Maternity leave, neonatal care leave and pay

When you’re having a baby, you’re entitled to a year of Statutory Maternity Leave - no matter how long you’ve been in your job.

But while you’re entitled to 52 weeks off work, you’ll only get maternity pay for 39 of them if you’re eligible.

Find out more about eligibility for maternity leaveOpens in a new window on GOV.UK.

The earliest your paid maternity leave can start is the 11th week before your baby is due.

If your baby is born early, your leave starts the day after the birth.

You don’t have to take the 52 weeks you’re entitled to, but you must take at least two weeks off work following the birth.

New eligible parents in England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland can use Shared Parental Leave

Your maternity leave is made up of two different parts:

• Ordinary Maternity Leave: this is the first six months – or 26 weeks. If you return to work during this period, you have the right to return to exactly the same job that you had before you took maternity leave.
• Additional Maternity Leave: this is the second six months and affects what rights you have when you go back to work. If you take more than six months’ leave, you have the right to return to the same job unless it’s no longer available. In this case, you must be given a similar job with the same pay and conditions.

While you’re on maternity leave, you’ll still be entitled to all the employee rights you normally get from work – for example:

• paid holiday
• protection from unfair dismissal
• pension payments and rights during your period of Statutory Maternity Pay payment
• any other employee benefits – for example, gym membership and medical insurance – for your whole maternity leave period.

If you’re an employee on maternity or adoption leave, you’re entitled to 18 months of protection from redundancy. You are protected from the date of your expected birth or date of adoption. 

If you’re taking six weeks of continuous shared parental leave, you’re also protected for 18 months from redundancy. Find out more about managing discriminationOpens in a new window on ACAS.

Statutory Maternity Pay is the legal minimum your employer typically must pay you while you’re on maternity leave.

You’ll get Statutory Maternity Pay if you:

• earn at least £125 a week on average.
• have worked for your employer for 26 weeks when you reach the 15th week before your due date.

If you’re self-employed – or don’t qualify for Statutory Maternity Pay – you might be able to get Maternity Allowance.

The amount of maternity pay you get changes during your maternity leave.

After 39 weeks, your employer doesn’t have to pay you anything.

This table shows how much you’ll get at each stage of maternity leave in the 2025/26 tax year:

This is the minimum amount your employer has to pay you.

You might get more – depending on what’s written into your contract.

Some employers offer more generous maternity benefits than Statutory Maternity Pay.

Just be aware that if you decide not to return to work after 52 weeks, you might have to pay back any extra.

But you’ll get to keep the rest. So even if you’re not sure about returning, it’s still worth claiming.

If you want to find out how much maternity leave you’re entitled to, it should be in your contract or talk to your boss or HR department. 

Some employers might offer you enhanced maternity pay, also known as the employer maternity scheme, occupational maternity pay or contractual maternity pay. This will be more than Statutory Maternity Pay.

If you don’t return to work after the pregnancy, you might have to repay what you were paid over the Statutory Maternity Pay.

To find out what you might be entitled to, you’ll need to check your employment terms and conditions.

For more information on occupational maternity payOpens in a new window go to Maternity Action.

Agency workers can get Statutory Maternity Pay if they meet the qualifying conditions. You must:

• have been employed by the same agency for 26 weeks when you reach the 15th week before your due date
• work for the agency in all or part of your 15^th week before your due date
• have earned an average of at least £125 a week for the previous two months.

If you’re a working parent and your baby needs neonatal care after birth, you might be able to get additional paid leave, on top of any other leave you’re already entitled to, like maternity or paternity leave. Neonatal care leave is only available in England, Scotland and Wales.

To qualify for Neonatal care leave, you need to meet these requirements:

• You must be an employee.

• Your baby must be born on or after 6th April 2025.

• At the time of your baby’s birth, you must be one of the following: the baby’s parent, intended parent (in the case of surrogacy), or the partner of the baby’s mother. You must also have or expect to have responsibility for raising the child. Similar rules apply if you are adopting.

• Your baby must be admitted to neonatal care within 28 days of birth and must stay in neonatal care for at least seven continuous days. This seven-day period starts the day after your baby first receives neonatal care.

• Neonatal Care Leave must be used to care for your baby.

• The leave must be taken in blocks of a week.

Find out more about neonatal leave and pay on Working FamiliesOpens in a new window

New eligible parents can share up to 50 weeks’ parental leave and 37 weeks’ pay with their partner.

If you’re eligible, you can even take the leave in up to three separate blocks instead of taking it all in one go.

You must give your employer binding notice to end your maternity leave for either you or your partner to be eligible for Shared Parental Leave.

You must also end any maternity pay or Maternity Allowance – even if you don’t get maternity leave.

To be eligible for Shared Parental Leave, you must be eligible for one of the following:

• maternity pay or leave
• adoption pay or leave
• Maternity Allowance.

Either you or your partner must:

• have worked for the same employer for 26 weeks by the 15th week before the baby is due
• stay with the employer during Shared Parental Leave.

During the 66 weeks before the baby is due, the other one of you must:

• have worked for 26 weeks (they don’t need to be in a row)
• have earned at least £390 in total over 13 of those weeks (they don’t need to be in a row).

You can get Statutory Shared Parental Pay if:

• you’re an employee or worker
• you’re eligible for Statutory Maternity Pay, Maternity Allowance or Statutory Adoption Pay, and your partner is eligible for Statutory Paternity Pay.

If you’re self-employed, you can’t get Statutory Maternity Pay. You might be able to claim Maternity Allowance.

To claim Statutory Maternity Leave and Pay, you must tell your employer you’re going on maternity leave and request maternity at least 15 weeks before the baby’s due date.

To notify your employer in writing, you can download our template letter (DOCX, 14KB)

If you’re adopting, you must tell them:

• within seven days of being told by the adoption agency you’ve been matched with a child for maternity leave
• 28 days before you want your maternity pay to start.

You must give your employer proof of your pregnancy to get maternity pay.

This can be:

• your MATB1 certificate, or
• a letter from your doctor or midwife.

You must tell your employer if you want to start Shared Parental Leave or Pay.

Your partner must apply to their own employer.

In most cases, you need to give your employer at least eight weeks’ notice.

You can download an application formOpens in a new window GOV.UK 

Before you go on maternity leave, you’ll have to tell your employer how long you intend to be off work for and your expected return date.

A lot can happen while you’re on maternity leave, and you have the right to change your mind about the end of your maternity leave.

But you must give your employer eight weeks’ notice if you want to return later or earlier.

If your employer doesn’t think they need to give you maternity pay – or you feel they’re not paying the right amount – there are things you can do:

1. Find out if what’s happening is discrimination. Read more about discrimination on Citizens AdviceOpens in a new window If you live in Northern Ireland, contact the ECNI for advice. 
2. Talk to your employer – perhaps the HR department. You might be able to resolve the issue informally. If you’re not sure where to start, try speaking to your trade union or employee representative if you have one. Or Acas might be able to help – find out more on AcasOpens in a new window
3. If you’re not able to resolve the issue, you can make a written complaint; find out more on Citizens AdviceOpens in a new window

The Equality Advisory & Support Service (EASS) can offer more help and advice.