What is Statutory Maternity Leave?

When you’re expecting a baby, you’re entitled to year of Statutory Maternity Leave. It does not matter how long you have been in your job. When It comes to maternity pay and leave, you’re not going to claim one without the other.  While you’re entitled to 52 weeks off work, you’ll only get maternity pay for 39 of them if you’re eligible.

When does it start?

The earliest your paid maternity leave can start is the 11th week before your baby is due. If your baby is born early, your leave starts the day after the birth. You don’t have to take the 52 weeks you’re entitled to, but you must take at least two weeks off work following the birth of your baby.

What is Ordinary Maternity Leave, Additional Maternity Leave and Shared Parental Leave

If your baby is due on or after 5 April 2016 and you live in England, Wales or Scotland, you might be eligible for Shared Parental Leave. If your baby was born before 5 April 2016, your maternity leave is made up of two different parts:

Ordinary Maternity Leave: 

This is the first six months – or 26 weeks. If you return to work during this period, you have the right to return to exactly the same job that you had before you took maternity leave.

Additional Maternity Leave

This is the second six months and this affects what rights you have when you go back to work. If you take more than six months’ leave, you have the right to return to the same job unless it is no longer available. In this case you must be given a similar job with the same pay and conditions.

Shared Parental Leave and Pay

If your baby is due on or after 5 April 2016 and you live in England, Wales or Scotland, you might be eligible for Shared Parental Leave. This allows you to share up to 50 weeks’ parental leave and 37 weeks’ pay with your partner. If you’re eligible, you can even take the leave in up to three separate blocks instead of taking it all in one go.You must give your employer binding notice to end your maternity leave for either you or your partner to be eligible for Shared Parental Leave. You must also end any maternity pay or Maternity Allowance, even if you don’t get maternity leave.

Your rights on maternity leave

While you’re on maternity leave, you’ll still entitled to all the employee rights you normally get from work, such as:

• Paid holiday

• Protection from unfair dismissal

• Pension payments and rights during your period of Statutory Maternity Pay payment

• Any other employee benefits (e.g. gym membership, medical insurance) for your whole maternity leave period

What is Statutory Maternity Pay?

Statutory Maternity Pay is the legal minimum your employer normally has to pay you while you’re on maternity leave.

You’ll get Statutory Maternity Pay if you:

• Earn at least £112 a week on average

• Have worked for your employer for 26 weeks when you reach the 15th week before your due date

• If you’re self-employed or earn less than £112 a week, you might be entitled to Maternity Allowance instead.

How much Statutory Maternity Pay will you get?

The amount of maternity pay you get changes during your maternity leave.

After 39 weeks, your employer doesn’t have to pay you anything.

This table shows how much you’ll get at each stage of maternity leave in the 2016-17 tax year.

This is the minimum amount your employer has to pay you. You might get more, depending on what’s written into your contract. Some employers offer maternity benefits that are more generous than Statutory Maternity Pay. Just be aware that if you decide not to return to work after 52 weeks, you might have to pay back any extra. However, you’ll get to keep the rest. So even if you’re not sure about returning, it’s still worth claiming.

If you want to find out how much maternity leave you’re entitled to, you could take a look at your contract or talk to your boss or human resources department.

Are you eligible for Statutory Shared Parental Leave?

To be eligible for Shared Parental Leave, you must be eligible for one of the following:

Maternity pay or leave

Adoption pay or leave

Maternity Allowance

Either you or your partner must:

Have worked for the same employer for 26 weeks by the 15th week before the baby is due Stay with the employer during Shared Parental Leave

During the 66 weeks before the baby is due, the other one of you must:

Have worked for 26 weeks (they don’t need to be in a row)

Have earned at least £390 in total over 13 of those weeks (they don’t need to be in a row)

Are you eligible for Statutory Shared Parental Pay?

You can get Statutory Shared Parental Pay if:

You’re an employee or worker

You’re eligible for Statutory Maternity Pay, Maternity Allowance or Statutory Adoption Pay and your partner is eligible for Statutory Paternity Pay

How to claim maternity leave and pay

Statutory Maternity Leave and Pay

To claim Statutory Maternity Leave and Pay, you must tell your employer that you’re going on maternity leave and requesting maternity at least 15 weeks before the baby’s due date.

If you’re not 100% sure about maternity pay and leave or would like to discuss with an expert please don’t hesitate to get in contact with a member of the team.