You may be eligible for Statutory Maternity Pay (SMP) if you are an employee or if you work for an agency and the agency deducts tax and National Insurance from your salary. To qualify for SMP you need to have worked continuously for your employer for 26 weeks by the end of your qualifying week (which is 15 weeks before your baby is due) and still be employed in your qualifying week, (your human resources office will be able to calculate the exact date for you.)
You also need to have been earning an average of at least £87 per week before tax in the eight weeks before the end of the qualifying week. In order to get SMP you must start your maternity leave. If you leave work voluntarily after the qualifying week but before the start of maternity leave you will lose your right to SMP.
For babies born after 1st April 2007, SMP is paid for a continuous period of up to 39 weeks. For the first six weeks you will be paid 90 per cent of your weekly salary and the remaining 33 weeks at SMP rate of £112.75 (this will increase to £117.18 in April 2008).
If you return to work before the end of the 18 weeks, your SMP will stop. You will not qualify for SMP during any week that you work, and you will start receiving your normal wages. If you decide not to return to work after maternity leave, you do not have to repay any SMP. Your employer claims it back from the government and it is yours to keep regardless.
You may find that your employer has a more generous generous maternity policy than the legal minimum. If your employer pays any extra maternity pay, the additional pay may be repayable if it was a condition agreed in advance with your employer.
In addition, fathers who take paternity leave will be entitled to two weeks’ leave at £100 a week. Additionally, adoptive parents will also qualify for maternity leave and pay. This will be available when the child is first placed with the parents and be paid at the same rate as statutory maternity pay. Only one parent will qualify for this, although the second parent can opt to take paternity leave.
Maternity allowance
If you are unable to get SMP because you are self-employed, unemployed or have changed jobs during pregnancy you may be able to claim Maternity Allowance (MA)from the Benefits Agency. Maternity Allowance is paid for 18 weeks. The earliest it can start being paid is 11 weeks before your baby is due.
To qualify for MA you must have worked in the 15 months before your baby is due. You need to claim as soon as you can after you have been pregnant for 26 weeks or you may lose benefit because the important date for working out how long MA can be paid for is the date your baby is due, not when your baby is actually born.. MA can be paid for up to 39 weeks.
Contact your local Jobcentre Plus for a claim form or you can download a Maternity Allowance claim form in PDF format from www.jobcentreplus.gov.uk
Contact during maternity leave
You can do up to ten days’ work, known as ‘Keeping in Touch days’ , under your contract of employment during your maternity leave period, this doesn’t affect SMP.
It is optional, and paid, and can be useful for attending conferences, team meetings or training days but it is between you and your employer to agree what these days will be used for.
More useful information
The Maternity Alliance is an independent national charity which works to improve rights and services for all pregnant women, new mothers and their families.
They also provide 24-hour recorded information on maternity rights and benefits and parental leave. Tel: 020 7588 8582.
Produced by the Department for Trade and Industry, this site provides tailored guidance on all aspects of employment (including maternity) rights for employees.
Where to next?
- Don’t be a manic mum: 12 ways to juggle work and kids
- Your top ten questions on parental leave answered
- Follow our guide to choosing childcare
- How to adjust when you return to work after having a baby
- Chat to other working parents on our Working mums and dads discussion forum
