An employee can choose when to start Statutory Maternity Pay.

It must meet the following criteria:

• Generally can’t start before the 11th week before the week the baby is due. It can start earlier if the baby arrives earlier
• Starts by the day after the baby is born
• Start on any day of the week
• Start earlier if the employee has a pregnancy-related absence. This must be within the four weeks before the week the baby is due
• Start the day after she leaves your employment, if she leaves after the start of the 11th week

Read more about paying SMP to someone who leaves your employment from the HMRC website.

• Statutory Maternity Pay - circumstances-that-affect-payment (opens in new tab)

 TIP: Payroll calculates SMP in whole weeks only, from the maternity start date. For example: Maternity starts on Wednesday. The week is from Wednesday to the following Tuesday.