Maternity pay: check your earnings period, entitlement and employer scheme

Employees can qualify for statutory maternity leave without qualifying for SMP. For ordinary SMP, you need continuous employment with that employer for at least 26 weeks continuing into the qualifying week, and average weekly earnings at least the applicable Lower Earnings Limit. You must also give the required notice and evidence. The qualifying week is the 15th week before the week the baby is expected; a week runs Sunday to Saturday.

The employment must continue into the qualifying week. A job that ended before it does not pass the ordinary service test just because you worked there for years. Leaving during or after that week can preserve SMP, although leaving can force an earlier pay start. Enter an ended job’s last date separately. If leaving during the week, the 26 weeks must already be completed by that last day. See HMRC’s entitlement conditions.

The earnings limit is £129 a week for the 2026/27 qualifying-week rules, compared with £125 for 2025/26. Use the limit applicable to your qualifying week rather than the year a later payment reaches your bank. Our planner checks the ordinary service and earnings tests; it cannot decide all employment or evidence questions. See GOV.UK eligibility and Northern Ireland SMP eligibility.

Normally tell your employer about the pregnancy and intended leave by the end of the qualifying week, and give at least 28 days’ notice of when you want SMP to start. Ask what evidence is needed and when: a MATB1 is normally available from your doctor or midwife once you are 20 weeks pregnant. An early birth can change the notification timetable.

Start with the last normal payday on or before the Saturday at the end of the qualifying week. Find the last normal payday falling at least eight weeks before that payday. The relevant period begins the day after the earlier payday and ends on the later payday, inclusive. It will usually contain eight weekly payments or two monthly payments, but payroll timing can produce a different pattern.

For a due date of 17 February 2027, the qualifying week is 1–7 November 2026. Suppose monthly paydays are the last calendar day: the final normal payday before 7 November is 31 October; the earlier boundary is 31 August. The relevant period is 1 September–31 October. If the two payments total £4,000 of relevant gross earnings, the average is £4,000 ÷ 2 × 12 ÷ 52 = £461.538461… a week.

For weekly records, divide the total by the number of weeks covered. For monthly records, divide by the number of months and multiply by 12/52. Irregular periods use the appropriate calendar-day calculation. Do not round the average before applying the statutory percentage or earnings test. Payroll should check unusual payday changes, mistimed payments and shorter employment. The HMRC calculation method explains these cases; use the current rate table for current figures because older worked examples can retain prior-year rates.

Relevant earnings can include overtime, commission and a bonus paid during the period, even where the work was done earlier. Unpaid absence and reduced pay can lower the average. Salary sacrifice normally reduces contractual cash earnings liable for NI, which can affect SMP and even the earnings test. Pension arrangements that are not salary sacrifice do not automatically have the same effect.

A pay rise awarded between the beginning of the relevant period and the end of maternity leave can require SMP to be recalculated, including some backdated awards. Do not simply replace the original earnings with today’s annual salary. Ask payroll how the pay rise changes the statutory calculation. See HMRC’s changes affecting SMP and its unrounded average-earnings rule.

With average weekly earnings of £500 and all 39 SMP weeks at the verified 2026/27 rates, the first six weeks pay £450 each: £2,700. The next 33 pay £194.32 each: £6,412.56. Total gross SMP is £9,112.56. At £150 average earnings, 90% is £135, below the flat rate, so all 39 statutory weeks pay £135: £5,265 gross.

Now suppose normal contractual pay is £500 and the employer provides eight weeks at full pay including SMP, followed by statutory pay. The eight weeks total £4,000, then 31 × £194.32 = £6,023.92: £10,023.92 gross. Do not add SMP again to the first eight full-pay weeks.

“Half pay plus SMP” means a different calculation: £250 employer pay plus the applicable SMP for that week, unless the policy caps total pay at normal salary. Our planner offers inclusive, additional and capped stages so that you can reproduce the wording. These are gross illustrations; PAYE, NI and pension deductions affect the amount paid into your bank.

The ordinary earliest maternity leave start is 11 weeks before the expected week of childbirth. An early birth or pregnancy-related sickness in the final four weeks before the due week can start leave automatically. Confirm the actual trigger with payroll rather than forcing it into an ordinary planned-start example. SMP weeks normally follow your maternity-pay start day.

If an eligible job ends before the Sunday of the 11th week before the due week, SMP starts that Sunday, or the day after an earlier birth. If the job ends later and SMP has not begun, it starts the day after leaving. You cannot keep a later preferred date after one of these triggers. If SMP has already started, leaving does not move its start again. Enter the actual statutory start confirmed with payroll; the planner reports the required ordinary leaver date if your entry conflicts. See HMRC’s maternity-pay-period rules and the Northern Ireland start-date guidance. A former employee can retain SMP without having maternity leave from that ended job.

For example, a baby is due in the week beginning 29 March 2026 and the eligible employment ends on 20 December 2025. The ordinary compulsory SMP start is 11 January 2026. At £500 average weekly earnings, 39 weeks give 6 × £450, then six weeks at £187.18 and 27 at £194.32: £9,069.72 gross. A later preferred March start would shift the budget and apply the wrong mix of annual rates.

The flat rate increased to £194.32 from 5 April 2026. If your SMP week begins on Wednesday, the week 1–7 April keeps the old £187.18 rate; the next full payment week, starting 8 April, uses £194.32. An SMP payment week is not split at the tax-year boundary just because it crosses 5 April. See HMRC’s annual uprating rule.

Future rates are not guaranteed to stay the same. The planner labels weeks after its verified rate window as unknown and gives a subtotal. Its calendar-month view spreads weekly gross pay over calendar days for budgeting; payroll can pay it on your usual weekly or monthly payday. Ask payroll for the actual pay-period schedule before predicting net income.

Ask the employer for its written reason and form SMP1. Maternity Allowance is a different benefit with its own employment or self-employment history and earnings tests; it can help people who do not qualify for SMP. A low SMP result is not a promise that Maternity Allowance will top it up. If one of two jobs pays SMP, explain that when checking any alternative entitlement.

Use GOV.UK’s Maternity Allowance check and the official maternity calculator. For two employers, follow our separate-employer checklist rather than combining salaries.

Ask: “Please confirm my qualifying week and continuous-service test; the normal payday boundaries and earnings included in my average; my SMP start day and weekly schedule; and how the April rate change is applied. For enhanced pay, please identify which stages include SMP, which are additional, any normal-pay cap, pension treatment and any repayment clause if I do not return.”

Statutory SMP is not repayable merely because you decide not to return to work. A clearly agreed contractual condition can require repayment of some enhanced pay. Ask for the policy and an itemised calculation separating statutory from enhanced amounts. See Acas on maternity pay and returning to work. Keep the response with your leave budget and use the payslip checker if the gross or deduction lines later need explaining.