Maternity leave entitlements

We recommend researching health or administrative issues further, as these entitlements may change over time. Please check UK Government advice regularly to keep updated with any changes to these entitlements. The UK Government states that employees having a baby whilst working may be entitled to 52 weeks of Statutory Maternity Leave. This consists of:

• Ordinary Maternity Leave for the first 26 weeks
• Additional Maternity Leave for the last 26 weeks

Employees are required to take at least two weeks’ leave after the baby is born or four weeks if they work in a factory. Furthermore, taking the full 52 weeks is not a requirement.

When does maternity leave start?

In most cases, the earliest an employee can commence their maternity leave is 11 weeks before the due date of the birth.

In other cases, the leave will start the day after the birth if the baby is premature, or automatically if the employee is off work for a pregnancy-related illness in the four weeks leading up to the due date of the birth.

Pregnancy-related sickness

Employees who are sick during their pregnancy may be entitled to Statutory Sick Pay (SSP) until four weeks before their baby is due. For more information regarding SSP, please consider familiarising yourself with the current UK Government advice. If the employee has a pregnancy-related sickness four weeks or less before their baby is due, paid parental leave is automatically triggered. According to Citizens Advice, pregnant employees currently have other rights such as being able to take time off to attend ante-natal appointments. We recommend that you visit the Citizens Advice website regularly to ensure that you are up-to-date with current employee rights at work.

An employee’s doctor can confirm sickness due to pregnancy in the form of a doctor’s letter for their employer. If they are sick for non-pregnancy-related reasons, they are entitled to any sick pay that they would usually be entitled to.

Maternity pay and rates of SMP

Statutory Maternity Pay (SMP) lasts for up to 39 weeks and will end when the employee returns to work. After the 39-week period is over, an employer is not required to pay any maternity pay.

Rates of SMP consist of:

• 6 weeks of receiving 90% of the employee’s average weekly pay before tax
• 33 weeks of receiving either £151.97 a week or 90% of the employee’s average weekly pay, whichever is lower.

Rates of SMP typically increase in April every year. If this happens, the employee receives the new amount from the date of the change.

Employers can offer more than the SMP if they have a company maternity scheme, as long as these schemes and policies are clear and available to everyone.

Keeping in Touch (KIT) days

When going on paid parental leave, an employee may want to keep up to date with their workplace. For this reason, an employee can work up to ten days during their maternity leave – known as Keeping in Touch days or KIT days.

These days are optional and must be agreed upon by both the employee and employer. The nature of the work undertaken and the pay that the employee will receive also need to be agreed in advance.

The employee’s right to SMP is not affected by working KIT days, although if they work any additional days beyond the ten Keeping in Touch days, paid parental leave will be cut for that week.

Annual leave and bank holidays

When on maternity leave, an employee will accrue annual leave as they usually would. If the employee can’t take their holiday whilst they’re on maternity leave, the employer should allow them to carry over up to 5.6 weeks of unused days into the next holiday year – equal to 28 days if they work five days a week.

An employee will also still accrue Bank Holiday days whilst on maternity leave.

For example, if an employee gets 28 days of holiday per year and eight bank holidays, they can carry over up to 28 of those 36 days.

Employment rights

Maternity leave does not affect employment rights, and these laws still protect the employee taking time off. However, there are some slight differences.

Pay – The employee on maternity leave receives SMP, not their regular wage.

Pay reviews – An employee on maternity leave may still be entitled to a pay review, but the appraisal must be based on their work time and not rated poorly because they were absent.

Sick pay – Whilst on maternity leave, sick pay is not typically paid. Upon an employee’s return to work, they can get statutory sick pay, providing they are not receiving SMP. They will be required to meet the usual conditions to qualify for sick pay.

Pension contributions – An employer should still contribute to an employee’s work pension while they are receiving maternity pay, and it should be at the same rate they were paying before paid parental leave started. The employee will also continue to pay into the pension, but the payments will be based on the rate of maternity pay – not the former wage. If the employee is not receiving maternity pay, the employer will stop contributing to the pension. However, the employee can make direct contributions if they wish.

Bonuses – Bonuses are typically paid out in all instances whilst an employee is on maternity leave. However, if the bonus is based on attendance, the employee will only receive a bonus for the portion of the year worked. This includes the first two weeks after the baby is born and any Keeping in Touch days.

Holiday – An employee on paid parental leave will accrue holiday in the same way that they usually would, and will be allowed to carry over up to 28 days into the following holiday year.

Bank holidays – An employee on maternity leave will build up the same number of days off as usual, including bank holidays.

Eligibility

Employees may qualify for paid parental leave if they are an employee and not a worker, and have given the employee the proper notice in advance of their childbirth.
To potentially qualify for Statutory Maternity Pay, an employee must:

• earn at least £120 per week
• give the proper notice and proof that they are pregnant
• have worked for their employer for at least 26 weeks, including the qualifying week, which is the 15th week before the due date of the child.

Employees will not be eligible for SMP if they are taken into police custody during their maternity pay period. SMP and paid parental leave still apply if the baby is born early, is stillborn after the 24th week of pregnancy, or dies after being born.

Paternity leave entitlements

When their partner is pregnant, an employee may be entitled to 1–2 weeks of paid paternity leave and paternity pay.

As with maternity leave, employment rights are protected for the employee whilst they are on paternity leave, including pay rises, accrual of annual leave, and bonuses.

Paternity pay

Paternity pay is the same as statutory maternity pay, at £151.97 or 90% of an employee’s average weekly earnings – whichever is lower.

The money is paid the same way as typical wages, and tax and National Insurance are deducted as usual. The money is paid for the duration of the paternity leave, and the employer must confirm the dates when it will be taken. If an employee wishes to change the start date, they must give the employer 28 days’ notice.

Paternity leave

An employee with a pregnant partner may be able to take either one or two weeks, but they must take all of their leave in one go. A week counts as the same number of days that they would typically work in a week.

Paternity leave cannot start before the birth and must end within 56 days of the baby’s delivery.

An expectant father may also be eligible to take unpaid leave to attend two antenatal appointments with a pregnant woman. The employee can take up to six and a half hours per appointment, but the employer can allow longer if they wish.

Eligibility

To potentially qualify for paternity leave, an expectant father must be an employee, give the proper notice, and have been continuously employed by the same employer for at least 26 weeks.

Furthermore, the employee must be involved in the child’s care and be one of the following:

• the father
• the partner of the mother, including same-sex partners
• the child’s adopter
• the intended parent if they are having the baby through surrogacy.

Related article: Unlimited paid holiday policies in the UK