Employer Duties: Maternity and Parental Leave

From the moment you know an employee is pregnant, special protections apply. You must carry out a specific risk assessment for pregnant workers and new mothers and remove any risks to their health. If risks cannot be removed, you must offer suitable alternative work or, if none is available, suspend on full pay.

Pregnant employees have the right to paid time off for antenatal appointments — this includes not just medical appointments but also relaxation or parenting classes if recommended by a doctor or midwife. The employee does not need to make up this time. You must not subject a pregnant employee to any detriment or dismiss them because of pregnancy — this is automatically unfair dismissal and direct discrimination, regardless of length of service.

Eligible employees are entitled to 52 weeks of Ordinary and Additional Maternity Leave — 26 weeks of Ordinary Maternity Leave (OML) followed by 26 weeks of Additional Maternity Leave (AML). Employees must give at least 15 weeks' notice before the expected week of childbirth and can start leave from 11 weeks before the due date.

Statutory Maternity Pay (SMP) is payable for up to 39 weeks: the first six weeks at 90% of average weekly earnings, and the remaining 33 weeks at the lower of £194.32 per week or 90% of average earnings. You pay SMP through your payroll and can reclaim 92% from HMRC (or 103% if you qualify as a small employer). Contractual enhanced maternity pay can be offered on top, provided it does not discriminate against part-time or fixed-term employees.

Eligible employees are entitled to Statutory Paternity Leave (one or two consecutive weeks within 56 days of birth) and Statutory Paternity Pay (£194.32 per week or 90% of average earnings if lower). Shared Parental Leave (SPL) allows eligible parents to share up to 50 weeks of leave and 37 weeks of Shared Parental Pay following the birth or adoption of a child.

On returning from maternity or adoption leave, employees have the right to return to the same job (if returning from OML) or the same or an equivalent job (if returning from AML). You must not offer a worse role, reduce pay, or change terms without agreement. Employees also have the right to request flexible working from day one of employment (since April 2024), and you must deal with requests reasonably.

The Neonatal Care (Leave and Pay) Act 2023 introduced a new entitlement, which came into force in April 2025. Parents of babies who are admitted to neonatal care within the first 28 days of life and spend at least seven days in hospital are entitled to up to 12 weeks of neonatal care leave (in addition to any maternity, paternity, or shared parental leave). Neonatal care leave is a day-one right — no qualifying service is required. Statutory Neonatal Care Pay is available to employees with 26 weeks of continuous employment, paid at the same rate as SMP.

The Employment Rights Act 2025 (expected to receive Royal Assent in 2025 with many provisions entering force on a rolling timetable) makes further significant changes to parental rights. Key provisions relevant to employers include: the extension of day-one unfair dismissal protection (removing the two-year qualifying period), making dismissals during maternity leave even more legally perilous; enhanced rights for paternity leave with more flexibility over when it is taken; and proposed strengthening of protections against dismissal for pregnant employees and those returning from family leave.

Employers should review their parental leave policies now and ensure they are ready to reflect the rolling commencement of Employment Rights Act provisions. ACAS will publish updated guidance as each tranche comes into force. In the interim, ensure that all family leave entitlements — maternity, paternity, shared parental, adoption, neonatal — are documented in the staff handbook with clear eligibility criteria and notification requirements for each type of leave.