A pregnant employee is entitled to at least 26 weeks 'ordinary' maternity leave. There is no requirement for the employee to have served a specific amount of time to qualify for leave.

If the employee has worked for 41 consecutive weeks for the employer (up to the expected birth date), they are entitled to 'additional' maternity leave which entitles an employee to an extra 26 weeks leave that starts the day after the 'ordinary' maternity leave ends.

Ordinary maternity leave can be taken at any time from the 11th week before the expected birth date, although the employee is free to work until the day before the babies expected birth if they wish.

Employee Maternity Leave Notice

An employee must give their employer at least 15 weeks notice before the date of the expected birth and the date that she intends to start maternity leave.

The employer must notify the employee within 28 days to confirm her right to maternity leave and confirm her return date. On return, the employer must give the employee the same benefits as they had before taking maternity leave.

Statutory Maternity Pay

For a pregnant employee to qualify for Statutory Maternity Pay (SMP) they must:

• Have worked at least 26 consecutive weeks for the employer
• Have left work due to pregnancy
• Have not been earning less than the lower earnings limit for national insurance at least 8 weeks before the 14th week before the expected birth date
• Prove that it is 11 weeks before the expected birth date

SMP will be paid for a period of 26 weeks starting from the first day of the employee's 'ordinary' maternity leave. SMP will be paid at the same time (weekly or monthly) as the employee's wage would normally be paid.

For the first 6 weeks of ordinary leave the employee will be paid 9/10ths of their normal wage (calculated as an average over the last 12 weeks). The average wage will also include any bonuses - if any - and not just the basic wage.

For the remaining 20 weeks, the employee will be paid £100.00 per week unless this figure exceeds their weekly wage. In which case, the employee will be paid their regular wage for the full 26 weeks of ordinary leave.

However, if an employee fails to qualify for SMP but do have a national insurance record, they are liable to £100.00 per week (this rule does not apply to self employed).

Re-Claiming SMP Payments

Employers can reclaim 92% of SMP payments from the Government and if your National Insurance Contributions are less than £40,000 per year, you can re-claim 100% of the payments with additional compensation.

Paternity Leave

Fathers are entitled to two weeks paternity leave at a rate of £100 per week. The leave must be taken in weekly periods - not necessarily consecutive.

Mothers/Fathers that adopt a child are also entitled to adoption leave. Ordinary adoption leave can be taken up to 26 weeks with payments of £100 per week. Additional adoption leave can also be taken for a further 26 weeks.

Employers - Remember!

It is discrimination to dismiss an employee for reason of pregnancy. This also extends to failing to employ a person due to pregnancy.