How does statutory maternity leave and pay work in the UK?

What it is

Statutory maternity leave is the right of every UK employee — regardless of length of service — to take up to 52 weeks off work around the birth of a child. Statutory Maternity Pay is the legal minimum the employer must pay during that leave to eligible employees.

The two work in tandem but are governed by different rules: leave is universal; pay is conditional on service and earnings.

The 52 weeks of leave

Statutory maternity leave is split into two equal halves:

• Ordinary Maternity Leave (OML) — the first 26 weeks
• Additional Maternity Leave (AML) — the next 26 weeks

The total is 52 weeks. The employee can take any portion she wants — the only restriction is the two-week compulsory leave immediately after birth (four weeks for factory workers), during which the employee cannot work.

The earliest leave can start is the 11th week before the expected week of childbirth. The leave is automatically triggered by birth itself or by any pregnancy-related absence in the four weeks before the expected week.

Notification requirements

The employee must notify the employer of the pregnancy, the expected week of childbirth, and the start date of leave by the 15th week before the expected week of childbirth (the "qualifying week"). She must also produce a MAT B1 certificate from her midwife or doctor.

The employer must respond within 28 days of the notification, confirming the date the employee is expected to return to work — assumed to be 52 weeks from the start of leave unless the employee tells them otherwise.

Statutory Maternity Pay — eligibility

To qualify for SMP an employee must:

• Have worked for the same employer continuously for at least 26 weeks by the qualifying week
• Earn at least the Lower Earnings Limit (£123 a week for 2024–25) on average over the eight weeks ending in the qualifying week
• Give the employer correct notice and produce the MAT B1

Note that maternity leave has no qualifying period — every employee is entitled. SMP does. An employee can be on maternity leave but receiving Maternity Allowance from the DWP rather than SMP from the employer.

Statutory Maternity Pay — amount

SMP runs for up to 39 weeks in two phases:

| Phase | Period | Rate | |-------|--------|------| | 1 | First 6 weeks | 90% of average weekly earnings (no upper cap) | | 2 | Next 33 weeks | The flat statutory weekly rate, or 90% of average weekly earnings if lower |

The flat rate is set annually each April. Always verify the current value at gov.uk before processing payroll.

The remaining 13 weeks of leave (weeks 40–52) are unpaid by SMP, but the employee remains entitled to take them.

Reclaiming SMP from HMRC

The employer pays SMP through normal payroll. Most employers can then reclaim 92% through HMRC's payroll system.

Smaller employers — those whose total Class 1 NI bill in the previous tax year was £45,000 or less — qualify for Small Employers' Relief and reclaim 103%. The extra 3% compensates for the employer NI cost on the SMP itself.

Maternity Allowance — for those who don't qualify for SMP

Employees who don't meet the SMP service or earnings test may qualify for Maternity Allowance instead. MA is paid by the DWP directly, not the employer, and the employee applies via the standard claim process.

MA runs for up to 39 weeks at the standard SMP weekly rate (or 90% of earnings if lower). The employer's payroll responsibility is none — the employee deals with the DWP directly.

Keeping In Touch (KIT) days

During maternity leave, the employee can do up to 10 KIT days of work without bringing the leave to an end. KIT days:

• Must be agreed by both sides — the employee can't be compelled, the employer can't be compelled to offer them
• Are paid as agreed (typically full daily rate)
• Don't extend the SMP period — but pay for KIT days does not reduce SMP

KIT days are useful for keeping connected to colleagues, attending training, completing handover, or returning to a major project briefly.

Annual leave during maternity

Statutory holiday continues to accrue throughout the full 52 weeks of maternity leave — including the unpaid portion. Most employers handle this in one of three ways:

1. Pre-leave — employee takes accrued holiday before maternity leave starts
2. Post-leave — employee takes accrued holiday immediately after returning, effectively extending paid time off
3. Carry-over — accrued statutory holiday is carried into the next leave year specifically to enable use post-return (one of the limited carry-over circumstances permitted by the Working Time Regulations)

The default position is that holiday cannot be paid in lieu — only used.

Pension contributions

While the employee is on paid maternity leave (drawing SMP or contractual pay), the employer must continue paying pension contributions as if the employee were on full pay. Employee contributions, by contrast, are based on actual pay received during leave.

During the unpaid portion of leave (weeks 40–52), the employer does not have to make pension contributions — but many do as a matter of policy.

Returning to work

The employee has the right to return to:

• After OML alone — the same job on the same terms
• After AML — the same job, or if not reasonably practicable, a similar role on no less favourable terms

If the employer can't offer the same role after AML, they must explain why in writing. "Similar role" is interpreted strictly — pay, status, hours, location, terms must all be substantially comparable.

Discrimination protection

Pregnancy and maternity are protected characteristics under the Equality Act 2010. From the start of pregnancy until the end of maternity leave (or two weeks after the end if the employee doesn't take maternity leave), the employee is in the protected period.

During the protected period:

• Less favourable treatment because of pregnancy or maternity is automatically discriminatory
• Dismissal connected to pregnancy or maternity is automatically unfair, with no qualifying period of service
• The employer must consider the woman's pregnancy in any restructure or redundancy

The protections continue to bite for redundancy decisions made during pregnancy: from April 2024, the protected period was extended to cover the entire pregnancy plus 18 months from the date of the child's birth (or a comparable period for adoption).

Common mistakes

Treating maternity leave as a qualifying-service entitlement

Maternity leave applies from day one. It's SMP that has the 26-week qualifying period, not leave itself.

Forgetting the protected period

Performance management, restructure announcements, role changes — all of these need extra care during pregnancy and maternity. Treating them as routine is the most common path to a discrimination claim.

Misunderstanding "same job, same terms"

The right to return to "the same job" after OML is strict. A change of duties, line manager, location, or hours that the employer would call minor can amount to constructive dismissal in the maternity context.

Not handling holiday accrual

Failing to plan for the holiday balance built up during leave creates either an end-of-year payout (cash flow surprise) or a working-time dispute.

Putting it into practice

A clean maternity-leave process:

1. Confirms the qualifying-week date as soon as the pregnancy is notified
2. Issues a written confirmation of the leave start, expected return date, and SMP entitlement
3. Tracks weekly SMP pay through payroll with the correct rate transition at week 7
4. Claims back from HMRC at 92% (or 103% with SER) on the next FPS
5. Logs KIT days against the maximum of 10
6. Handles holiday accrual during leave — pre-leave, post-leave, or carry-over
7. Plans the return to work meeting before the AML period ends
8. Documents any role changes carefully against the "same / similar role" test

Maternity is one of the most regulated parts of UK HR and one of the highest-risk for discrimination claims. The mechanics aren't complex; the discipline is in handling them as the standard process for every pregnancy, not as something improvised each time.