Pregnant employees are entitled to 26 weeks’ ordinary maternity leave, regardless of how long they have worked for their employer. Most mothers will usually qualify to be paid statutory maternity pay (SMP) or maternity allowance (MA) during maternity leave. Women who have completed 26 weeks’ continuous service with their employer by the end of the 15th week before their expected week of childbirth (EWC) may be able to take additional maternity leave. Additional maternity leave starts immediately after ordinary maternity leave and continues for a further 26 weeks. Additional maternity leave is usually unpaid although a woman may have contractual rights to pay during her period of additional maternity leave.
A pregnant employee must notify her employer of her intention to take maternity leave by the end of the 15th week before her EWC, unless this is not reasonably practicable. She must tell her employer that she is pregnant, the week her baby is expected to be born and when she wants her maternity leave to start. A woman can change her mind about when she wants to start her leave providing she tells her employer at least 28 days in advance (unless this is not reasonably practicable).
Employers are required to respond to a woman’s notification of her leave plans within 28 days unless the woman has varied that date, in which case the employer must respond with 28 days of the start of maternity leave. An employer must write to his employee, setting out the date on which he expects her to return to work if she takes her full entitlement to maternity leave. The earliest date a woman is able to start her maternity leave is the beginning of the 11th week before her baby is due, and the latest from the day following the birth.
Legally, it is assumed that a woman will take her full leave entitlement and then return to work. If she wishes to return before she has used all her maternity leave then she must give her employer at least 28 days’ notice of her new return date.
Pregnant employees who meet the qualifying conditions based on their length of service and average earnings are entitled to receive employers up to 26 weeks' statutory maternity pay from their employer. The pay is six weeks at 90 per cent of her average weekly earnings, 20 weeks at a flat rate of £108.85 or 90 per cent of her average weekly earnings if that is less than the flat rate.
Women who do not qualify for SMP may qualify for maternity allowance. This is paid by JobCentre Plus and is based on the woman's recent employment and earnings record. This is for employed women who do not qualify for SMP, the self-employed and recently employed. To qualify, a woman must have been employed or self-employed on at least 26 weeks of the 66 weeks ending with the week before the expected week of childbirth. She must also earn at least £30 per week on average. Payments are for a maximum of 26 weeks at a flat rate of £108.85 or 90 per cent of her average weekly earnings if that is less than the flat rate.
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