Maternity leave and pay in the UK: a step-by-step list

Check what you are entitled to

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Check you are an employee, not a “worker”: that is what qualifies you for Statutory Maternity Leave.
It does not matter how long you have been with your employer, how many hours you work or how much you get paid (GOV.UK).
Check if you qualify for Statutory Maternity Pay.
You must earn on average at least £129 a week and have worked for your employer continuously for at least 26 weeks into the qualifying week (GOV.UK).
Find your “qualifying week”: the 15th week before the week your baby is due.
Your 26 weeks of work must continue into that week (GOV.UK).
Use the maternity pay calculator on this site to see what to expect.
Pay is 90% of your average weekly earnings for 6 weeks, then £194.32 or 90%, whichever is lower, for 33 weeks.
Read your contract and handbook for enhanced maternity pay.

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At least 15 weeks before your due date, tell your employer when the baby is due and when you want your leave to start.
They can ask for it in writing (GOV.UK).
Wait for your employer’s letter confirming your leave dates within 28 days.
It sets your start and end dates (GOV.UK).
Give at least 28 days’ notice of the day you want your pay to start.
In writing if your employer asks for it (GOV.UK).
Give proof of your pregnancy: a letter from your doctor or midwife, or your MATB1 certificate.
Within 21 days of your pay start date. Doctors and midwives give the MATB1 no more than 20 weeks before the due date. Without it you will not get SMP (GOV.UK).
Check your employer confirms within 28 days how much you will get and when it starts and stops.
If you are not eligible they must give you form SMP1 within 7 days and explain why (GOV.UK).

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Check Maternity Allowance, which pays for up to 39 weeks.
You could get it if you are employed but cannot get SMP, are self-employed or have recently stopped working (GOV.UK).
Apply once you have been pregnant for 26 weeks.
Payments can start between the 11th week before your baby is due and the day after the birth (GOV.UK).
Check you have worked or been self-employed for at least 26 of the 66 weeks before the baby is due.

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Choose your start date: the earliest is usually 11 weeks before the expected week of childbirth.
Leave also starts the day after an early birth, or automatically if you are off with a pregnancy-related illness in the last 4 weeks before the due week (GOV.UK).
Remember you must take 2 weeks of leave after the baby is born.
It is 4 weeks if you work in a factory (GOV.UK).
Decide how much of the 52 weeks you will take.
The first 26 weeks are Ordinary Maternity Leave and the last 26 are Additional Maternity Leave. Pay lasts 39 weeks (GOV.UK).
Think about Shared Parental Leave and Pay, if you and your partner want to share the leave.
Shared Parental Pay is £194.32 a week or 90% of average weekly earnings, whichever is lower (GOV.UK).
Tell your partner to ask about paternity leave and pay.
Up to 2 weeks, and the due date must be given at least 15 weeks before the birth (GOV.UK).

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Know your rights while you are away: pay rises, building up holiday and the right to return.
Your employment rights are protected during Statutory Maternity Leave (GOV.UK).
To change your return date, give your employer at least 8 weeks’ notice.
Work out your accrued holiday and when to take it.
You keep building up holiday during maternity leave. See the holiday entitlement calculator on this site.
Agree a return plan with your manager: hours, workplace and handover.