Maternity leave and maternity pay

Laura Merrylees Editor's message: With women constituting around half of the UK workforce, and the majority becoming pregnant at some point during their working life, most employers will need to manage employees through the transition from pregnancy to maternity leave, and then back to work, on a regular basis.

Regardless of length of service, all pregnant employees are entitled to a year's statutory maternity leave. However, entitlement to statutory maternity pay is limited to those with at least 26 weeks' service into the qualifying week and average weekly earnings of at least the lower earnings limit for national insurance purposes. Statutory maternity pay is payable for 39 weeks - six weeks at 90% of the employee's average earnings, followed by the remainder at a lower flat rate. However, many organisations choose to offer enhanced maternity pay above the statutory minimum, viewing this as a key way of improving the maternity experience for employees, and ensuring that the organisation retains their skills and experience in the longer term.

Laura Merrylees, employment law editor

New and updated

Calculators on XpertHR

Type:

Quick reference

Revised to reflect that the redundancy pay calculator has been updated with the predicted maximum amount of a week’s pay effective from 6 April 2020.
Enhanced redundancy protection for pregnant employees and new parents: Overview for employers

Date:

21 August 2019

Type:

Legal guidance

The Government is pressing ahead with plans to extend the period during which pregnant employees and new parents are entitled to be offered any suitable alternative vacancy if they are being made redundant. We look at how the law will change and the headaches that the amendments could cause for employers.
Maternity leave

Type:

Employment law manual

Updated to include information on the Government's consultation on transparency in family-friendly policies, proposed neonatal leave and options for reforming parental leave and pay, and on the Government's response to its consultation on redundancy protection for pregnant women and new parents.
Maternity pay

Type:

Employment law manual

Updated to include information on the Government's consultation on transparency in family-friendly policies, proposed neonatal leave and pay and options for reforming parental leave and pay.
Maternity policy

Type:

Policies and documents

Updated with the Government's proposed overhaul of family-friendly leave and pay.
Podcast: Common issues during maternity leave

Date:

28 May 2019

Type:

Audio and video

Issues that can arise during maternity leave range from the mundane, such as keeping lines of communication open, to the dramatic, such as putting an employee at risk of redundancy. We discuss common scenarios during maternity leave, and how to deal with them.
MP seeks to rescue new mums' redundancy protection plans

Date:

23 May 2019

Type:

News

The government has been accused of dragging its feet over new legal protections for pregnant women and new mothers at work, as a private member's bill is introduced in the House of Commons today.
Webinar: Pregnancy sickness - managing absence issues successfully

Date:

25 April 2019

Type:

Audio and video

Jo Broadbent, counsel knowledge lawyer at law firm Hogan Lovells, discusses the legal framework protecting pregnant employees and the health and safety considerations employers should be aware of.
Letter responding to an employee who has notified their intention to take maternity leave

Type:

Policies and documents

Updated to include the new rate of statutory maternity pay for 2019/20.
Letter explaining the right to statutory maternity pay

Type:

Policies and documents

Updated to include the new rate of statutory maternity pay for 2019/20.

About this topic

HR and legal information and guidance relating to maternity leave and maternity pay.