will be breaking any immigration rules.

[giuliagiulia]

Thanks iworker for your answer.

Dates:
- Contract expiry (therefore I think also CoS expiry) September 15th '16
- Visa expiry September 30th '16
- Baby due July 10th 16
- Husband visa expiry September 30th '18 (2 years longer than mine).

Could you also point me to the ukvi rules that cover "Getting paid less or not getting paid at all" scenarios.

[CR001]

- Husband visa expiry September 30th '18 (2 years longer than mine).

What visa is your husband on?

[giuliagiulia]

Dependent on my visa - that is General Tier 2 dependent.

[CR001]

Impossible that his visa expires 2 years after yours. How did that happen. His visa should expire at the same time because his status is purely dependent on your status. If you don't have a visa, he doesn't have a visa.

[giuliagiulia]

He joined me afterwards, and that's the visa he received after applying as a dependent. We are aware that both of us are dependent on the CoS issued by my current employer anyway, so even if I change job we should both renew the visas.

If I stay with the same employer though the CoS will still be the same, it will only have the expiry date altered. This is a different issue though with respect to arranging things such as I (and consequently the whole family) am in good standing with the documents and do not get discontinuity towards ILR (it will be three years up to the end of my contract).

I will take at least 1 month of maternity leave (say July 10th - August 10th). Any further maternity leave will depend on the circumstances first of health and then of whether I have found a new sponsor or not.

[CR001]

If you are unable to extend with your current employer and are not able to secure a new employer, once your current visa expires, you will be an overstayer and this will break your qualifying time towards ILR.

[giuliagiulia]

What if my husband becomes the main applicant and I become his dependent before my visa expires, will the three years still count towards ILR?

[ravisb_2014]

No, 3 years will not could towards ILR.
your ILR clock will get reset from the date of entry clearance.

[CR001]

He can do that yes, but has to apply from his home country. As advise, ILR clock will start again for both of you from zero.

[giuliagiulia]

Thanks CR001 and ravisb_2014.

Another question now related to the visa tariffs.

When we entered in the UK in 2013 we payed around £600 each for the entry clearance.

1. If I find a new sponsor and extend my Tier 2 status lets say for further 3 years, then, what happens, how much should we pay? The visa tariffs are at https://www.gov.uk/tier-2-general but do we have to pay an NHS surcharge in addition?
I made a calculation from https://www.immigration-health-surcharg ... ecker/type and with work starting dates lets say August 2016 till August 2019 the health surcharge caluclated for each looks like £600. We already pay from three years more than £1000 a month between tax and national insurance ....

2. Should we also pay the same tariff around £1200 for the baby's visa and NHS once the baby is born...

Thanks!

[CR001]

You and your partner (and baby) each have to pay the immigration health surcharge of £600 each (for a 3 year visa). This is in addition to the visa application fee for each applicant. The surcharge has to be paid before you can submit your applications.

Visa fees are going up in April.

[alimista15]

You and your partner (and baby) each have to pay the immigration health surcharge of £600 each (for a 3 year visa). This is in addition to the visa application fee for each applicant. The surcharge has to be paid before you can submit your applications.

Visa fees are going up in April.

Think they are already up to 651 isn't it ?

How much they gonna go more this april ?

[alimista15]

You and your partner (and baby) each have to pay the immigration health surcharge of £600 each (for a 3 year visa). This is in addition to the visa application fee for each applicant. The surcharge has to be paid before you can submit your applications.

Visa fees are going up in April.

I think title of this post should be changed to contract coming to end instead of Employment terminating...

[iworker]

Back to original problem, i think you should actively start looking for jobs in June and see if you can talk to future employer for a possible start in (say) december. they issue you a cos in Aug/Sept and you apply for a visa before your current visa expires (and within 3 months of start of new job).
Now for a back up plan, say as per MAT1 form, you say to your current employer that you will taking maternity leave from July 1. They should therefore issue you a cos to extend your contract from Sept 14 to 30 June. You should make sure the employer gives u this cos in June (this is just to make sure they dont amend the dates on cos if you end up taking your maternity leave earlier) and you should apply for a visa before your current leave expires (by this time you would have seen if you can get visa from somewhere else or not).

Important things: Future employers may not put an offer due to your pregnancy. Although its discriminatory but it is usually how things work, so you will have to try harder.
I think your husband visa was issued in mistake as it should have the same expiry date as yours. he must not stay in uk longer than the expiry on your visa (i think).