Employer’s Guide to Maternity Leave in the UK

Family planning is a huge, exciting part of life – but it’s also a topic that often lurks in the background when it comes to work. And as an employee it can be a difficult topic to approach with your employer.

On the other hand, for employers the legislation around how long maternity leave UK is complicated. However, it is also important to create a culture that supports parenthood. And in today’s workplace, it is more important than ever to make sure that policies around this are inclusive.

That means you need to be on top of the different types of leave your team members are entitled to, to enable open conversations around it. And If you haven’t already – don’t forget to update your workplace policies and procedures. After all, being able to celebrate parenting and family life regardless of whether you’re a new or experienced parent makes a huge difference to the spirit of your team.

Let’s unpack exactly what this means for you as a business and for your employees, so that they feel supported and can focus on this next exciting chapter of life.

What are the different types of leave you should know?

According to the CIPD, statutory maternity, paternity and adoption rights in the UK are legal rights that your team are entitled to. These include:

• Statutory maternity leave: time off if you are employed and pregnant, made up of ordinary maternity leave and additional maternity leave;

• Paternity leave: time off for partners of partners having a baby;

• Additional paternity leave (APL): designed to give couples the option to share responsibility of caring for their child;

• Adoption: time off to adopt a child, or have a child through a surrogacy arrangement;

• Shared parental leave: where you give up maternity, adoption leave and pay to share the leave and pay the first year after a child is born or placed in your family.

What about single parents?

Single parents do not qualify for the shared parental leave scheme. They must take maternity or paternity leave instead.

Do the pay entitlements vary?

Couples are entitled to different payment schemes depending on the type of leave taken, including:

• Statutory Maternity Leave and Pay;
• Statutory Paternity Leave and Pay;
• Maternity Allowance (not to be confused with statutory maternity pay);
• Statutory adoption pay; and
• Surrogacy pay.

Most small business owners can reclaim up to 92% of statutory maternity, paternity, shared parental and adoption pay.

If your business qualifies for Small Employers Relief you can reclaim 103%. You get this if you paid £45,000 or less in Class 1 National Insurance in the last complete tax year.

There’s more guidance on this and how to reclaim this available here.

How long is maternity leave UK?

So you’re wondering how long is maternity leave UK? Don’t fret, we’ve broken it down for you.

Eligible employees can take up to 52 weeks regardless of how long they’ve worked for the business, how much they’re paid, or how many hours a week they work. The first 26 weeks is known as ordinary maternity leave, and the last 26 weeks as additional maternity leave. Over this period of time, the employee is entitled to statutorypay.

The earliest that leave can be taken is 11 weeks before the expected week of childbirth, unless the baby is born early. In addition, employees must take at least 2 weeks off after birth – or 4 weeks if they are a factory worker. This is the legal minimum amount they must take.

Statutory parental time off usually starts:

• The day after the birth, if the baby is born early;
• Automatically if the staff is off work for a pregnancy-related illness in the 4 weeks before the week their baby is due.

This maternity planner is available to help work out the dates of ordinary and additional leave. In addition, couples can use this shared parental leave and pay tool to help them understand when to give you notice.

Are you allowed to deny maternity leave?

Typically, the employer has to allow parental time off. It’s important for employers to recognise that all employees have the legal right to 52 weeks ofparental leave, with the right to return to work in the UK. You cannot refuse it or change the amount of leave your staff can take.

Should you deny your staff, they have the right to ask you to explain your reasons and, if they find that it is within discrimination, it can result in an employment tribunal.

Who should take what type of leave?

Whether or not someone is eligible depends on the employment status of an employee.This is because employees and workers have different rights

If a member of your team is an employee, they are entitled to parental time off. An employee is considered as someone who works under an employment contract.

This differs from workers, who are not entitled to time off due to pregnancy. This usually applies to those who are casual workers or those on a zero hour contract.

If your team member needs to seek clarification, Citizens Advice offers help on this matter.

What about paternity leave?

If your team member takes time off because their partner’s having a baby, adopting a child or having a baby through a surrogacy arrangement they might be eligible for:

• 1 or 2 weeks’ paid Paternity Leave;
• Paternity Pay;
• Shared Parental Leave and Pay.

What about shared parental leave?

Your team member and their partner might be entitled to shared parental leave (SPL) and Statutory Shared Parental Pay (ShPP) if they’re:

• Having a baby;
• Using a surrogate to have a baby;
• Adopting a child; or
• Fostering a child who they’re planning to adopt.

However, to get SPL and ShPP they or their partner has to:

• Take less than the 52 weeks of maternity or adoption leave and use the rest as SPL;
• Take less than the 39 weeks of maternity or adoption pay (or Maternity Allowance) and use the rest as ShPP.

They also have to make sure they give their employers at least 8 weeks notice of the leave dates, give up some maternity or adoption pay, and make sure they meet the eligibility criteria.

What about adoption leave?

When you take time off to adopt a child or have a child through a surrogacy arrangement you might be eligible for:

• Statutory Adoption Leave (and pay);
• Some couples may also be eligible for shared parental leave.

Claiming adoption pay and leave changes slightly depending on whether you’re adopting from overseas or having a child through a surrogacy arrangement.

To be eligible for statutory adoption leave, your staff must tell you within 7 days of being matched with a child:

• How much leave they want;
• Their leave start date;
• The ‘date of placement’ – the date the child is placed with them.

You can ask for proof of the above in writing and proof of the adoption. In addition, you have 28 days to confirm their leave start and end dates.

What types of pay should you be aware of?

Statutory maternity pay

Statutory maternity pay (SMP) for eligible employees can be paid for up to 39 weeks. It is usually structured as follows:

• The first 6 weeks: 90% of their average weekly earnings (AWE) before tax
• The remaining 33 weeks: £156.66 or 90% of their AWE (whichever is lower)

Tax and National Insurance need to be deducted, too.

If your business has a company parental scheme, you are entitled to offer more than the statutory amounts. You must make sure your maternity leave and pay policies are clear and available to staff.

You must get proof of the pregnancy before you pay SMP. This is usually a doctor’s letter or a maternity certificate (MATB1 certificate). Usually, midwives and doctors issue this 20 weeks before the due date.

You’ll also need to keep a record of:

• Proof of pregnancy – such as a MATB1 certificate (a photocopy is fine);
• The date SMP began;
• The SMP payments (including dates);
• The SMP you’ve reclaimed;
• Any weeks you did not pay and why.

You must keep records for 3 years from the end of the tax year they relate to, for example by using form SMP2 or keeping your own records.

Should your staff claim maternity allowance or statutory maternity pay?

This is mainly down to employee eligibility.

This type of statutory pay is paid the same way you pay your staff their salary, and includes deductions for tax and National Insurance contributions which you can claim back.

On the other hand, parental allowance is a financial benefit that pregnant women are entitled to if they are self-employed or working, but do not qualify for statutory maternity pay.

The amount they get depends on their eligibility, but they won’t be entitled to this if they do not have enough qualifying weeks, or earn less than £30 a week.

Paternity pay

When your team member takes time off because their partner’s having a baby, adopting a child or having a baby through a surrogacy arrangement, they might be eligible for:

• 1 or 2 weeks’ paid Paternity Leave;
• Paternity Pay;
• Shared parental leave and pay.

They can claim Paternity Leave and Pay through the company at least 15 weeks before the baby is due.

Unless your place of business has a specific form for them to fill, they can use this online form.

Statutory adoption pay

The type of adoption pay your team member is entitled to depends on whether or not they are adopting locally in the UK, or overseas. Let’s unpack this in more detail and what documents you require from them.

Local adoptions

If your team member is adopting in the UK, they must give you at least 28 days’ notice of their intention to stop work and adopt a child, and when they want their statutory adoption pay to start.

You must confirm within 28 days how much Statutory Adoption Pay they’ll get, and when it will start and stop.

Overseas adoptions

Your team member must tell you the date of their ‘official notification’ and when they expect the child to arrive in the UK. They must usually do this within 28 days of getting the notification.

They must also tell you:

• The actual date the child arrives in the UK – within 28 days of this date;
• How much leave they want and the start date – they have to give you 28 days notice of this.

Surrogacy pay

Your team member and partner may be eligible for adoption pay and leave and paternity pay and leave if they use a surrogate.

If they’re not eligible for paid leave, they may be able to take parental leave or annual leave.

What about returning to work?

Going back to work as a new parent can be challenging. As the employer, you’ll want to make this transition as smooth as possible. It goes without saying that you should also have a healthy workplace environment.

Let’s unpack some frequently asked questions about what happens when your team member returns to work after their statutory maternity leave – and any employment rights you should be aware of as you prepare to welcome them back!

1. How much notice should they give you?

Your employee needs to give you at least eight weeks notice of the date they intend to return from maternity leave.

Once they return, they have a right to change their hours, days or place of work. Employees also continue to accrue their paid leave days during their parental time off.

2. What about accrued annual leave?

If they’ve accrued a lot of paid leave days by the end of their maternity leave, you will need to arrange when they can take it, or see if there are any they can carry forward to the next leave year.

In addition, if they take a holiday straight after maternity leave, they are still classed as being back to work.

3. Flexible working requests

All employees have the legal right to request flexible working – not just parents and carers. This is known as ‘making a statutory application’. Employees must have worked for the same employer for at least 26 weeks to be eligible.

Flexible working is a way of working that suits an employee’s needs, for example having flexible start and finish times, or working from home.

Parents of children aged 16 and under, or of disabled children aged 18 and under, are entitled to request a flexible working pattern.

Implementing a leave policy for UK employeeswith Employment Hero

Introducing robust leave policies can be time consuming and challenging, however, if put together correctly your business will reap the rewards. Our best advice is to stop wondering when it comes to things such as how long is maternity leave UK, and to get advice and put policies in place.

As an employer, it’s impossible to do it all, this is where Employment Hero comes in. Our all in one software is the world’s first Employment OS (operating system) that combines hiring, HR and payroll. We offer everything your business needs, from finding and hiring top talent using SmartMatch to seamlessly onboarding new hires, automating complex payroll, and driving employee engagement and morale, all backed by UK-based expert support.

Employment Hero empowers over 300,000 businesses worldwide to spend less time on admin, so they can focus on what matters most – their people.

To learn more, get in touch with our team today.

Disclaimer: The information in this article is current as at 24 October 2022, and has been prepared by Employment Hero Pty Ltd (ABN 11 160 047 709) and its related bodies corporate (Employment Hero). The views expressed in this article are general information only, are provided in good faith to assist employers and their employees, and should not be relied on as professional advice. The Information is based on data supplied by third parties. While such data is believed to be accurate, it has not been independently verified and no warranties are given that it is complete, accurate, up to date or fit for the purpose for which it is required. Employment Hero does not accept responsibility for any inaccuracy in such data and is not liable for any loss or damages arising either directly or indirectly as a result of reliance on, use of or inability to use any information provided in this article.You should undertake your own research and to seek professional advice before making any decisions or relying on the information in this article.