If you want more to read about more than just the qualifying rules, check or main SMP article.

You can also access the employers guide at gov.uk

To qualify

• The employee must provide you with medical evidence. This is usually a MATB1 maternity certificate. They get this from their doctor or midwife. You can accept any document, signed by a doctor or midwife, that includes the date the baby is due. The employee needs to give you proof within 21 days of the SMP start date

• The employee must have worked for you with no breaks in employment. They must have done this for at least 26 weeks up to the qualifying week. The qualifying week is the 15th week before the expected week of childbirth. The employee must still be pregnant at the start of the 11th week before the week the baby is due or gave birth by then

• The employee’s average weekly earnings (AWE) in the eight weeks before the qualifying week is at least £125 (2025/26) or £129 (2026/27). This is the national insurance (NI) lower earnings limit (LEL).
• The employee must give you at least 28 days notice of when they want SMP to start. If this isn’t possible, for example the baby arrives early, they must tell you as soon as possible

Employee doesn't qualify

If an employee doesn’t qualify for SMP, you must give them Form SMP1. This form allows the employee to apply for Maternity Allowance. The form is available on the HMRC website at gov.uk.

Average weekly earning

For employees to qualify for SMP, their AWE must be at least £125 (2025/26) or £129 (2026/27).

We'll calculate this based on the pay runs already processed for this employee.

When this is less than £129 (2026/27) per week, you'll see a message and you have two options:

1. Issue form SMP1. This means the employee has earned less than £129 (2026/27) per week and doesn't qualify for SMP. Select the gov.uk link to download the form to give to your employee.

2. Manually set the AWE value. Your employee has earned more than £129 (2026/27), but the earnings in your Payroll are less than this. This can happen if you started using Payroll part-way through the tax year. Enter the employee average weekly earnings yourself. It is your responsibility to ensure this is correct.