Maternity leave

What maternity leave and pay you're entitled to and how to plan your leave and return to work.

Maternity pay

You can get up to 39 weeks of maternity pay depending on how long you’ve worked for the council.

Overview of maternity pay  

The pay you’ll receive depends on how long you’ve worked continuously within local government and if you're eligible to receive Statutory Maternity Pay (SMP).

You can check if you qualify for Statutory Maternity Pay (SMP) on GOV.UK.

Maternity pay is calculated by looking at your average weekly earnings in the eight weeks up to the end of the ‘qualifying week’ - the 15th week before the expected week of childbirth.

 

1 year service or more

If you have 1 year’s continuous service within local government at the end of the 11th week before the week your baby is due and you're eligible for Statutory Maternity Pay (SMP), you’ll receive:

You must return to work for at least 3 months to keep the 50% enhanced maternity pay you receive for weeks 7 to 18. If you return on reduced hours, the length of time you must return to work for will be proportionately extended. If you don't return to work (except due to redundancy), you’ll need to pay it back.
Weeks Pay
1 to 6 90% of your pay (before tax)
7 to 18 50% of your pay, plus SMP (before tax) or 90% of your average weekly pay, whichever is lower
19 to 39 SMP or 90% of your average weekly earnings (if that is lower than SMP)
40 to 52 No pay

26 to 51 weeks’ service

If you have between 26 to 51 weeks’ service and you're eligible to receive Statutory Maternity Pay (SMP), you’ll receive:

Weeks Pay
1 to 6 90% of your pay (before tax) 
7 to 39 SMP or 90% of your average weekly earnings, whichever is lower 
40 to 52 No pay

 

Less than 26 weeks’ service or if you're not eligible for SMP

If you’re not eligible to receive any maternity pay, including Statutory Maternity Pay (SMP), you can still take 52 weeks’ maternity leave.  

 

You might be eligible for maternity allowance, which is a payment the government offers when you take time off to have a baby. Once Payroll have received your maternity leave notification form, they will send you a SMP1 form which you can use to claim Maternity Allowance on GOV.UK.