Maternity leave is the right for employees to take up to 12 months’ leave after giving birth. To be eligible for leave, the employee must give notice of their pregnancy in a particular form and must specify when they want their leave to start. In some situations, maternity leave can start earlier than planned (eg in some cases when the employee is sick due to a pregnancy-related reason or if they give birth prematurely).
Generally, the earliest maternity leave can start is 11 weeks before the week the child is expected to be born. In some circumstances, maternity leave will start earlier. For example:
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if the baby is born prematurely, leave start the day after the child is born
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if the worker is off work because of a pregnancy-related illness in the 4 weeks before the expected birth week, leave will start automatically
For more information, read Circumstances that can affect maternity pay.
Types of leave
UK maternity leave is divided into 6 months or 'ordinary maternity leave' (OML) followed by 6 months of 'additional maternity leave' (AML). There is no minimum service requirement. If the employee’s child is born on or after 5 April 2015 and they and their partner qualify, the employee may use shared parental leave instead of taking OML and AML in full. The employee can also choose to take OML and AML in full and not use shared parental leave.
Employees with 26 weeks of continuous service who earn more than a set amount (currently £130 per week) are entitled to Statutory Maternity Pay (SMP). During the first 6 weeks, SMP is 90% of normal pay. For the remaining 33 weeks, SMP is a fixed statutory rate (£156.66 per week as of 4 April 2022) or 90% of average weekly earnings (whichever is lower).
During maternity leave, the Employment contract continues except for pay, and all benefits must continue as normal.
Employees must not be dismissed or subjected to any detriment for taking or requesting maternity leave. Maternity and pregnancy are protected characteristics for discrimination law purposes.
For more information, read Circumstances that can affect maternity pay.
Compulsory maternity leave
If an employee recently had a baby, they must take at least 2 weeks off work after the baby is born. This is called compulsory maternity leave. They must take at least 4 weeks of compulsory leave if they work in a factory.
After that, it is up to the employee to decide how much leave they wish to take. If they do not wish to take the full maternity leave agreed, they must give at least 8 weeks’ notice that they are returning to work early. The employer is entitled to refuse to pay until the 8 week notice period has ended if the notice was not provided.
They are entitled to return to exactly the same job on the same terms and conditions if they return during or at the end of the OML period.