# Spanish Maternity Pay entitlement when living in the UK



## MaternitySeeker (Jul 6, 2021)

Hi all,

My fiancé is due to give birth in November.

She was born in the UK, moved to Spain when she was 8 (and is a resident) however she moved back to the UK in March 2020 and she has been here since.

She works for a Spanish company still however. They have spoken to her regarding maternity pay and they have said she should become a freelancer so she can invoice them for the work and get paid more per hour so it would work out better for her.

my question is how does maternity pay work in Spain? What requirements does she need to meet to qualify for it and is this impacted at all by the fact she is living in England? Also, how would maternity pay work if she became a freelancer? I am assuming she wouldn’t be entitled to it?

I have read up about it online but our situation is slightly different. I was under the impression she would be entitled to 16 weeks full pay however her employer seemed to imply she would have to come back to Spain for this?

I am grateful for everybody’s help.


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## kaipa (Aug 3, 2013)

Would it not be easier for her to phone the spanish INSS to get the official information?


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## Overandout (Nov 10, 2012)

First things first!

If your partner has been living in the UK since March 2020 she is not a resident in Spain, neither for the purposes of immigration nor for the purposes of tax, or at least it is very unlikely to be the case.
I assume you mean she is a Spanish citizen?

But assuming she has a legal work contract, the maternity leave can be requested via the Embassy or Consulate or in writing to the INSS where the comapny who pays her contributions is based.

Here is a link which explains the process (it is to the Swedish Consulate, but the same should apply).






Solicitud prestación de maternidad o paternidad desde el extranjero







www.exteriores.gob.es


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## ccm47 (Oct 15, 2013)

The general rule for tax is that it is due in the country in which it is earned, in this case the UK. In which case she would be looking at up to 52 weeks leave, and you could also take paternity leave. The link to SMP is here: Maternity pay and leave. 
If your fiancée goes freelance she will be self-employed and must pay Class 2 National Insurance for 13 of the last 66 weeks before her due date, which for November means she really needs to sort things out very swiftly as the end of October is only 16 weeks away moreover she could start her leave at the end of her 26th week. People can be self- employed in 1 job and employed in another so she could probably overlap payments. Talk urgently to HMRC about this on 0300 200 3310. 
Hope all goes well for you all.


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## alpinist (Feb 8, 2009)

I don't know anything of maternity leave but I am very suspicious whenever a company advises an employee to go freelance. Consider the longterm impact of this in terms of benefits, holidays etc - especially if they won't take her back on contract again.


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## Overandout (Nov 10, 2012)

ccm47 said:


> The general rule for tax is that it is due in the country in which it is earned, in this case the UK. In which case she would be looking at up to 52 weeks leave, and you could also take paternity leave. The link to SMP is here: Maternity pay and leave.
> If your fiancée goes freelance she will be self-employed and must pay Class 2 National Insurance for 13 of the last 66 weeks before her due date, which for November means she really needs to sort things out very swiftly as the end of October is only 16 weeks away moreover she could start her leave at the end of her 26th week. People can be self- employed in 1 job and employed in another so she could probably overlap payments. Talk urgently to HMRC about this on 0300 200 3310.
> Hope all goes well for you all.


If the OP's fiancé is on a Spanish contract with a Spanish company the UK maternity leave rules and procedures do not apply because she will be contributng to the Spanish Social Security. The fact that she should (probably) be paying income tax in the UK is not relevant.


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## ccm47 (Oct 15, 2013)

Sorry it is relevant to OP's fiancée whether she gets 16 weeks paid maternity leave (Spanish rules) or 52 weeks (UK).
At one time I would have been one of the peopke who sorted this type of thing out within the UK, now I'm obviously not. I learned never to pre-judge a case. They are each slightly different. 
This needs sorting officially asap. Mother's due date is rapidly approaching.
Making sure mother and baby gets all the financial support and attention they are entitled to is the OP's real priority. Only by correctly identifying tax and Social contributions liability can entitlement be established and leave and allowances be paid at the correct time.


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## MaternitySeeker (Jul 6, 2021)

Overandout said:


> First things first!
> 
> If your partner has been living in the UK since March 2020 she is not a resident in Spain, neither for the purposes of immigration nor for the purposes of tax, or at least it is very unlikely to be the case.
> I assume you mean she is a Spanish citizen?
> ...


Thank you for your help, that was very helpful.

I have followed that link as best I can, do you know if this is the form we need to fill out to request Maternity Leave? I don't speak Spanish and my fiancee isn't sure with legal forms! I am not sure if we need to fill this form out or whether this is for residents of Spain? https://www.seg-social.es/wps/wcm/c...-127_Castellano_Accesibilidad.pdf?MOD=AJPERES

Or would it be this one? https://www.seg-social.es/wps/wcm/c...+BIS_Castellano_Accesibilidad.pdf?MOD=AJPERES

Thank you for your help!


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## tebo53 (Sep 18, 2014)

Just be very aware that if she goes freelance the company could dispense with her services as they wish!!

Steve


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## Overandout (Nov 10, 2012)

MaternitySeeker said:


> Thank you for your help, that was very helpful.
> 
> I have followed that link as best I can, do you know if this is the form we need to fill out to request Maternity Leave? I don't speak Spanish and my fiancee isn't sure with legal forms! I am not sure if we need to fill this form out or whether this is for residents of Spain? https://www.seg-social.es/wps/wcm/c...-127_Castellano_Accesibilidad.pdf?MOD=AJPERES
> 
> ...


The first one seems to be specifically for artists, not sure why they would have a special system, but maybe the second one... in her situation I would contact the INSS where she makes her contributions and ask directly to be sure.


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## fortrose52 (Nov 29, 2018)

Check with .gov.uk and Spanish equivilent. A lot of people have been overstaying in countries due to Covid so exemptions are probably involved too. The folk who are due to pay it should pay it. I would be wary of Freelance as well.


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