Maternity leave and pay: the UK rules

Pregnant and working a shift today? Your first move is to write down your due week, the date you want leave to start and every shift or pay detail that may affect your SMP. Employees get up to 52 weeks’ leave from day one, but pay has a separate test. The deadline to tell your employer is the end of the 15th week before the due week. Do not wait for a quiet week at work.

A year off, from day one

Statutory Maternity Leave lasts 52 weeks. You can take 26 weeks of Ordinary Maternity Leave, then 26 of Additional Maternity Leave. There is no service or earnings test. Agency, fixed-term and part-time staff have the same entitlement if legally employees. A fixed-term contract need not be renewed, but pregnancy cannot be the reason it ends. The label on your rota does not decide your status. See GOV.UK’s eligibility rules.

Two weeks of that leave are compulsory. You may not work for two weeks from the day of birth. Your employer may not let you work during those weeks. Factory workers must take four. It is a criminal offence for the employer to allow work during this period.

Leave can start no earlier than the 11th week before your Expected Week of Childbirth (the Sunday-to-Saturday week in which the baby is due). An early birth, pregnancy-related sickness or a health-and-safety suspension can start it earlier than you planned.

An early birth starts leave the day after the birth. Pregnancy-related sickness absence during the four weeks before the due week starts leave the day after the first day off; so does a pregnancy-related health-and-safety suspension in that window. A routine antenatal appointment is not a sickness absence. See Acas on planning leave.

The 39-week pay clock

Pay has a qualifying test that leave does not. For SMP, you need 26 weeks of continuous employment with the same employer ending in the qualifying week. This is the 15th week before the due week. You also need average weekly earnings of at least £129 in the relevant pay period ending in that week. For weekly pay this usually spans eight weeks; for monthly pay it is generally two months. £129 is the 2026/27 Lower Earnings Limit. The tests apply to each job separately, so two part-time jobs can each pay SMP if both qualify. See Acas on SMP eligibility.

If 90% of your average earnings is below £194.32, that lower figure applies throughout all 39 paid weeks. SMP is subject to tax and, where due, National Insurance, like wages. The gross rate is the same in Scotland, though Scottish income-tax bands can change take-home pay.

Some employers top SMP up. Before agreeing to enhanced-pay conditions, check your contract or maternity policy and whether you would have to return for a set period. SMP itself is never repayable if you resign. If wages or SMP are withheld, keep payslips and messages, raise it in writing and ask your union or Acas for help.

The due week sets your deadlines

Count back from the due week, not the due date. If the baby is due in the week Sunday 24 to Saturday 30 January 2027, the qualifying week is 11-17 October 2026. Leave notice is due by Saturday 17 October; 26 weeks’ continuous service must extend back to at least 12 April 2026 to qualify for SMP. Put these dates in your phone now. Send a message or email you can keep, even where writing is not required.

1. Tell your employer by the end of the 15th week before the due week. Say that you are pregnant, give the expected week and your intended leave start. If that was impossible, tell them as soon as reasonably practicable. A partner or friend can report an early birth if you cannot. Keep a screenshot or copy.
2. Give at least 28 days’ notice of when SMP should start. Provide medical evidence of the due date, usually the MATB1 from your midwife or doctor (available once you are 20 weeks pregnant in Great Britain). Since April 2026 a copy is acceptable; it need not be an ink original. See the 2026 evidence amendment.
3. Check the return date your employer gives you. Within 28 days of your leave notice, the employer must tell you your entitlement and expected return date, assuming 52 weeks unless you chose less. If they fail to tell you the return date, they cannot insist on early-return notice or withhold pay because you returned early. If they refuse notice or SMP, ask for the reason in writing and request form SMP1 where relevant.

Agency, casual and self-employed: which pay?

Employment status decides leave; being employed for tax purposes can decide SMP. A worker without employee status does not get statutory maternity leave, but may get SMP if paid through PAYE and if the service and earnings tests are met. This can include some agency workers, casuals and company directors. A zero-hours contract alone does not settle employment status. Keep contracts, payslips and assignment records. If an agency cuts your shifts after pregnancy disclosure, save the rota and seek advice before accepting that you have no rights.

For employees who miss SMP, Maternity Allowance has a different test. You need at least 26 weeks of employment in the 66 weeks before the due week, with earnings of at least £30 in 13 of them. The weeks need not be consecutive. It pays up to £194.32 a week or 90% of average earnings if lower, for up to 39 weeks. You can apply using form MA1 from 26 weeks pregnant. See the Maternity Allowance eligibility rules.

If you are self-employed, you can qualify after 26 weeks registered with HMRC in that 66-week window. The rate depends on Class 2 National Insurance. With 13 contribution weeks, you can get the full £194.32; with none, the rate is £27 a week. If your record falls short, HMRC can offer a top-up at £3.65 per contribution week after you apply. Unpaid work for a self-employed spouse or civil partner has its own conditions and may bring £27 a week for up to 14 weeks. See GOV.UK’s rate and top-up guidance.

For weekly-paid zero-hours work, the eight-week earnings window can include weeks with no pay. Suppose the eight relevant weekly payslips are £300, £0, £400, £200, £350, £0, £450 and £300. That totals £2,000. The average is £250 a week. If the service test is also met, SMP starts at £225 a week for six weeks, then falls to £194.32 for up to 33 weeks. Other pay schedules use a different relevant period.

Ten days to keep in touch

You can work up to 10 Keeping in Touch (KIT) days during maternity leave, for training or a planned return. Both sides must agree; neither can insist. Even an hour counts as a full KIT day. Agree pay in advance, at no less than the minimum wage for the hours worked. Do not let a manager call required training or a warehouse shift “just keeping in touch” without agreeing the day and pay. Unpaid hours that take your pay below minimum wage are wage theft. Report suspected minimum-wage underpayment to HMRC. Work more than 10 days and statutory maternity leave and SMP end automatically. See Acas on KIT days.

If you switch to Shared Parental Leave, a further 20 Shared Parental Leave in Touch days become available on top of the 10. Reasonable contact, such as the odd call or an invitation to a restructuring consultation, does not count as a KIT day. Your employer should keep you informed.

The job waiting for you

Return during the first 26 weeks and you have the right to the same job, on the same terms. Return after that and you still have the right to the same job. If that is genuinely not possible, your employer must give you a suitable alternative on terms no worse overall.

Having hired maternity cover is not a reason to move you out of your job. Dismissal because of pregnancy or maternity leave is automatically unfair; demotion, lost shifts or a missed promotion may also be unlawful discrimination. Employees can request flexible working from day one and make two statutory requests in 12 months; the employer normally has two months to decide. If you are threatened or dismissed, save messages, rotas and meeting notes and contact Acas promptly about early conciliation. The deadline can be short. A union representative can help you challenge a shift cut or disciplinary action. Depending on your workplace, ask Unite, UNISON, USDAW or GMB. Citizens Advice and a law centre can help if you have no union. For advice on a discrimination claim, contact the Equality Advisory and Support Service (in Northern Ireland, the Equality Commission for Northern Ireland). Do not wait for the employer’s grievance process before checking the tribunal deadline.

You can be made redundant, but a protected employee has priority for any suitable alternative vacancy. Your employer must offer it to you ahead of unprotected colleagues, not merely invite you to apply. For maternity this priority runs from notification of pregnancy until 18 months after birth, or from the due week if the birth date is not notified. If several protected employees qualify, priority does not guarantee a particular job. After miscarriage before 24 weeks it lasts until two weeks after the pregnancy ends; after stillbirth from 24 weeks it lasts 18 months from birth. See Acas on the vacancy rule. An employer using maternity cover to push you out is breaking the law, not managing a rota. Keep the vacancy notice and ask your union for help.

Early birth, neonatal care and loss

A stillbirth from the start of the 24th week of pregnancy, or a baby who dies after birth, does not remove an eligible employee’s maternity leave and pay. Tell the employer as soon as you can; someone else can contact them if needed. After maternity leave, parental bereavement leave may be available.

In Great Britain, if neonatal care begins in the baby’s first 28 days and lasts at least seven continuous days, an employee may get one extra week of Neonatal Care Leave per full seven days of care, up to 12 weeks. If you are on maternity leave, take this leave afterwards. Neonatal pay has its own service and earnings tests; if you qualify, the 2026/27 rate is £194.32 a week or 90% of average earnings if lower. See GOV.UK’s neonatal eligibility rules and HMRC’s current pay rate.

A new pregnancy while on leave gives you a further 52 weeks, which cannot begin before the 11th week before the new due week. A new SMP test applies to the new qualifying week. Earnings averaged while on low or no pay can reduce the second award. Check the eight-week window before changing your hours or taking unpaid leave.

Sharing time with a partner

You can give notice to end maternity leave early, after the compulsory period, and share the remaining eligible weeks as Shared Parental Leave; Shared Parental Pay has separate tests. Since 6 April 2026, paternity leave and unpaid parental leave in Great Britain no longer require qualifying service, though statutory paternity pay still does. A bereaved partner may qualify for up to 52 weeks’ paternity leave if the mother or primary adopter dies within the baby’s first year. Read our guides to paternity leave and pay and shared parental leave.

Current rules and planned changes

The 2024 redundancy extension and 2025 neonatal leave are already law in Great Britain. Changes in 2026 brought day-one paternity and parental leave there, easier MATB1 evidence and a 109% SMP recovery rate for small employers (92% for others). On 1 October 2026, the usual employment tribunal claim window increased from three to six months; an act before that date may still be subject to the old limit. Check the deadline promptly and start Acas early conciliation in time. See the government’s commencement timetable.

1. 6 Apr 2024Longer redundancy priority

   Pregnancy notification to 18 months after birth, subject to the miscarriage and stillbirth rules above.

2. 6 Apr 2025Neonatal care leave and pay

   Up to 12 extra weeks of leave in Great Britain, with pay if separately eligible.

3. 6 Apr 2026Day-one partner leave; easier SMP administration

   Paternity and unpaid parental leave become day-one rights in Great Britain; MATB1 copies accepted and qualifying small employers recover 109% of SMP, up from 108.5%.

4. 1 Oct 2026Tribunal time limit rises to six months

   Applies to most Great Britain tribunal claims; earlier acts may retain the old limit. Scotland’s breach-of-contract change is scheduled for 9 November 2026.

5. 1 Jan 2027Ordinary unfair dismissal: shorter service test planned

   Scheduled six-month qualifying period for dismissals from this date, with uncapped compensatory awards. Pregnancy-related dismissal is already automatically unfair without that service test.

The Northern Ireland exception

The maternity leave framework is the same across England, Wales and Scotland. Scottish income-tax rates can change net SMP, not its gross rate. The six-month tribunal time limit applies to most Scottish claims from 1 October 2026, but is scheduled for 9 November for breach-of-contract claims there.

Northern Ireland has its own maternity regulations and Industrial Tribunals. Its SMP and Maternity Allowance rates match Great Britain’s. For 2026/27, Northern Ireland’s SMP flat rate is £194.32 a week, set separately by the Social Security Benefits Up-rating Order (Northern Ireland) 2026. The Employment Rights Act 2025 employment reforms do not extend there. This includes the April day-one paternity/parental leave changes and October tribunal deadline. For notice and MATB1 evidence, check nidirect’s maternity guidance; see also how employment law differs in Northern Ireland.