FIS: Maternity and Paternity Pay

The basics of maternity pay

All employees are entitled to 52 weeks maternity leave, regardless of length of service or the number of hours worked. Your maternity leave is divided into 26 weeks Ordinary Maternity Leave (OML) and 26 weeks Aditional Maternity Leave, and your rights differ slightly during each period of leave.

There are two types of maternity pay; Statutory Maternity Pay (SMP) and Maternity Allowance (MA). Both are paid for a total of 39 weeks.

Do I qualify for Maternity Pay?

To qualify for Statutory Maternity Pay you must have been:

  • Employed by the same employer without a break for at least 26 weeks into the 15th week before the week of your due date
  • Earning an average of at least £97 a week (before tax)

If you can’t get Statutory Maternity Pay (SMP) you may be able to get Maternity Allowance instead.

How much SMP will I get?

If you get SMP, your employer will pay you 90% of your average weekly earnings for the first 6 weeks, then up to £124.88 a week for the remaining 33 weeks.

You will pay Tax and National Insurance in the same way as your regular earnings.

To find out more about Statutory Maternity Pay and how it is worked out go to http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/MoneyTaxAndBenefits/BenefitsTaxCreditsAndOth...

How and when to claim.

To claim Statutory Maternity Pay you must tell your employer at least 28 days before the date you want to start your Statutory Maternity Pay. Your employer may need you to tell them in writing.

You can change your mind about the date you want to start your Statutory Maternity Pay but you must still give your employer at least 28 days’ notice of the new date.

You must also give your employer medical evidence of when your baby’s due. This is normally on the maternity certificate, form MATB1, that your doctor or midwife will issue no earlier than 20 weeks before your baby is due.

Example notice letter

23rd February 2008

Dear Ms Williams,

I am writing to confirm that I am pregnant, and that my baby is due in the week Sunday 8th June – Saturday 14th June.

I would like to take a week’s annual leave from the 24th May and then start my maternity leave and pay on Monday 2nd May. If I am not entitled to SMP, please send me form SMP1 so I can claim Maternity Allowance.

I enclose my MATB1, and I look forward to getting confirmation of the date my maternity leave will end.

Yours sincerely,

Kalpoora Singh

Encl. MATB1

Maternity and Paternity Pay

Once you have given notice, your employer should write to you within 28 days confirming the date your maternity leave will end. If you are not entitled to SMP, you must also be given form SMP1.

How to appeal if your employer cannot pay you Statutory Maternity Pay

If your employer can’t pay you Statutory Maternity Pay they will give you form SMP1 that explains why. Your employer must also give you back the maternity certificate you have given them.

If you disagree with your employer’s decision not to pay you SMP, ask your employer to explain it to you. If you are still unsure, phone the HM Revenue and Customs employee helpline on 0845 30 21 479 for help in working out what SMP you should get. If you still disagree with your employer’s decision, the employee helpline will advise you on what you should do next.

If you want to claim Maternity Allowance you’ll need to send form SMP1 to your nearest Jobcentre Plus office with your Maternity Allowance claim form.

How is SMP paid?

Your employer will usually pay you Statutory Maternity Pay in the same way and at the same time as your normal wages. Maternity Pay is treated as normal pay so your employer will also deduct tax and National Insurance as usual.

What else do I need to know about SMP?

The earliest SMP can start is from the 11th week before the week your baby’s due (unless your baby is born before this) and the latest from the day following the birth.

Even if you don’t intend to return to work, you can still get Statutory Maternity Pay. You don’t have to repay it if you decide to not return to work.

If you continue to work into the 11 weeks before the baby is due you can choose when you start getting your Statutory Maternity Pay.

You do not have to be physically at work to retain this choice - you might be off sick for example. SMP will start from any day you chose once you have stopped work to have your baby which means your SMP will start from the first day of your maternity leave.

If you have more than one job, you may be able to get Statutory Maternity Pay from each employer.

You may work for the employer paying you SMP for up to 10 days without losing SMP. Once you have used your 10 days and you do further work for that employer, you will lose SMP for each week in your Maternity Pay Period in which you do that work. If, after the baby is born, you work for any employer who did not employ you in the 15th week before the week your baby was due, you must tell the employer paying SMP to you about this work and your SMP will stop.

Pay rises after the calculation period

If you are given a pay rise at any time between the beginning of your calculation period for SMP and the end of your maternity leave, even if it is not backdated, you are treated as having received it during the calculation period and your SMP should be recalculated so that you receive a backdated increase to your SMP.

Do I Qualify for Maternity Allowance (MA)?

You qualify for Maternity Allowance if you:

  • Are employed or
  • Are self employed and pay class 2 National Insurance Contributions (NIC) or
  • Have a small earnings exemption certificate or
  • Are not employed but have worked close to or during your pregnancy.

The conditions are that you:

  • Worked (either on an employed or selfemployed basis) for at least 26 of the 66 weeks before the week of your due date (a part week counts as a full week).
  • Earned an average of £30 over any 13 of those weeks. Series 3 Fact Sheet 4 Maternity and Paternity Pay