Archive Website of the UK government

Personalised help on your Statutory Maternity Leave entitlements

• Get personalised guidance on maternity rights Opens new window

Company maternity leave and pay schemes

Your employer may have their own maternity leave scheme which could be more generous than the statutory scheme. Check your employment contract or staff handbook for details or ask your employer. Your employer can't offer you less than your statutory rights.

Entitlement to Statutory Maternity Leave

As an employee you have the right to 26 weeks of Ordinary Maternity Leave and 26 weeks of Additional Maternity Leave making one year in total. The combined 52 weeks is known as Statutory Maternity Leave.

To qualify for Statutory Maternity Leave you must be an employee. If you are an employee and you give your employer the correct notice, you can take Statutory Maternity Leave no matter:

• how long you have been with your employer
• how many hours you work
• how much you are paid

Surrogate parents

If you and your husband, wife or partner are having a child through surrogacy you will not normally be eligible for Statutory Maternity or Adoption Leave. However if you intend to apply for a parental order, you may be eligible for unpaid parental leave providing you meet the eligibility criteria.

Not qualifying for Statutory Maternity Leave

If you don't qualify for Statutory Maternity Leave speak to your employer. They may offer enhanced maternity rights that you are entitled to.

If you are a worker, your employer may allow you to take unpaid leave. Alternatively, you could consider taking paid holiday, unpaid leave or parental leave. You may still be entitled to Statutory Maternity Pay.

• Statutory Maternity Pay (money, tax and benefits section)

Telling your employer you intend to take Statutory Maternity Leave

You must tell your employer you want to take Statutory Maternity Leave at least 15 weeks before the beginning of the week your baby is due. If this is not possible (for example because you didn't realise you were pregnant), tell them as soon as possible. You need to say:

Your employer might ask for notice in writing. They may also ask for a copy of form MAT B1, the maternity certificate, which says when the baby's due. Your doctor or midwife will give you a copy of the MAT B1 form after you have been pregnant for 21 weeks. They cannot give this to you any earlier.

After informing your employer that you want to take Statutory Maternity Leave, they should write to you within 28 days. They should confirm your Statutory Maternity Leave and give you the date your Statutory Maternity Leave will end.

Starting your Statutory Maternity Leave

You can start your Statutory Maternity Leave any time from 11 weeks before the beginning of the week when your baby's due.

If you are off work because of your pregnancy within four weeks of the expected birth date, your employer can make you start your Statutory Maternity Leave then.

Compulsory maternity leave

You do not have to take all of your Statutory Maternity Leave. However, you must take two weeks (or four weeks if you work in a factory) of 'compulsory' maternity leave after your baby is born.

If you lose your baby

You can still take your Statutory Maternity Leave if your child is stillborn after 24 weeks of pregnancy or born alive at any point of the pregnancy.

Additional Paternity Leave

The father of your child or your partner could have the right to up to 26 weeks' Additional Paternity Leave. This is in addition to the two weeks' Statutory Paternity Leave they could be entitled to.

Additional Paternity Leave can be taken 20 weeks after the child is born. It must finish before the child's first birthday.

• Additional Paternity Leave and Pay

What to do if you have problems taking Statutory Maternity Leave

If you have a problem taking your Statutory Maternity Leave, talk to your employer first of all - it may be a simple misunderstanding. If this doesn't work, you may need to make a complaint using your employer’s grievance procedure.

• How to resolve a problem at work (employment section)