If your wife, partner (including same-sex partner) or civil partner gives birth or adopts a child, you may be able to claim Statutory Paternity Pay to help you take time off work to support her. If you have a question about your individual circumstances, call our helpline on 0300 123 1190.
If you want to change the start date of your maternity leave, you must give your employer 28 days’ notice, or agree a new date together. Children also get free prescriptions until they're 16. There are benefits and financial help for pregnant women, whether they're employed or not.
The maternity cover can be an existing or new employee. We cannot respond to questions sent through this form. Find out more about Shared Parental Leave. Find out more about Statutory Maternity Pay, including when you need to tell your employer that you're pregnant.
If you want to change the start date of your maternity leave, you must give your employer 28 days’ notice, or agree a new date together. Find out more about Support for Mortgage Interest. Most of the links in this list take you to the GOV.UK website, where you'll find the most up-to-date information about rights and benefits, including those for pregnant women and parents. You're also protected against unfair treatment. It's also a good opportunity to make some new friends. Find out more on the Healthy Start website.
You and the employee could have up to 10 optional keeping in touch days (KIT days) during the maternity leave, if both sides agree. Find out more about Statutory Paternity Pay, including when you need to let your employer know that you're expecting. If you have a miscarriage or stillbirth before 24 weeks, you’re not entitled to maternity leave and pay. Find out more about Council Tax Reduction. Parents of children aged 16 and under, or of disabled children aged 18 and under, are entitled to request a flexible working pattern. You could arrange whether to take your holiday entitlement before or after your maternity leave. It also lists other benefits you might be able to receive, depending on your circumstances.
Select the statement you most agree with: Supporting mental health in the workplace, Dealing with a problem raised by an employee, Your maternity leave, pay and other rights, Please tell us why the information did not help, I cannot find the information I'm looking for. You must tell the person doing maternity cover what happens when their role ends. You might be eligible for help with all or part of your rent if you're on a low income.
Menu You don't have to take all of your shared parental leave at the same time. Did you get the information you need from this page? If you want to start your maternity leave early, you can ask your employer. This includes arranging how you'll keep in touch. You might be able to get help from the Healthcare Travel Costs Scheme, depending on your circumstances. Care in your own home doesn't need to be registered, but make sure your carer is experienced and trained to care for babies.
To claim free prescriptions, ask your doctor or midwife for form FW8 and send it to your health authority. If your baby is late and you had told your employer a specific date you want to start maternity leave, you can still start the leave from that date. Please do not include any personal details, for example email address or phone number.
This is made up of 26 weeks of ordinary maternity leave and 26 weeks of additional maternity leave. All employees are entitled to 52 weeks maternity leave.
Managing your employee's maternity leave and pay. You just need to tell your employer the date when you have given birth so you start compulsory maternity leave from then. Usually these roles are temporary with a fixed end date. You’ll need to let your employer know as soon as you can. You still build up ('accrue') your holiday entitlement during maternity leave.
Try and agree a way of keeping in touch that’s comfortable for your employee, for example you can ask them if they prefer email to phone calls. If you like, you can tell us more about what was useful on this page.
Did you get the information you need from this page?
You may meet other pregnant women you want to keep in touch with at antenatal classes, or you may get to know more people living close by.
Make sure you know what these are and what to do if you have any problems or you're denied your rights. Before maternity leave starts, you should agree with your employee the best way to keep in touch about important changes or news at work.
If you're pregnant, your employer must protect your health and safety, and you may have the right to paid time off for antenatal care. Find out more about your right to return to work after Statutory Maternity Leave. Help with mortgage interest repayments if you receive certain benefits. You can ask your employer to give you the reason in writing.
There are lots of voluntary organisations that are happy to help, so don't hesitate to ask for advice or get an opinion. It’s a good idea to talk with your employer before you go on leave. This means up to 50 weeks of leave and 37 weeks of pay can be shared. You may be eligible to share parental leave and pay with your partner. How much maternity leave and pay am I entitled to? Find out more about Statutory Adoption Pay, including how and when to let your employer know. Your employer has the right to a reasonable amount of contact with you during your maternity leave. This page lists the benefits you're entitled to when you're pregnant, and has information on maternity, paternity and shared parental leave. It's against the law for the reason not to renew it to be your sex, pregnancy or maternity. If you enjoy your work and like the people you work with, you may have mixed feelings when you go on maternity leave. Your employee's maternity leave, pay and other rights, How and when they must tell you they're pregnant, Discrimination because of pregnancy or maternity, Their leave, pay, redundancy and dismissal rights, If they’re ill or having a difficult pregnancy, Find out more about Shared Parental Leave, any reorganisation that could affect their job, let the employee decide how much contact they want, unless the contact is about things you must tell them about, remind them they do not have to do any work during maternity leave, the work the employee will do on these days, return to work until at least the 11th week before the baby is due, see if they can stay off work by taking another type of leave (such as holiday leave) – it's up to you to decide if they can do this and they must give you the correct notice, if they're an existing employee, whether they'll go back to their previous role or to a different one, if they're a new employee, whether their job will come to an end – if so you must end their contract fairly. These extra days are known as 'Shared Parental Leave in touch days' (SPLIT days). You need to follow a specific procedure when making your request. Please do not include any personal details, for example email address or phone number. Find out more about help with transport costs to hospital.
You may also want to think about organising care in your own home, either on your own or sharing with other parents. If you're 19 or under, you can get advice on work from the National Careers Service on 0800 100 900. Child Tax Credit gives financial support for children, and Working Tax Credit helps people in lower-paid jobs by topping up their wages. Ordinary Maternity Leave, Additional Maternity Leave and Shared Parental Leave.
All employed pregnant women are entitled to 52 weeks (1 year) of maternity leave, no matter how long they've worked for their employer. You cannot take holiday during maternity leave as this would end your maternity leave and pay. You can ask your partner, a friend or a family member to do this if you need to.
Coronavirus (COVID-19): latest advice for employers and employees. Find out about your employee rights when you're on maternity, adoption or parental leave. For advice on your rights at work, call ACAS on 08457 474747. It’s unfair dismissal and maternity discrimination if your employer doesn’t let you return to work after maternity leave, or if they offer you a different job without a strong reason.
A weekly payment from your employer to help you take time off if you adopt a child. We cannot respond to questions sent through this form. If not, contact the Family Information Service at your local authority for a list of registered childminders and nurseries in your area.
Some local authorities have welfare rights officers – phone your social services department and ask. Find out more about the Sure Start Maternity Grant. Toy manufacturer Lego Group has announced that it will enhance its global paid parental leave policy for primary caregivers, offering over 18,000 employees 26 weeks of paternity leave. Find out more about Maternity Allowance, including how to apply. If you have a partner, their paternity leave starts when the baby is born. The main benefit for people of working age who are out of work. You will qualify for Statutory Maternity Pay (SMP) if you have been employed in the same job for at least 26 weeks by the end of the 15th week before your baby is due and you earn at least £120 per week (April 2020-April 2021) on average in the calculation period for SMP. If you do not think it's fair, you can raise a formal complaint (‘grievance’). You are entitled to 52 weeks’ Statutory Maternity Leave, made up of 26 weeks’ Ordinary Maternity Leave and 26 weeks’ Additional Maternity Leave. You'll be sent a maternity exemption certificate (MATEX) that lasts for 12 months after your due date. Find out more about shared parental leave and check your eligibility. Checking your pregnancy and maternity rights, Download our guide to redundancy rights when pregnant or on maternity leave, Find out more about telling your employer about a death or miscarriage, start your maternity leave from up to 11 weeks before your baby is due, start your maternity leave (if you have not already), take off at least 2 weeks (4 weeks if you work in a factory) – this is known as ‘compulsory maternity leave’, your baby is stillborn after the 24th week of pregnancy, your baby only lives for a short time after birth at any stage of pregnancy.
If you have a temporary or fixed-term contract due to end while you’re on maternity leave, your employer does not have to renew it. If you're pregnant or have a new baby but don't qualify for Statutory Maternity Pay, you might be able to claim Maternity Allowance through Jobcentre Plus.
From 1 November 2020, employees who become parents through childbirth or adoption will be entitled to the organisation’s minimum global standard of paid childcare leave, dependant on where they are based … By law, the employee cannot start their next maternity leave until the 11th week before their baby is due. When you're pregnant, you're entitled to up to a year of maternity leave.
By law, the employee cannot start their next maternity leave until the 11th week before their baby is due. Find out more about statutory maternity leave. Find out more about statutory maternity leave. If you're a father-to-be or a pregnant woman's partner – including same-sex partner – you could have the right to paternity leave. Benefits have to be claimed on different forms, from different offices, depending on what you're claiming.
Find out more about telling your employer about a death or miscarriage. You’ll need to tell your employer as soon as you can.
Coronavirus (COVID-19): latest advice for employers and employees. If you can't be available for full-time work and haven't got enough money to live on, you might qualify for Income Support, depending on your circumstances. If your baby is born earlier than expected or is premature, your maternity leave starts straight away. Both sides should agree the following before deciding KIT days: If an employee works part of a KIT day, it still counts as a full day. You have a range of rights during this period and can also request that your employer provides flexible working arrangements if you decide to return to work at the end of your leave.