Maternity Pay Calculator

Natural HR — Wed, 15 Feb 2023 15:30:30 +0000

Pregnancy and the birth of your baby are extremely exciting and momentous periods in any person’s life. However, this significant time doesn’t come without its stresses. Expecting mothers have to stop working while suddenly having higher bills than before.

Thankfully, maternity pay helps to bridge the gap. But how much maternity leave pay are you entitled to? Whether you are an employee who wants to understand what you can expect from your maternity leave pay, or an employer responsible for calculating maternity pay, this blog is for you.

Who Qualifies for Statutory Maternity Pay?

To qualify for Statutory Maternity Pay, a woman must have worked for at least 26 weeks by the end of “Qualifying Week’. Qualifying week is 15 weeks before the baby’s due date. This means that, in order to be entitled to SMP, you must have worked in your current position for at least 41 weeks.

How to Calculate Maternity Leave Pay

You will be paid 90% of your average weekly earnings for the first six weeks of your maternity leave. This is followed by another 33 weeks of 90% of your average weekly earnings, or the applicable statutory rate, which varies each year. Whichever is lowest is what will be used.

Your average weekly earnings will be based on the period of eight weeks running up to the qualifying week. If this falls below the lower earnings limit, then you will not qualify for SMP but may be able to claim Maternity Allowance (MA).

When Do You Need to Give Notice for Maternity Leave?

You must give your employer notice of your intention to take maternity leave at least 15 weeks before the baby’s due date. During this meeting or notice, give your employer your MAT B1 maternity certificate to claim SMP. At this point, you will also inform your employer of when you want to start maternity leave.

When Can You Start Maternity Leave?

You can start your maternity leave with pay from week 29 of your pregnancy. You may also be able to start shared parental leave from week 34 of your pregnancy, though not everyone is entitled to this.

When you take your maternity leave, it is up to you to decide if you want a longer period of leave before your baby’s birth or a longer period of time to care for your baby.

That said, if you are absent from work for any pregnancy-related reason, your employer can begin your maternity leave and pay. This is also applicable if you are absent for any reason in the four weeks leading up to your due date.

The day after you give birth is the latest you can start your maternity leave and pay if you have not already stopped working. This applies even if the baby is born early.

What Else Are You Entitled to With Maternity Leave?

In the UK, employees are protected from discrimination based on their gender and have a number of rights. With all businesses having a duty of care to pregnant employees, here is what you are entitled to besides maternity leave and pay:

An employee has the right to return to either their original job or be offered a suitable alternative
Pregnant employees can take up to 52 weeks of maternity leave
39 of these weeks could be paid using either statutory maternity pay, maternity allowance or contractual maternity pay
Reasonable time off must be provided for antenatal care
You may not be discriminated against for any reason related to your pregnancy

Do You Need to Track Maternity Leave?

If you are an employer or an HR expert, we can help your business to keep track of maternity leave. Natural HR enables you to seamlessly track many different types of absence, including maternity leave.

To find out more about our HR software and how it can help your business grow, contact us today or call +44 (0)121 663 1500.

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Is two weeks’ paternity leave enough for new fathers?

Natural HR — Mon, 05 Oct 2020 16:07:31 +0000

There has been a big debate around paternity leave for years now as to whether new fathers should be entitled to the same leave as mothers. After all, raising a child is a joint effort.

The reality though is very different and the gov.uk website states that statutory paternity leave consists of ‘taking either one or two weeks. You get the same amount of leave if your partner has multiple births (such as twins).

You must take your leave in one go. A week is the same amount of days that you normally work in a week – for example, a week is two days if you only work on Mondays and Tuesdays.’

There are also certain restrictions around the start and end dates as you cannot start paternity leave before the birth and it must end within 56 days of the birth (or due date if the baby is born early). You must also give your employer 28 days’ notice if you want to change your start date.

Two in five new fathers won’t qualify for shared parental leave

Two in five (40 percent) of new fathers won’t qualify for new rights to shared parental leave, according to an analysis published by the TUC, mainly because their partner is not in paid work. Mothers who don’t have a job (whether employed or self-employed) don’t have a right to maternity leave or pay that they can share.

This 40 percent, plus the large proportion of new fathers who continue to work as they may be the family bread-winner or refuse to have too much time-off in worry of it reflecting negatively with their employer increases this number dramatically.

The TUC report also states that half (50 percent) of new dads don’t take their full entitlement to two weeks’ statutory paternity leave – a rate that rises to three in four (75 percent) for dads on the lowest incomes.

So, presented with this information, it begs the question, is two weeks’ paternity leave really enough for new fathers?

Firstly, a fortnight off work gives little time for a father to bond with their child and care for their partner, and in turn, implies that it’s the mother who is to be the primary caregiver.

This is true when it’s usually the mother who cuts her hours, opts for flexible working, or decides not to go for that promotion to care for her child. This has a profound effect on the balance of childcare and negatively impacts the mother’s career due to the level of expectation placed upon them.

With maternity leave being 26 times longer than paternity leave it’s no wonder that fathers are less involved in childcare, especially in the first year.

Increasing paternity entitlements to allow new fathers to spend more time with their child will be one step to equalising the roles of men and women both in the workplace and at home. For this to happen though, paternity leave needs mandatory and better paid or shared parental leave to be reformed.

Currently, paternity leave isn’t sufficient to allow new fathers to bond effectively with their new-borns, equalise role responsibility and even go as far as bridging the gender pay gap that ultimately happens further down the line. All these things are interconnected so paternity leave needs to be reviewed.

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