Maternity Leave
Statutory Maternity Leave is 52 weeks. It’s made up of:
· Ordinary Maternity Leave - first 26 weeks
· Additional Maternity Leave - last 26 weeks
You don’t have to take 52 weeks but you must take 2 weeks’ leave after your baby is born (or 4 weeks if you work in a factory).
Statutory Maternity Pay (SMP) is paid for up to 39 weeks. You get:
· 90% of your average weekly earnings (before tax) for the first 6 weeks
· £145.18 or 90% of your average weekly earnings (whichever is lower) for the next 33 weeks
SMP is paid in the same way as your wages (for example monthly or weekly). Tax and National Insurance will be deducted.
Paternity Leave
You can choose to take either 1 or 2 weeks. You get the same amount of leave if your partner has a multiple birth (such as twins).
You must take your leave in one go. A week is the same amount of days that you normally work in a week - for example, a week is 2 days if you only work on Mondays and Tuesdays.
Leave for antenatal appointments
You can take unpaid leave to accompany a pregnant woman to 2 antenatal appointments if you’re:
· the baby’s father
· the expectant mother’s spouse or civil partner
· in a long-term relationship with the expectant mother
· the intended parent (if you’re having a baby through a surrogacy arrangement)
You can take up to 6 and a half hours per appointment. Your employer can choose to give you longer.
You can apply for leave immediately if you’re a permanent employee. You’ll need to have been doing a job for 12 weeks before you qualify if you’re an agency worker.
Start and end dates
Leave cannot start before the birth. It must end within 56 days of the birth.
You must give your employer 28 days’ notice if you want to change your start date.
You do not have to give a precise date when you want to take leave (for example 1 February). Instead you can give a general time, such as the day of the birth or 1 week after the birth.
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