Maternity, Paternity & Parental Leave

Maternity, Paternity
& Parental Leave - Your Obligations as an Employer

Few areas of employment law are as emotionally charged or as legally complex - as parental leave. Get it wrong and you face not just tribunal claims, but real damage to morale, reputation, and retention. The rules have also changed significantly: the Employment Rights Act 2025 introduced day-one rights to paternity and unpaid parental leave from 6 April 2026, neonatal care leave arrived in April 2025, and enhanced redundancy protections for pregnant employees and new parents have been in force since April 2024.

This guide covers every form of statutory parental leave, maternity, paternity, shared parental, unpaid parental, neonatal, and adoption along with the protections against detriment and dismissal that sit alongside them. It is written for employers and HR managers who need a clear, practical picture of their obligations without wading through pages of legislation.

2025/26 Statutory Rates at a Glance

• Statutory Maternity Pay (SMP): 90% AWE for first 6 weeks, then £194.32/week for 33 weeks (from
6 April 2026)
• Statutory Paternity Pay (SPP): £194.32/week or 90% AWE, whichever is lower
• Statutory Shared Parental Pay (ShPP): £194.32/week or 90% AWE, whichever is lower
• Statutory Adoption Pay (SAP): mirrors SMP - 90% AWE for 6 weeks, then £194.32/week
• Statutory Neonatal Care Pay (SNCP): £194.32/week or 90% AWE, whichever is lower
• Lower Earnings Limit: £129/week (from 6 April 2026)

Maternity Leave and Pay

The Leave Entitlement

Every employee who is pregnant is entitled to 52 weeks of statutory maternity leave, regardless of how long she has worked for you or how many hours she works. There is no qualifying period. The 52 weeks divides into two halves: 26 weeks of Ordinary Maternity Leave (OML) and 26 weeks of Additional Maternity Leave (AML). In practice, many employees take all or most of their entitlement, though they are not obliged to take the full year.

The earliest maternity leave can start is 11 weeks before the expected week of childbirth (EWC). There is also a compulsory element: by law, a new mother must take at least two weeks off after the birth (four weeks if she works in a factory). You cannot allow her to return before this period ends. If she is absent from work due to a pregnancy-related illness in the four weeks before her EWC, maternity leave will be triggered automatically.

Notification Requirements

Your employee must tell you she is pregnant, give you the expected week of childbirth, and state when she intends to start her leave - all by the end of the 15th week before her EWC. She should provide a MATB1 certificate (issued by her midwife or GP after the 20th week of pregnancy) as evidence. You must then write back within 28 days confirming the date her leave will end.

She can change her start date by giving you at least 28 days' notice before the new date or the original date (whichever is earlier). Similarly, she must give you at least eight weeks' notice if she wants to return earlier than her notified return date.

Statutory Maternity Pay

SMP is payable for up to 39 weeks not the full 52. The final 13 weeks of additional maternity leave are unpaid (unless you offer enhanced contractual pay). SMP is paid by you and funded largely by HMRC through a rebate scheme. Most employers recover 92% of the SMP they pay; smaller employers qualifying for Small Employers' Relief can recover 108.5%.

The pay structure is straightforward: 90% of average weekly earnings (AWE) for the first six weeks, with no upper cap, then the lower of £194.32 or 90% of AWE for the next 33 weeks. If an employee does not qualify for SMP - perhaps because she hasn't accrued enough service or earnings - she may be entitled to Maternity Allowance from the DWP instead. That is her claim to make, not yours, but you should issue her with an SMP1 form explaining why SMP is not payable.

Keeping in Touch (KIT) Days Maternity Leave

An employee on maternity leave can do up to 10 days of work under her contract without ending her leave or losing SMP. These are Keeping in Touch days - KIT days. They can be used for training, team meetings, or gradual return preparation. They must be agreed by both parties; you cannot compel an employee to use KIT days, and she cannot demand them as of right.

Pay for KIT days is a matter for agreement. The minimum is that any payment for work done on a KIT day should bring the employee's weekly total to at least the rate of SMP for that week. In practice, many employers pay the employee's normal daily rate and simply offset it against SMP. Any work done on a KIT day counts as a full day for the purpose of the 10-day limit — there is no provision for part-days.

Contractual Pay During Maternity Leave

Remember that while SMP is the statutory floor, your employment contracts or policies may provide for enhanced maternity pay. If you offer enhanced pay, make sure your policy is clear about how it is calculated and whether there are any 'clawback' provisions if the employee doesn't return after leave. Clawback clauses are lawful provided they are proportionate and clearly communicated in advance.

Paternity Leave and Pay

Paternity leave allows the father or partner of a new mother (or the non-primary adopter) to take time off around the birth. Until recently, it required 26 weeks' continuous service. That changed fundamentally on 6 April 2026. 

New from 6 April 2026 Day-One Right (Employment Rights Act 2025)

• Paternity leave is now a day-one right: no minimum qualifying period of service
• The 26-week service requirement for the leave itself is abolished
• Statutory Paternity Pay still requires 26 weeks' service the qualifying conditions for pay are unchanged
• Employees can now take paternity leave after Shared Parental Leave for the same child (previously not permitted)
• The transitional notice period of 28 days (rather than 15 weeks) applies to babies due between 5 April and 25 July 2026

How Much Leave and When

Eligible employees can take either one week or two consecutive weeks off. They cannot take paternity leave as odd days -  it must be taken in complete weeks. The leave must start on or after the date of birth and must end within 52 weeks of the birth (previously it had to be taken within 56 days). Employees must give you the expected week of childbirth and when they intend to take leave — under standard rules, 15 weeks before the EWC, though the transitional 28-day rule applies to births during the window noted above.

Statutory Paternity Pay

Eligible employees can take either one week or two consecutive weeks off. They cannot take paternity leave as odd days - it must be taken in complete weeks. The leave must start on or after the date of birth and must end within 52 weeks of the birth (previously it had to be taken within 56 days). Employees must give you the expected week of childbirth and when they intend to take leave - under standard rules, 15 weeks before the EWC, though the transitional 28-day rule applies to births during the window noted above.

You recover SPP from HMRC in the same way as SMP. Standard employers recover 92%; Small
Employers' Relief applies at 108.5%.

Who Qualifies for Paternity Leave?

The employee must be the biological father or the mother's spouse, civil partner, or partner living with the mother in an enduring family relationship. They must have (or expect to have) responsibility for the child's upbringing. The same rules apply to adoption: the secondary adopter takes paternity leave, the  primary adopter takes adoption leave. Where a same-sex couple is adopting jointly, they must decide which partner takes which type of leave.

Shared Parental Leave

Shared Parental Leave (SPL) lets eligible parents share up to 50 weeks of leave and up to 37 weeks of  Statutory Shared Parental Pay (ShPP) between them in the first year after the birth or adoption. It is one of the more administratively complex schemes you'll deal with - but the flexibility it offers families means uptake is growing.

How Shared Parental Leave Works

Shared Parental Leave does not simply appear automatically. It must be unlocked. The mother or primary adopter must first curtail (end early) their maternity or adoption leave by giving you a curtailment notice, a written notice stating when the maternity or adoption leave will end. This notice must be given at least eight weeks before the proposed end date. Maternity leave cannot end before two weeks after the birth; adoption leave cannot end in the first two weeks.

Once leave is curtailed, the remaining untaken weeks become the 'SPL pot' which can be divided between the two parents in whatever way they choose - consecutively, simultaneously, or alternating blocks. The total cannot exceed 50 weeks of leave and 37 weeks of pay between them.

Eligibility for Shared Parental Leave

Both the employee and their partner must meet separate eligibility tests. The employee taking SPL must  be entitled to statutory maternity or adoption leave (or paternity leave for some scenarios), and their partner must satisfy an employment and earnings test - working for at least 26 of the 66 weeks before  the EWC and earning at least £30/week on average in 13 of those weeks. To receive ShPP, the employee must also have 26 weeks' continuous service with you by the 15th week before the EWC and average weekly earnings of at least £129.

The Notice Process for ShPP

The process involves multiple notices. First, a curtailment notice from the parent ending their maternity or adoption leave. Then a notice of entitlement and intention from each parent, submitted to their own  employers, setting out eligibility details and the rough outline of intended leave. Finally, a booking notice giving specific dates, at least eight weeks before the start of each period. Each parent can submit up to three booking notices.

Continuous periods of SPL must be accepted by you. Discontinuous requests: for example, a request  to work Mondays and Wednesdays while taking SPL on the other days  can be discussed with you.  You have 14 days to respond to a discontinuous request and may propose alternatives, but if no  agreement is reached within that window, the employee can withdraw the notice or convert it to a continuous period.

SPLIT Days

Employees on SPL can work up to 20 days without bringing their leave to an end. These are Shared  Parental Leave In Touch days - SPLIT days. Like KIT days for maternity leave, they must be agreed  between you and the employee, and any work done on a SPLIT day (even a partial day) counts as one  full day toward the 20-day limit. SPLIT days are in addition to the 10 KIT days available during the maternity portion of leave.

Unpaid Parental Leave

New from 6 April 2026 — Day-One Right (Employment Rights Act 2025)

Unpaid Parental Leave became a day-one right on 6 April 2026. The previous one-year service requirement is abolished. Approximately 1.5 million additional parents each year are now eligible who previously would not have qualified. If your policies tie parental leave eligibility to a qualifying period of service, they became unlawful from 6 April 2026.

Unpaid Parental Leave (sometimes called ordinary parental leave) gives parents the right to take unpaid  time off to care for a child. As the name makes clear, it is entirely unpaid, there is no statutory payment associated with it.

Key Rules for Unpaid Parental Leave

Each parent is entitled to 18 weeks of unpaid parental leave per child, capped at four weeks in any one year (per employer) unless you agree to more. Leave must be taken before the child's 18th birthday (or 18th anniversary of adoption). It must be taken in complete weeks unless the child is disabled, in which  case it can be taken in individual days.
Your employee must give you at least 21 days' notice before they intend to start leave. You can postpone a period of parental leave by up to six months if the timing would unduly disrupt your business but you  cannot postpone it if the employee wants to take the leave immediately after the birth of a child. Any  postponement must be agreed in writing and you must propose a new start date within that six-month window.

Policy Update Required

• Remove any one-year service requirement from your parental leave policy immediately -  it is unlawful from 6 April 2026
• Update manager guidance so that day-one employees are not incorrectly refused leave
• Review your postponement procedures  - you still have the right to delay leave, but cannot refuse it
• The four-week annual cap and 21-day notice period remain unchanged

Neonatal Care Leave

New Right - In Force from 6 April 2025

Neonatal Care Leave and Pay came into force on 6 April 2025 under the Neonatal Care (Leave and Pay) Act 2023. It applies to parents of babies born on or after 6 April 2025. The leave is a day-one right - no minimum service period is needed though pay requires 26 weeks' service.

When a newborn requires neonatal care, the last thing a parent should be worrying about is whether they have enough leave. Neonatal Care Leave is designed to sit on top of other entitlements - it does not eat into maternity, paternity, or shared parental leave.

Who Is Eligible for Neonatal Care Leave?

The leave applies to a broad range of parents with a qualifying relationship to the child, including birth parents, adopters, and those in surrogacy arrangements. To qualify, the baby must be admitted to neonatal care within the first 28 days of life and must receive at least seven continuous days of neonatal care. The entitlement does not increase for multiple births if a parent has twins both in neonatal care, they still have a maximum of 12 weeks.

How Much Leave for Neonatal Care?

Parents accrue one week of Neonatal Care Leave (NCL) for each week (or part week) their baby receives continuous neonatal care, up to a maximum of 12 weeks. The leave must be taken within 68 weeks of the child's birth. It must be taken in complete weeks - the rules differ depending on whether the parent is concurrently taking another form of statutory leave:

• Tier 1 leave (taken while still on maternity, paternity, or adoption leave): must be taken in a continuous block.
• Tier 2 leave (taken after maternity, paternity, or adoption leave has ended): can be taken in
non-continuous blocks of one week at a time.

Statutory Neonatal Care Pay

Statutory Neonatal Care Pay (SNCP) is paid at the lower of £194.32/week or 90% of average weekly earnings. To qualify for pay (as opposed to just unpaid leave), the employee must have at least 26 weeks' continuous service and earn at least £129/week on average. SNCP is payable for up to 12 weeks, matching the maximum leave entitlement.

Your Obligations as an Employer

Employees must give you notice as soon as reasonably practicable, the usual notice requirements are relaxed given the circumstances. For leave starting during another period of statutory leave, one week's notice suffices. Employees on neonatal care leave have enhanced redundancy protection (see Section 7), and those taking at least six continuous weeks of NCL carry that protection for 18 months from the child's birth.

Adoption Leave and Pay

Adoption leave mirrors maternity leave very closely. The primary adopter, the one who takes adoption leave — is entitled to up to 52 weeks of statutory adoption leave (26 weeks ordinary, 26 weeks additional), with the same terms around notice, pay, KIT days, and return rights. The secondary adopter takes paternity leave instead.

A one-year qualifying period previously applied to adoption leave, but this was brought into line with maternity leave some years ago - there is no qualifying period of service for adoption leave itself. For Statutory Adoption Pay, the employee must have 26 weeks' continuous service ending the week in which they are notified of being matched with a child.

Statutory Adoption Pay (SAP)

Adoption leave can begin up to 14 days before the expected placement date. The employee must give you notice within seven days of being notified by the adoption agency of the match (or as soon as reasonably practicable). They should provide a matching certificate from the agency as evidence. You then write back within 28 days confirming the expected end date of adoption leave.

Where a couple is adopting jointly, they choose which of them takes adoption leave, the other takes paternity leave. Only one person can take adoption leave per adoption. The same rules apply to overseas adoptions, though the trigger dates and evidence requirements differ slightly.

Surrogacy and Foster to Adopt

Parents in surrogacy arrangements can qualify for adoption leave if they meet the relevant parental order requirements. Foster carers who are approved as prospective adopters under the 'fostering for  adoption' scheme can also access adoption leave rights. These are niche but increasingly common  situations - if you're unsure how a particular arrangement fits, take advice before making any decisions.

Protection from Detriment and Dismissal

This is the area of parental leave law that generates the most tribunal claims and some of the largest awards. The protections are stronger than in almost any other area of employment law, and the financial consequences of getting it wrong can be severe.

Automatically Unfair Dismissal

Under the Employment Rights Act 1996, dismissing an employee because she is pregnant, has taken or requested maternity leave, or has exercised any statutory parental leave right is automatically unfair. This means no qualifying period of service is needed to bring a claim — a day-one employee who is dismissed for a pregnancy-related reason can go straight to the employment tribunal. There is also no cap on the compensatory award in cases of automatically unfair dismissal linked to pregnancy or maternity.

The same protection applies to paternity leave, shared parental leave, adoption leave, unpaid parental  leave, and neonatal care leave. Any dismissal or detriment (being passed over for promotion, excluded from training, having a bonus withheld) because of the exercise of these rights is unlawful.

Critical Risk: No Service Requirement, No Award Cap

A dismissal that is connected to pregnancy or maternity leave is automatically unfair regardless of
length of service, and the compensatory award has no cap. Combined with potential Equality Act
2010 (sex and pregnancy/maternity discrimination) claims, the exposure can be very significant.
Always take legal advice before dismissing or making redundant an employee who is pregnant, on
any form of parental leave, or who has recently returned from parental leave.

Redundancy During Pregnancy and Parental Leave

If you need to make redundancies, the rules around pregnant employees and those on or recently returned from parental leave are significantly more stringent than the ordinary redundancy framework.

The Protection from Redundancy (Pregnancy and Family Leave) Act 2023 — in force from 6 April 2024 - substantially extended the protected period.

The Priority Vacancy Right

Where a redundancy situation makes it impracticable to continue employing an employee on their  existing contract, and a suitable alternative vacancy exists, you must offer that vacancy to the protected  employee first  with priority over all other at-risk employees, even those who may be equally or better  qualified. This isn't just a preference; it's a legal obligation under Regulation 10 of the Maternity and Parental Leave etc Regulations 1999.

The practical effect of the 18-month window is significant. An employee who returns from 12 months of  maternity leave still has six months of enhanced redundancy protection after she comes back to work. If you are restructuring or downsizing during that period, you must treat her as a priority candidate for any suitable alternative role.

Failure to comply with this obligation renders the dismissal automatically unfair under section 99 of the Employment Rights Act 1996 - again, without any service requirement and without any cap on compensation.

Returning to Work

The rules on return differ depending on how much leave has been taken. Understanding this distinction matters because getting the return wrong  offering the right person the wrong job - can create significant liability.

After Ordinary Maternity Leave (First 26 Weeks)

An employee returning after OML alone has the right to return to the same job, not just a similar job. Same terms and conditions. Same role. If that exact position no longer exists (because of a genuine  reorganisation, not a convenient reshuffle), you face the redundancy protections described above. She also has the right to the benefit of any improvements to her terms that occurred while she was absent.

After Additional Maternity Leave (Full 52 Weeks)

After AML, the right is slightly softer: she is entitled to return to the same job, but if that is not reasonably practicable, to a suitable alternative job on no less favourable terms. This is not a free pass to offer her anything different — the alternative must be genuinely equivalent in terms, status, and pay. Courts and tribunals look closely at whether the original job was truly unavailable or whether this was a convenient way to sideline a returning employee.

The same framework applies to returning from adoption leave and (broadly) from shared parental leave, depending on total leave taken.

Notice of Early Return to Work Maternity Leave

If your employee wants to return before her notified return date, she must give you at least eight weeks' notice. If she simply turns up early without notice, you are entitled to postpone the return by up to eight  weeks from when she gives you notice but only if you cannot reasonably accommodate an earlier return. You cannot refuse to allow her back at all.

Flexible Working Requests on Return

Many employees want to return on different hours. From 6 April 2024, all employees have the right to  make a flexible working request from day one, and employers must deal with requests reasonably, consult the employee before refusing, and can now only refuse on one of eight statutory grounds. A returning parent's request must be considered on its merits - reflexive refusal based on assumptions about childcare creates real discrimination risk.

Keeping in Touch During Leave

• You can make reasonable contact during maternity or adoption leave -  for updates, changes to  the business, or return planning without ending the leave
• Avoid over-contacting: frequent calls or emails about work matters can constitute a detriment and pressure the employee to return early
• Invite the employee to optional team events, away days, or appraisals  - but make clear she is under no obligation to attend
• Consider a phased approach: use KIT or SPLIT days to ease the return before the formal return date

Quick Reference: All Parental Leave Types

The table below summarises the key features of each leave type side by side. Rates are for the 2026/27  tax year (from 6 April 2026).

Employer Checklists

When an Employee Tells You She Is Pregnant

• Acknowledge the notification in writing
• Carry out a pregnancy risk assessment under the Management of Health & Safety at Work Regulations
1999
• Consider whether any adjustments to working conditions are needed immediately
• Confirm the expected week of childbirth and when she intends to start maternity leave
• Request the MATB1 certificate once available (after week 20)
• Check whether she qualifies for SMP; if not, issue SMP1 so she can claim Maternity Allowance
• Write back within 28 days of receiving her leave notice, confirming the expected return date
• Remember: she is now in the enhanced redundancy protected period from this point

During Maternity or Other Parental Leave

• Maintain all contractual benefits (except normal pay) throughout the leave — pension contributions, car allowance, health insurance, etc.
• Apply any pay rises or contractual improvements that occur during leave when calculating the remaining SMP
• Make reasonable keeping-in-touch contact but keep it proportionate
• Offer KIT days if appropriate and useful for the employee's return
• Notify her of any relevant changes to her role, team, or the business
• Do not recruit a permanent replacement without first consulting her about returning options

Before the Employee Returns

• Confirm the return date and whether it has changed (eight weeks' notice needed for early return)
• Deal properly with any flexible working request — consult, consider, and respond within the statutory
timeframe
• Ensure her role is available or, if it genuinely isn't, go through a fair process with priority vacancy
rights applied
• Plan a return induction or handover if the role or team has changed significantly
• Check whether she needs a phased return — this isn't statutory but can be agreed as an adjustment

Policy Updates Required from 6 April 2026

Action Required — Policy Updates
• Remove the 26-week service requirement from all paternity leave policies
• Remove the one-year service requirement from all unpaid parental leave policies
• Add a provision confirming employees can take paternity leave after shared parental leave
• Review any enhanced leave policies to ensure they reflect the new day-one entitlements
• Update manager guidance and HR checklists to reflect the new rules
• Ensure neonatal care leave and pay procedures are documented if not already in place

Next Steps

• If requests are refused, check → flexible working rights

• If treatment may be unfair,  → review discrimination laws

• If a claim is made,  → understand the employment tribunal process

If you have any question in relation to Maternity, Paternity & Parental Leave our experts are always on hand to assist - Just schedule a call below:

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