Maternity Pay and Commission - UK (2024)

Just wondering for any UK ladies, what happens with commission payments during maternity?

I work in a sales role and hence generate leads as i go along some of which may result in a sale later on the year when i am on maternity leave. If this happens, am i entited to the commission payments from it?

I kind of think i am because i've googled it but was wondering if anyone had any personal experience to help me out.

Thank you

As far as I know (I work in HR) you are entitled to any bonus/commission payments relating to work you have done prior to your maternity leave so you should yes. I would check with your HR department.

I looked into bonuses because we always get one in December and I am still eligible for the full bonus.

I've just done some googling too, it looks like a bit of a grey area. Are the sales payments contractual?

Some info here:
The law relating to bonuses and maternity leave is complicated and you may wish to seek further advice relevant to your situation. The law in this area depends on whether your bonus is discretionary or contractual; and what it is awarded for.

Some bonuses and commission are contractual and, as such, form part of your pay. Like your contractual pay, you are not entitled to receive these during your ordinary or additional maternity leave, unless your contract or employer's maternity policy states otherwise. This would apply for example if each month you receive a bonus on top of your pay for the sales you have made in that period.

However, if your employer pays a contractual bonus in respect of a certain time period (for example an annual performance related or profit related bonus for the tax year 2005-2006), you are entitled to receive a pro rata bonus in respect of the time before and after you went on maternity leave. You are also entitled to receive the bonus for the period of compulsory maternity leave. This is the first 2 weeks of ordinary maternity leave (or 4 weeks if you work in a factory).

And more here:

•Bonus or commission payments which are not part of your normal salary should be paid in full during maternity leave. For example, a Christmas bonus is not usually your normal pay and should almost certainly be paid during maternity leave. Also, if a bonus such as a Christmas bonus has been paid to the whole workforce, it may be sex discrimination to refuse to pay it to a woman on maternity
•Bonus or commission payments that are part of your salary or performance-related pay are likely to be as remuneration so are not payable during maternity leave. However, it would be sex discrimination to refuse to pay the proportion of any bonus or commission that relates to the time that you were actually at work (this was decided in the case of Lewen v Denda). For example, if you were at work for half the year and on maternity leave for the other half of the year, you should be paid half of the bonus. You are also entitled to the proportion of any bonus that relates to the time you were on compulsory maternity leave (two weeks immediately following the birth of the baby or four weeks for factory workers).•If a bonus, such as a loyalty bonus, has been paid to employees ‘in work’ on a certain date (when you were on maternity leave) then it could be sex discrimination to refuse to pay you because of your absence on maternity leave (this was decided in the case of Gus Home Shopping v Green and McLaughlin).

Monkey monkey said:

My commission isn't part of contractual pay so i should be owed it, i just wonder what will happen as there is a lot inbetween lead generation and a sale in my job. I would have thought that if i start the ball rolling and generate a lead then the commission should be owed to me?

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If it would be owed to you normally and the leads are generated during the period before your maternity leave then I would assume so yes. I would ensure that you make a note of all your leads, and make sure your line manager is aware of them before you go on ML, then I would chase them up during your ML to make sure you get paid them.

I'd get it in writing from your HR/Line Manager that they agree to it to be safe. I have it in writing from my employer I am due my bonus in December.