All employed women have an entitlement to a total of 52 weeks maternity leave. This is regardless of their length of service. They don’t need to qualify for Statutory Maternity Pay (SMP) to be able to take maternity leave.

Maternity leave consists of:

• Ordinary Maternity Leave (OML), which is the first 26 weeks of maternity leave
• Additional Maternity Leave(AML), which is the second 26 weeks of maternity leave

All employed women have an entitlement to a total of 52 weeks of maternity leave. This is regardless of their length of service. They don’t need to qualify for Statutory Maternity Pay (SMP) to be able to take maternity leave.

Maternity leave splits into:

• Ordinary Maternity Leave (OML), which is the first 26 weeks of maternity leave
• Additional Maternity Leave(AML), which is the second 26 weeks of maternity leave

This is the 39 weeks when the employee can take maternity leave and receive maternity pay.

This is the calendar week, which begins on a Sunday, in which the baby is due. This is also referred to as the expected week of childbirth.

90% of the employee’s Average Weekly Earnings. Paid for the first six weeks of the maternity pay period. The set period used to calculate the employee’s average earnings is the eight weeks before the qualifying week. The qualifying week is the 15th week before the EWC date.

KIT days entitle an employee to work for up to ten days during her MPP without losing SMP.

Lower earnings limit for NI contributions.

A maternity certificate providing medical evidence of the date the baby is due.  Issued to the employee by their doctor or midwife.

This is the 15th week before the expected EWC date.

The amount of SMP that you can recover from HMRC depends on whether you’re classed as a small or standard employer. If you’re a small employer, you can claim back 100% of the SMP that you pay to the employee. You also get a further 3% of that amount in NI compensation.

This is the eight-week period leading up to the qualifying week. It's used to calculate the employee’s average weekly gross pay.

Your employee is on maternity leave, and not entitled to SMP, give them this form.

See the HMRC article:

• Statutory Maternity Pay: employee not entitled – form for employers

Whichever is the lesser amount of:

• 90% of the employee’s average weekly earnings or
• £184.03 (24/25) or £187.18 (25/26) per week

Paid for the remainder of the maternity pay period. It follows the six weeks at the higher rate.