Interactive

Maternity Leave

UK maternity law states that if you are employed you are eligible for 26 weeks paid leave and 26 weeks unpaid leave after you stop work to care for your new baby in the first few months after the birth. If you are self employed you may qualify for MA.

If you are pregnant, you may be entitled to a number of payments and benefits while on leave from work.

If you are employed, you may be eligible for Statutory Maternity Pay (SMP), a weekly payment made by your employer. You are entitled SMP regardless of the hours you work and no matter how long you have worked for your employer; you are also entitled to SMP whether you intend to return to work or not.

SMP lasts for 26 weeks; for the first six weeks, you will be paid 90% of your earnings and for the remaining 20 weeks, you will receive just over a hundred pounds each week, or 90% of your earnings, if this is less. The first 26 weeks of maternity leave is called Ordinary Maternity Leave (OML). You can start OML 11 weeks before your due date, but you can work right up to the date your baby is due if you want too and can.

To get SMP, give your employer at least four weeks' notice of the date that you intend to stop work. You may be asked to give medical proof of when your baby is due; take in your MATB1 form given to your by your doctor or midwife.

You may be eligible for a further 26 weeks leave, called Additional Maternity Leave (AML), which is unpaid; you must have worked for the same employer for 26 weeks by the 15th week before your baby is due.

If you don't qualify for SMP, for example if you are self-employed or if you stopped working before your pregnancy, you might qualify for Maternity Allowance (MA) paid by the government.
MA can last for 26 weeks and is paid at a standard weekly rate £108.85 or 90% of your average gross weekly earnings if this is less.

To apply for Maternity Allowance, pick up a form at your local Jobcentre Plus or social security office. Take along proof of your earnings and your MATB1 form.

If you are on a low income and/or receive tax credit and need money to buy items for your new baby, you may be eligible for a Sure Start Maternity Grant; Contact your local Jobcentre Plus and ask for form SF 100. If you are not working if you cannot work because of ill health or are on income support, you may be entitled to other benefits. Other benefits include council tax benefit and housing benefit.

From 2007, the government has pledged that paid maternity leave will be extended from six to nine months.

To find out more, contact the Benefit Enquiry Line on 0800 882200

Long on to: www.jobcentreplus.gov.uk or call the Parental Leave Enquiry Line on
020 7215 6207.