Statutory Maternity Leave (SML)
When you are pregnant and planning to have time off you may be eligible for the following;
Statutory maternity leave, statutory maternity pays, extra help from the government and paid leave for antenatal care. There are rules for the number of weeks along you are, and when you would like to take the time off.
To be eligible for SML you must be classified as an employee and not a ‘worker’ and you must give your employer the correct notice, this is usually 28 days before your leave starts. You must also be within 15 weeks of your due date.
Once you have given your employer your notice, they must confirm the starting and end times.
For help with calculating when to claim your maternity leave visit Gov.uk
Statutory Maternity Pay (SMP)
If you want to stop work to give birth, you should inform your employer of the day you want your SMP to start, like SML you have to give your employer this notice in advance (at least 28 days of when you want your SMP to start). Your employer then has another 28 days to confirm your notice and state how much you will get. To be eligible you need to earn an average of £120 minimum a week, unless you were on furlough due to coronavirus.
You will need to provide proof of being pregnant to your employer to apply for SMP however, you do not need to show this for maternity leave. This can be done by using a letter from your doctor or midwife, or showing a MATB1 certificate. You should show this within 21 days of when you want your SMP to start.
It is important to mention that you are still eligible for SML and SMP if your baby is born early, you have a stillborn after the start of the 24th week of pregnancy or if your child dies after being born.
Statutory Adoption Leave (SAL)
Employees are allowed to take up to 52 weeks’ statutory adoption leave. This is because there are two phases to SAL. The first 26 weeks is known as ordinary adoption leave and the last 26 weeks is known as additional adoption leave. If an employee plans to have a child through surrogacy, they may also be eligible for statutory adoption leave/pay.
The leave can start when:
• An employee is matched to a child by the UK adoption agency
• Up to 14 days before the child starts living with the employee or on the date the child moves in.
• When the child arrives in the UK or within 28 days for overseas adoptions
• If a surrogacy is arranged, the leave can start on or after the child is born.
Statutory Adoption Pay (SAP)
Employees wanting SAP will receive 90% of their gross average weekly earnings for the first 6 weeks, followed by £151.97 a week or 90% of their gross earnings for the next 33 weeks.
For other type of employment types or workers there are different rules of how entitlement works and how much they will be paid.
For help calculating an employee’s adoption leave or pay visit Gov.uk.
It is important to note that an employee’s rights are protected during maternity leave and adoption leave, therefore if your company shuts down or stops trading during the employee’s leave, you will start need to pay them.