Managing Maternity – Introduction and Overview

Written by Andrew Johnson, Founder and CEO HRGuide - Thu 24th Oct 2024

It is essential your business has an up-to-date Maternity Policy which is up to date and accessible by all employees. This policy will set out employees maternity leave rights and pay. It is also important you have an understanding of maternity leave and pay so you meet the statutory minimum criteria required in the UK.


Managing Maternity Leave

This short article gives you an overview when managing maternity leave. Employees are entitled to 52 weeks' maternity leave. They have this right from the day they start the job.


Maternity Pay

Types and amount of maternity pay

Maternity pay starts as soon as your employee starts employee maternity leave. A published pregnancy and maternity policy should set out:

  • how much pay they get when on maternity leave.
  • how long they get this pay for.

As an employer you can choose to pay the statutory minimum maternity pay or create your own 'enhanced' maternity pay if you want to pay more. Offering enhanced maternity pay can help your business attract and keep the best employees.

The legal minimum for maternity pay

If your business does not offer enhanced maternity pay, it must pay statutory maternity pay which is as follows:

During the first 6 weeks of maternity leave

  • Pay them 90% of their average weekly earnings.

During the next 33 weeks of maternity leave

  • Pay whichever of these is lower:
    • The weekly statutory maternity weekly rate as published by the government (download our Statutory Payments Guide to see the latest rates). This rate is reviewed and typically revised in April of every year.
    • 90% of their average weekly earnings

Unless the contract says otherwise, you do not have to provide maternity pay after this period has ended.


Eligibility

Someone who's legally classed as an employee is eligible for statutory maternity pay if both of the following apply:

  • they've worked continuously for your organisation for at least 26 weeks, ending with the 15th week before the week the baby is due.
  • their average weekly earnings are at least above the Lower earnings Limit (LEL) up to the end of the 15th week before the baby is due

Someone who's legally classed as a worker might also be eligible for statutory maternity pay.

If an employer offers enhanced maternity pay, it must always be higher than statutory maternity pay.


Shared parental Leave

The pregnant employee and their partner might be able to use shared parental leave. Shared parental leave allows leave to be used more flexibly between the pregnant employee and their partner. This means the pregnant employee could end maternity leave early. The pregnant employee must still take at least 2 weeks' maternity leave after the baby is born.


New Legislation impacting employees’ rights to Maternity Leave and Pay.

From April 2025 parents whose baby requires neonatal care treatment within the first 28 days after birth will have the right to neonatal care and leave provided, they meet the eligibility requirements.

This applies to both biological and adoptive parents, including those through surrogacy.

Neonatal leave is available from day one of employment whilst Statutory Neonatal Pay requires

That an employee has at least 26 weeks of continuous service.

Length of Leave:

  • One week of leave for every seven consecutive days a baby spends in neonatal care.
  • Maximum leave of 12 weeks.

Neonatal leave is on top of other parental leave, such as maternity and paternity leave. Leave can be taken immediately or later, as long as it’s used within 68 weeks of the birth.


Holiday

Employees 'accrue' (build up) their holiday entitlement as usual during maternity leave. This includes bank holidays. They cannot take holiday or get holiday pay at the same time as maternity leave. You could agree to them adding holiday to the start or end of their maternity leave if they want more paid time off.

By law, you must allow your employee to take their statutory holiday entitlement during the holiday year. But if they're not able to use it because they're on maternity leave for all or most of the year, you must allow them to carry it over to the next holiday year.

If you do not allow someone to take their holiday because of their sex, pregnancy or maternity, it could be discrimination. You should also talk and agree with them as early as possible about when they'll take their holiday and put in writing what's agreed


Redundancy

If you need to make the employee redundant when they're pregnant or on maternity leave, you must:

  • check the redundancy is genuine and necessary.
  • ensure you consult and keep in touch.
  • use redundancy selection criteria that do not discriminate.
  • consider alternative work.

The pregnancy or maternity must not be part of the reason to make them redundant – you might be breaking discrimination law if it is.


Dismissal

If you dismiss your employee while they're pregnant (for example, as a result of disciplinary action), you must give them the reasons in writing. Pregnancy or maternity is never a valid reason to dismiss someone. You could be breaking discrimination law if you do this.


Returning to work after Maternity

An employees right to return to the same job as before depends on how much maternity leave they’ve taken. If they have taken 26 weeks or less (ordinary maternity leave) they have the right to return to the same job. 

If they’ve taken more than 26 weeks (additional maternity leave), they still have the right to return to the same job, but if it’s not possible because you have made significant changes to the organisation, you could offer them similar job provided the job is not on worse terms than before. They must be on the same pay, benefits, holiday entitlement, seniority and location as before.


Maternity Leave Planning

Work with your employee to understand when they want to start their maternity, when they are planning to return, or if they are planning to return. If you understand this you can plan temporary cover to ensure seamless service and delivery to your customers.


Agency workers

There are different pregnancy and maternity rights for agency workers. Find out more with our agency worker guides.


Get expert advice on Maternity Leave from HRGuide

It's important to have a reliable Maternity Policy outlined in your employment handbook. This ensures everyone is aware of how an employees’ maternity is dealt with.