11 March 2010
This information applies to England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland
This information tells you about your rights to maternity leave. It applies to all women whose baby had a due date on or after 1 April 2007.
This information doesn't apply to you if your baby was due before 1 April 2007, even if it was born on or after that date.
However, the information will apply to you if your baby was born before 1 April 2007 although it was due after that date.
If you want to find out about your maternity rights for a baby which had a due date before 1 April 2007, or you're not sure if this information applies to you, you should get advice from an experienced adviser, for example, at a Citizens Advice Bureau. To search for details of your nearest CAB, including those that can give advice by email, click on nearest CAB.
You can choose when to start your maternity leave. It can be at any time in, or after, the 11th week before your baby is due. However, your maternity leave will start automatically if you're off work for any reason to do with your pregnancy from the fourth week before your baby is due.
You must tell your employer, preferably in writing, by the end of the 15th week before your baby is due:
You must produce a medical certificate (MATB1), if your employer asks for one, showing when your baby is due. You can get your MATB1 from your midwife or GP.
Once your employer has received your notice that you want to take maternity leave, they must write to you within 28 days and tell you the date your maternity leave runs out and therefore the date when you are expected to return to work from maternity leave.
Most women employees have the right to take up to one year’s (52 weeks’) maternity leave. This does not depend on how long you have worked for your employer. The only employees who don't have this right are:
If you're not sure whether or not you're an employee, see Contracts of employment.
You can choose how long you take off work for maternity leave, up to a maximum of 52 weeks. However, the law says that you must take at least two weeks immediately after the baby is born. If you work in a factory, you must take at least four weeks.
The first 26 weeks of maternity leave are called Ordinary Maternity Leave (OML). During OML, you will still get all the same rights under your contract of employment as if you were still at work. The only exception is that you will not get your normal pay unless your contract allows for it. But you will, for example, still be entitled to build up holiday and to get any pay increase.
Though you are not entitled to your normal pay, most women employees are entitled to Statutory Maternity Pay or Maternity Allowance.
For more information about maternity pay, see Parental rights at work.
For more information on contractual rights, see Contracts of employment.
As well as Ordinary Maternity Leave (OML), you can also take an additional 26 weeks' maternity leave. This is called Additional Maternity Leave (AML). This gives a total of up to 52 weeks’ maternity leave. If you're taking AML, this must follow on directly after OML and there must be no gap between the two.
Your contract of employment will also continue throughout AML unless either you or your employer ends it or it runs out. However, if your expected week of child birth is before 5 October 2008, you won't keep all of your rights under your employment contract during your AML.
Some of the terms and conditions of your employment contract which will still apply during AML include:
There are other terms and conditions which will not apply unless your employer agrees otherwise. For example, you will not have the right to normal pay or to contractual holiday pay (though you are still entitled to build up statutory holiday) or to a pay increase unless your employment contract gives you these rights.
If your expected date of child birth is before 5 October 2008, it can be complicated to work out which terms and conditions of your employment contract still apply when you're on AML. For more information, you should consult an experienced adviser, for example, at a Citizen’s Advice Bureau. To search for details of your nearest CAB, including those that can give advice by email, click on nearest CAB.
If your expected week of child birth is on or after 5 October 2008, your terms and conditions of employment continue during your AML like they do during your OML. This covers all your rights except you won't get your normal pay unless your contract allows for it.
If you decide you want to return to work earlier than the date your maternity leave is due to end, you must give your employer eight weeks’ notice of your new date of return to work. For more information about returning to work after maternity leave, see under heading Your right to return to work after maternity leave.
When you are on maternity leave, your employer should keep you informed of issues which may affect you. For example, you should be informed of any relevant promotion opportunities or job vacancies that arise during your maternity leave.
The amount and type of contact between you and your employer must be reasonable. Contact can be made in any way that best suits either or both of you. For example, it could be by telephone, by email, by letter, by you making a visit to the workplace or in other ways.
You are also allowed to work for up to ten days during your maternity leave without it affecting your maternity pay. These are called 'Keeping in Touch Days'.
Both you and your employer must agree about whether you work any Keeping in Touch Days, how many you will work, when you will work them and how much you will be paid for them. You are under no obligation to work them and your employer is under no obligation to offer them to you.
You must also agree between you what sort of work you will do. Keeping in Touch Days could be particularly useful in enabling you to attend a conference, undertake a training activity or attend for a team meeting.
The rate of pay is a matter for agreement with your employer. It may be set out in your employment contract or agreed on a case-by-case basis. However, you must be paid at least the National Minimum Wage.
Some employment rights, such as the right to claim statutory redundancy pay, depend on how long you have worked for your employer. The length of time you have worked for your employer is the length of your ‘continuous employment’. It is important, therefore, to note that time spent on maternity leave counts when calculating how long you have been with your employer.
All women have the right to return to their old job after 26 weeks’ OML.
After 26 weeks’ OML, you do not have to give your employer notice that you are returning to work. You can just turn up for work on the day you are due back.
If you're not allowed to return to work after your Ordinary Maternity Leave, you can claim your dismissal is automatically unfair for a reason to do with your pregnancy or maternity leave. You could also claim sex discrimination. Both of these claims can be made regardless of how long you have worked for the employer or how many hours a week you work.
If you wish to make claim for automatic unfair dismissal and/or sex discrimination, you should speak to an experienced adviser, for example, a Citizens Advice Bureau. To search for details of your nearest CAB, including those that can give advice by e-mail, click on nearest CAB.
If you're sick when you are due back to work at the end of your Ordinary Maternity Leave (OML), you must get a medical certificate to send to your employer. Your OML will end at the end of the 26th week and you will then go onto sick leave. You will be protected from unfair dismissal for an additional four weeks after your 26 weeks’ OML if you are sick for this period.
If an employer tries to dismiss a woman who is sick at the end of her maternity leave and so cannot return to work, this is likely to be sex discrimination. If you are in this position, you should consult an experienced adviser, for example, a Citizens Advice Bureau. To search for details of your nearest CAB, including those that can give advice by e-mail, click on nearest CAB.
If you wish to return to work after AML, you should be offered your old job back, unless this is not reasonably practical. If it is not reasonably practical to offer you your old job back, you must be offered a job that is suitable for you and appropriate in the circumstances, on the same terms and conditions as your old job. For example, your pay must be at least the same as your old job.
If you have not been offered your old job back, you should consult an experienced adviser, for example, at a Citizens Advice Bureau. To search for details of your nearest CAB, including those that can give advice by e-mail, click on nearest CAB.
You don't have to inform your employer of the date you intend to return after your AML, as it will be expected that you'll return at the end of your AML. This is the date your employer told you your maternity leave ended. If you want to return to work earlier than this date, you must inform your employer of this, in writing, at least eight weeks before you want to return.
You have no automatic right to return to work part time after maternity leave. However, you may have the right to ask for flexible working and this request must be considered seriously by your employer. If they do not consider it seriously, this could be sex discrimination.
For more information about taking a sex discrimination case, you should consult an experienced adviser, for example, at a Citizens Advice Bureau. To search for details of your nearest CAB, including those that can give advice by e-mail, click on nearest CAB.
While you are on maternity leave, you may be entitled to maternity pay either under your contract of employment or by law through Statutory Maternity Pay or Maternity Allowance, which can be paid for up to 39 weeks. The rules about maternity pay depend on how long you've worked for your employer, how much you earn and what your contract says.
For more information about maternity pay, see Parental rights at work.
If you’re pregnant or have just had a baby, you may have other rights. These rights include:
For more information about other rights if you’re pregnant, have just had a baby or are a working parent, see Parental rights at work.
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