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Maternity leave

If you're a mother who is an employee, you have the statutory right to a minimum amount of maternity leave. You should always check your contract (or company handbook) to see if your employers offer their own maternity leave scheme. You can then choose to take what your employer offers or go for the statutory minimum, depending on what suits you best.

How much maternity leave can you take?

To find out how much statutory leave you qualify for, and when you can start it, you can use the interactive tool available on the Tailored Interactive Guidance on Employment Rights (TIGER) website.

To qualify for maternity leave you must be an employee. As an employee you have the right to 26 weeks of 'ordinary maternity leave'. Provided you meet certain notification requirements, you can take this no matter how long you’ve been with your employer, how many hours you work or how much you're paid. You may be entitled to maternity pay during this time.

If you've been with the same employer for 26 weeks by the end of the 15th week before the beginning of the week when your baby's due, you also have the right to an extra 26 weeks of 'additional maternity leave' so you can take up to one year in total. Additional maternity leave is unpaid unless your contract of employment says otherwise.

When you can start your leave

You can start your leave any time from 11 weeks before the beginning of the week when your baby's due. If you’re off work because of your pregnancy in the four weeks before the expected birth date, your employer can make you start your maternity leave.

Do you have to take all of your leave?

You needn’t take all of your maternity leave, but you must take two weeks (or four weeks if you work in a factory) of 'compulsory maternity leave' after your baby's born.

What happens if you lose your baby?

Provided you meet all the other conditions, you can still take maternity leave if your child is:

• stillborn after 24 weeks of pregnancy
• born alive at any point of the pregnancy

Becoming pregnant again during maternity leave

If you become pregnant again during maternity leave, you have the right to further ordinary and additional maternity leave.

What happens to your holiday entitlement when you’re on maternity leave?

You’ll still build up all your entitlements to paid holiday during ordinary maternity leave. However, unless your contract says differently, you’ll accrue only the statutory minimum (4 weeks) holiday entitlement during additional maternity leave.

You can add holiday to the beginning or end of your leave. You may not be able to carry over untaken holiday entitlement if your maternity leave goes over two holiday years, so it's best to take this at the beginning of your leave.

Telling your employer that you want to take maternity leave

Tell your employer at least 15 weeks before the beginning of the week you’re your baby’s due. If this isn’t possible (eg because you didn’t realise you were pregnant), tell them as soon as possible. You need to say:

• you're pregnant
• when the baby’s due
• when you want to start your maternity leave (you can change the date later, if you give 28 days' notice)

Your employer might ask for notice in writing. They may also ask for a copy of Form MAT B1, which your doctor or midwife will give you. This says when the baby's due.

If you don't want to take your full leave

Your employer must assume that you'll take all your maternity leave, including additional maternity leave if you qualify. If you don't want to take all of your leave, you must give at least 28 days' notice that you’re returning to work early. Your employer can insist that you don't return until the 28 days have passed.

Do you have to give notice that you're coming back to work?

If you take your full leave, you don't need to give notice that you're coming back, but it's a good idea to do so. When you tell your employer that you want to take maternity leave, they should write to you within 28 days, telling you the date when your leave will end. If you do not intend to return to work at all, you must give your employer notice in the normal way.

What happens if you're ill at the end of your leave?

If you can't return to work at the end of your maternity leave because of illness, tell your employer in the normal way.

Will your terms and conditions change because you take maternity leave?

While you're on ordinary maternity leave, you keep your normal employment rights and benefits (apart from wages). If you take additional maternity leave, some contractual rights and benefits (eg pension contributions) can be suspended, although your statutory rights continue.

When you return to work after ordinary maternity leave, you have a right to the same job and the same terms and conditions as if you hadn’t been absent. This also applies when you come back after additional maternity leave, unless your employer shows that it’s not reasonably practicable for them to take you back in your original job (eg because the job no longer exists). In that case, you must be offered alternative work with terms and conditions as if you hadn’t been absent.

If your employer makes people redundant, they can't use pregnancy as a reason to select you for redundancy over similar employees. If you are being made redundant during your maternity leave you must be offered a suitable alternative job if there is one.

If you're treated less favourably because of your pregnancy or for taking maternity leave, it may amount to unlawful sex discrimination.

What to do if you have problems

If you are being denied your rights, talk to your employer first of all. If you have an employee representative (eg a trade union official), they may be able to help. If this doesn't work, you may need to make a complaint using your employer's internal grievance procedure. If you're still unhappy, you can make a complaint to an Employment Tribunal.

Where to get help

The Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service (ACAS) offer free, confidential and impartial advice on employment rights issues. You can call the Acas helpline on 08457 474747 from 8am to 6pm Monday to Friday.

Your local Citizens Advice Bureau (CAB) can provide free and impartial advice. You can find your local CAB office in the phone book or online.

If you are a member of a trade union, you will also be able to get advice and support from them.

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