For SMP purposes, pay means gross pay that is due before any deductions. The gross pay you get from your employer in the relevant period will be taken into account, as long as it counts for NI contributions or would count if you earned enough or were old enough to pay NI contributions.
Sick pay, overtime, bonus payments, arrears of pay and even, in most circumstances, holiday pay, must all be included if you actually get them at this time. It is when you get the money that counts, not when it was earned.
Average earnings should include all earnings and contractual benefits on which you pay NI contributions, except Class 1B contributions which arise from a PAYE tax settlement agreement which your employer makes with HM Revenue and Customs.
However, if you fail to qualify for SMP because some of your earnings are accounted for under the PAYE settlement agreement, your employer should recalculate your gross pay to include the elements giving rise to Class 1B NI contributions. If you are a student in receipt of a bursary, your bursary is not treated as earnings for SMP purposes. Salary sacrifice is a contractual arrangement where an employee voluntarily gives up the right to some of their earnings in return for some form of benefit from their employer eg childcare vouchers.
Where a salary sacrifice arrangement is in place during the period used to work out your SMP , the SMP average weekly earnings calculation will be based on your contractual earnings which count for NI contributions. Under the arrangement, the salary or wages will be paid at a reduced level and any other benefits subject to NI may also change.
This will reduce the amount of SMP paid to you or may mean that you will not be entitled to SMP as your earnings are too low. If your employer awards a pay rise that is effective at any time from the start of the period used to calculate your SMP the relevant period and the end of your maternity leave, your employer must recalculate your SMP.
Your employer must also recalculate SMP if you are awarded a pay rise with an effective date before the start of the set period but the earnings used in the SMP calculation did not reflect that pay rise.
The end of the maternity leave means the end of any ordinary or additional maternity leave you take. In this example the woman is due a pay increase on 1 July each year and is entitled to SMP. Her maternity leave is 6 February to 4 February The beginning of the relevant period for calculating SMP is likely to have been around 28 October The employer in this case must re-calculate SMP to take account of the pay rise due from 1 July because the effective date of the pay rise fell in the period 28 October to 4 February Her maternity leave is 1 August to 31 July The beginning of the relevant period for calculating SMP is likely to have been around 21 April The employer must recalculate SMP to take account of the pay rise due from 1 July , and because the woman is still on maternity leave on 1 July , the employer must recalculate her SMP for the second time.
This is because the effective date of the pay rises fell in the period 21 April to 31 July If in this example the woman decides to return to work early and end her maternity leave on 5 May , then it is only the 1 July pay rise that will affect her SMP. Your employer will usually add together all your gross weekly earnings in the 8 weeks up to and including the last pay day before the end of your qualifying week. The total will then be divided by 8 to give your average weekly earnings.
Note: If a normal payment has been paid early, for example, before a holiday, the payments in the 8 week period should be divided by the number of weeks they cover. All the pay you get in the 2 months up to and including the last normal pay day before the end of the qualifying week will count. If you are paid once each calendar month, for example on the last working day of the month or on the same date each month, your employer will usually add together all the pay you received in these 2 months, divide by 2, multiply by 12 and then divide by 52 to give your average weekly earnings.
If you are paid monthly but are paid in multiples of a week for example, on the last Friday of each month , your employer will usually add together all the pay you received in these 2 months and divide the total by the number of weeks covered by the payments to give your average weekly earnings. Your employer must add together your pay on your last normal pay day before the end of the qualifying week and any other pay received since but not including the last pay day to fall at least 8 weeks before that one.
Your pay for this period is then averaged out, any odd days being counted as one-seventh of a week each. For example, if your qualifying week ends on Saturday 16 March , you were paid on Monday 11 February , Thursday 27 December and Tuesday 18 September This means that the last pay day before the end of the qualifying week is 11 February The last payday to fall at least 8 weeks before 11 February is 18 September Therefore the period used to average your payments is from 19 September to 11 February inclusive the relevant period.
The payments made to you on 27 December and 13 February are averaged over that period by counting the number of days in the relevant period. There are days in this period, so to get a weekly average the sum of these earnings is divided by and multiplied by 7.
If you are in any doubt, get your employer to show you how your average weekly earnings have been worked out. If your baby is born prematurely before the end of the qualifying week, the relevant period for working out your average earnings will usually be the 8 weeks ending with the Saturday before the week in which your baby is born.
If you are dissatisfied with the way your SMP has been calculated talk to your employer to see if you can resolve the matter. If you are still unsure contact the HM Revenue and Customs employee helpline on for help in working out what SMP you should get. If you satisfy both the continuous employment rule and the earnings rule , your employer must pay you SMP even if your contract ends at any time after the start of the 15th week before the week your baby is due.
If you are taken into legal custody at any time in your maternity pay period MPP , your employer no longer has to pay you SMP. Your SMP will stop from the week in which you go into legal custody.
Your employer will give you a form SMP1 to explain why. Your entitlement to SMP is not affected if you voluntarily help the police with their enquiries. When you are discharged from custody, you still will not be able to get SMP. But you may be able to get Maternity Allowance from Jobcentre Plus. Your employer can pay SMP to you anywhere in the world. Read guidance on how entitlement to maternity benefits may be affected if you move to an EEA country or Switzerland from 1 January The following are all reasons why you might not be able to get SMP :.
If you are pregnant and you think you are eligible for SMP from your employer, you must tell your employer that you intend to stop work to have the baby and the day you want your SMP to start. You must also provide your employer with evidence of when your baby is due. Most women will be able to take maternity leave from their work.
To claim maternity leave you must tell your employer no later than the end of the qualifying week which is the 15th week before the week in which the baby is due that you are pregnant and:. You must give your employer at least 28 days notice of the date you want your SMP to start.
Your employer may need your notice in writing. You can change your mind about the date but you must give 28 days notice of the new date. If you can get both maternity leave and SMP it is best to tell your employer the date you want your SMP to start at the same time as you tell your employer about your leave. If it is not possible to give 28 days notice for payment of SMP , you must tell your employer as soon as you can. If your employer considers it was reasonably practicable for you to have given notice earlier than you did, they can refuse to pay you SMP.
If your baby is born prematurely , before you had given notice to your employer, you may still be able to get SMP. Also see pregnancy and maternity rights in the workplace.
You must give your employer medical evidence of the date your baby is due. This will normally be on a maternity certificate MATB1 that you can get from your doctor or midwife. You cannot get this certificate until you reach the 20th week before the week in which your baby is due generally the 21st week of pregnancy. Your doctor or midwife will usually give you the MATB1 at your next antenatal appointment after then. Your employer may be willing to accept other medical evidence, but this must be broadly the same as a maternity certificate.
You should give your employer the medical evidence no later than 3 weeks after the date SMP was due to start. Your employer may agree to accept your medical evidence later than this if they are satisfied that you had a good reason for the delay. But if you have not given the evidence within 13 weeks of the start of the MPP , for whatever reason, SMP is not payable. Also see when SMP is paid. Even if your baby is born prematurely, before the maternity certificate could be issued, your employer will still need evidence of the date the baby was actually due.
Please read the section about premature births. If you have more than one employer, you may be entitled to SMP from each one so you could get more than one lot of SMP. The same is true if you have more than one contract with the same employer, if your NI contributions are paid separately for each contract. Remember that your doctor or midwife can issue you with one maternity certificate form MATB1 only.
So if you do qualify for SMP from more than one employer, your other employer will have to tell you what other medical evidence is acceptable see proving your baby is due. Unless your baby is born earlier you cannot get any SMP until 11 weeks before the week your baby is due. But if you remain employed there is flexibility as to exactly when the payments start, and you can chose the date.
There are some circumstances when SMP must start. See changes that will affect the start of your SMP. Your Maternity Pay Period is determined by the date your baby is due, not by the date your baby is actually born.
SMP can be paid for up to 39 weeks. You can get SMP from 11 weeks before the week in which your baby is due, but only if you stop work before then.
If you continue to be employed by your employer on or after the 11th week before the week your baby is due you can chose the day you want your SMP to start. It will start then provided you have stopped work in accordance with the notice you gave to your employer. Your MPP and leave will start sooner in the special circumstances described below. Also see how to get SMP. Example: a woman works part of the day on Tuesday 11 June but goes home early because of an illness due to her pregnancy. She does not come into work on Wednesday 12 June for the same reason.
If you do not think that your absence is wholly or partly because of your pregnancy, ask your employer to reconsider their decision. If you are still unsure, contact the HM Revenue and Customs employee helpline on for help in working out what SMP you should get. To get SMP , you must be employed — but not necessarily have been paid or worked — during the qualifying week. If your baby is born before the qualifying week see premature births. If your baby is born later than the week in which it was due, and after your MPP had started, your SMP is not affected.
Your MPP remains the same. Industrial or trade disputes have no effect on the start of the maternity pay period. If you are involved in such a dispute, you can still give your employer notice of the date your maternity leave will start.
This date can be within the period of the dispute. And the notice that you have already given to your employer is not affected by a subsequent trade dispute. If you have more than one employer , you may be entitled to more than 1 lot of SMP. Although you may want to stop work in each job at the same time, you can still go on working longer with one of them if you feel you can do so.
Your MPPs with each employer would then start at different times. You may also be entitled to more than 1 lot of SMP if you have separate contracts with the same employer. You can start your SMP at different times in relation to each contract. If you leave your employment after the start of the qualifying week you can still get SMP , but:. If you leave your employment after your MPP has started, you will still continue to get SMP from your former employer.
If you work for a health authority at more than 1 hospital or unit and 1 or more of those hospitals or units become an NHS trust then you will have 2 or more contracts of employment. This may mean that you will get more than 1 lot of SMP. It may also mean that because your earnings have been split between contracts, your average earnings under 1 or more of those contracts are below the lower earnings limit you will not qualify for SMP.
See more than one employer and lower earnings limit LEL for more information. There are special rules for this situation. If you were employed by a health authority when your contract was split between a health authority and a trust or between trusts, you can elect to have your contracts treated as 1 for SMP purposes if it would be helpful to you.
She can therefore elect to have her contracts treated as 1 to enable her to qualify for SMP. If you want to elect to have your contracts treated as 1, you should tell each of your employers about your election at least 28 days before the date you intend to stop work to have the baby. Within 28 days of telling your employers about your election you should give each of your employers the following information:. See working out your average weekly earnings.
If you satisfy all the conditions you will be entitled to SMP for a maximum period of 39 weeks. The amount you get depends on your earnings. SMP is treated as earnings, so your employer will make any deductions such as income tax and NI contributions that are due. Your employer can also make other deductions from your SMP , for example pension contributions or trade union subscriptions. It is intended that SMP should be paid in the same way and at the same time as your normal wages would be paid.
SMP is a weekly rate but your employer does not have to pay you weekly. If your wage is normally paid monthly, your employer can pay you SMP monthly with an adjusting payment for any odd days. Or your employer may split your weekly payments of SMP over different pay periods, if this fits better with the way your employer normally pays you. Your SMP can be paid to you through an insurance company, friendly society, payroll service or other third party if you wish, but your employer must make sure that all the necessary income tax and NI deductions are made.
Your employer cannot pay you SMP in kind, or as board and lodging, or by way of a service. Your employer can pay SMP as a lump sum, as long as the rules for paying NI contributions are obeyed. If you are paid SMP in a lump sum you and your employer could pay more in NI contributions than if you are paid monthly or weekly.
If you have a salary sacrifice agreement with your employer, your employer will work out the SMP payable to you based on your earnings which count for NI contributions. Your employer must then pay the SMP due to you in full. SMP cannot be further reduced by the terms of a salary sacrifice arrangement which runs during your maternity pay period. Your employer may however make deductions from your SMP , for example tax, NI contributions, trade union subscriptions and pension contributions.
It can end earlier than this if after the baby is born, but before the end of the maternity pay period, you work for an employer who did not employ you in the qualifying week. It is your responsibility to tell the employer paying you SMP about your new job.
You must do this as soon as possible, and make sure you return any SMP payment you get that covers the week you started work and any part of the period after you resumed work. Your employer will no longer pay you SMP from the week in which you were taken into legal custody. SMP also ends if you die. It cannot be paid to your family. If you are getting SMP from one employer and, before your baby is born, you do some work for another employer, your SMP is not affected. Your SMP will stop if after the baby is born, but before the end of the Maternity Pay Period, you work for an employer who did not employ you in the qualifying week.
These special days are known as KIT days. KIT days are intended to help you keep in touch with your workplace and allow you to do some work during your Maternity Pay Period without affecting your SMP. They could also help ease your eventual return to work. The type of work you do could be attending work for a training course or for an appraisal interview. These are just examples, but whether you take advantage of these days is your choice - both you and your employer should agree that you can work on those days.
Your employer does not have any right to insist that you work. Any work you do as a KIT day, even as little as half an hour for example, will be counted as a whole day for KIT days.
They can be taken as single days; in blocks of two or more days; or can be taken consecutively. Any contractual payment for the work done as a KIT day, will depend on the agreement between you and your employer. If you have one employer and two contracts, contract A and contract B, and you are entitled to SMP from both of your contracts, you have 10 KIT days for the work you do under Contract A.
If, after your baby is born, you do any work for an employer who did not employ you in the qualifying week, your SMP will stop. Your employer must return any maternity certificate you have given them. If you think you are entitled to MA you should get a form MA1 from your maternity or child health clinic, or contact Jobcentre Plus on The form, Maternity Allowance MA1 can also be downloaded.
Complete it and take or send it to your Jobcentre Plus office with form SMP1 and the maternity certificate. If your employer is not liable to pay contributions under the NI scheme, you are not entitled to SMP. You should ask your employer to give the reasons for non-payment in writing.
Provided you are not entitled to SMP from another employer, you should make a claim for Maternity Allowance.
Your employer cannot pay you less than your SMP entitlement. They may pay you more if you are entitled to a higher rate of maternity pay under your employment contract. If your employer does have an occupational maternity pay scheme, you will have to keep to its rules if you want to get all the pay you are entitled to. Your employer can usually pay you SMP as part of your occupational maternity pay, or vice versa.
But if the occupational scheme is funded entirely by the employees your employer cannot treat your maternity pay as part of SMP. If your baby is born prematurely, the start date of your Maternity Pay Period MPP may or may not be affected, depending on just how premature the birth is. Your SMP will not be affected. You can still get SMP for the full payment period.
Your employer should pay it to you just as if the baby had been born when it was due. You must, if reasonably practicable, inform your employer of the birth within 3 weeks. You will then receive the SMP due to you but the pay period will now start on the day following the day your baby is born and will last for up to 39 weeks. You must also still provide your employer with medical evidence of the date the baby was due to be born.
Evidence of both the expected date and the actual date of birth can be provided together on part B of the maternity certificate form MATB1 issued by your doctor or midwife. Your employer may agree to extend this time limit to 13 weeks but no longer if they feel you had good reason for delay. You will be taken as satisfying the continuous employment rule if you would have satisfied it but for your early childbirth.
The period over which the earnings rule is applied and your average weekly earnings are calculated will be the 8 weeks that end with the Saturday before the birth of your baby. The payment period will start on the day following the day your baby was born. If you are expecting more than one baby, your entitlement to SMP is exactly the same as if you were expecting only one.
If your baby is born dead earlier than the 24th week of your pregnancy you will not be able to get SMP. If your baby is stillborn from the start of the 24th week of pregnancy and you have notification for the registration of a stillbirth from the attending doctor or midwife or a certificate of stillbirth, you are entitled to SMP where all the conditions for payment are satisfied.
If your baby is born alive and then dies, you are still entitled to SMP. You will not get SMP if you are a mariner on a foreign-going vessel or deep sea fishing vessel employed by a UK employer while under a contract for which your employer pays a special low rate of NI contributions. If you are a continental shelf worker or a mariner employed by a UK employer trading within the near continental limits you are covered by the SMP scheme.
Moreover, if your baby is born early or you cannot be returned to the mainland when your MPP is due to start, you will be regarded as if you were in the UK. Where you are entitled to ESA or SSP directly before the start of your SMP , and you continue to be sick you should keep giving medical evidence if this is still needed.
Most people who work for an employer and earn enough on average to equal or exceed the NI LEL get SSP from their employer when they are unable to work due to illness or disability. If you are still employed at the start of the 11th week before the week your baby is due and are sick for 4 days or more in a row, you may be able to get SSP for periods of sickness up to the day before your SMP is due to start.
But if you are off work sick because of your pregnancy in the 4 weeks running up to the week before the week your baby is due you cannot get SSP and your employer will start paying you SMP ; if SSP is being paid to you, it will stop and SMP will start. Also see changes that will affect the start of your SMP.
You should inform your employer and let them have whatever evidence they require from you. Your employer will then check if you are entitled to SSP and, if so, they will pay it. Each time you get pregnant you must use the date your baby is due to work out your SMP for that pregnancy. On the form, your employer must say why SMP has not been paid.
If you have more than one employer, you must get form SMP1 from each employer. It is important your employer gives this form to you as soon as possible. Without the information on the form a decision on entitlement to Maternity Allowance cannot be made which may delay payment.
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For queries or advice about claiming compensation due to a road problem, contact DFI Roads claim unit. For queries about your identity check, email nida nidirect. When you keep committed and valuable staff working for you, it saves you from needing to replace them. And that's not all. Enhancing staff pay during maternity leave is a benefit that'll attract other working parents to your business. Want to know what other benefits you could offer new parents?
Read up on flexible working. After all, they do have maternity…. When one of your employees goes on maternity leave, their statutory employment rights stay protected — including their right to return to…. Zero hour contract maternity rights depend, in certain instances, on whether someone is an employee or a worker. These two employment…. Already a BrightHR customer? Get support or login today.
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